Rachel Williams made her first England appearance since 2013 – and now she is determined to stay in the Lionesses set-up.
The Notts County striker played the full 90 minutes as Mark Sampson’s side held Olympic silver medallists Sweden to a goalless draw in La Manga on Tuesday evening.
She said: “I tried to impress as much as I could. I don't want this to be a one-off call-up. I want to keep coming back.
“I tried to get my head down, get back in with the girls and learn about what they've been working on since I’ve been away.
“I want to show that I can be ready for the Euros. I can learn and adapt. I'll give everything for the team and I gave it everything I had.
“Now I've got one camp under my belt hopefully I get called back again and I can keep on improving, learning and showing what I can do.
“A lot has changed but I really enjoyed it.”
The Sweden game was Williams’s 14th cap, but her first since England’s successful Cyprus Cup campaign almost four years ago.
She moved from Birmingham to Notts County via Chelsea during her international hiatus, and after recovering from a few injuries, the 29-year-old is delighted to be back on Sampson’s radar.
Williams said: “It was brilliant to be called up again. Bass [Laura Bassett] told me to check my e-mails but I thought she was winding me up.
“It was more shock than anything because I'd been out for three years and had had a couple of injuries.
“Maybe Mark had been looking at me before but I kept getting injured. But they were mainly impact injuries, ones that I couldn't control.
“But I came back and played in a couple of different positions with Notts so I guess that shows I'm adaptable.
“I never gave up because I don't feel like I've had my time with England.
“And it doesn't feel like I've been away that long. The girls are brilliant. I know most of them from playing with them or against them at club level. Some of them I've played with since the U15s.”
England finished third at the 2015 World Cup and rose to an all-time high of fourth in the FIFA ranking while Williams was away – and she said the improvement is evident.
She added: “It's easy to see how far the team has come in three years, even down to things like fitness testing. Everything has improved, but I think that's the women's game in general.
“I like the fact that Mark gives the players so much responsibility.
“He trusts us to play what we see. He tells us what he wants, fills in some of the blanks but he almost just guides us.
“You can enjoy yourself. It's brilliant.”
England are next in action in the SheBelieves Cup at the beginning of March.
They will take on host nation USA, Germany and France, the top three teams in the world, in the annual friendly tournament.
