Mo Marley was left encouraged by England’s performance in their narrow defeat by France.
The Lionesses were more than the equal of their celebrated hosts for the majority of Friday night’s friendly in Valenciennes.
And the game looked to be heading for a goalless draw until Viviane Asseyi headed home an 89th-minute winner.
But Marley, in her first match as interim head coach, believes there is plenty to build on ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Bosnia and Kazakhstan.
She said: “I’m not going to lie, it’s been a tough week, change is hard. Lots of things have happened recently and it's been a tough time for all the players.
“I am really happy with what they have done. We only had a couple of training sessions together; obviously we're trying to embed a few new things with the girls.
“It's more of a building block. We've shown that we can do it against one of the best teams in the world, but it's more about us now and how we can be better at doing that.
“I am proud of what they have done, to go through this week and put in a performance like that.
“There's lot to build on and I think the future is exciting, particularly when we have the ball.”
England face Bosnia & Herzegovina at Banks’s Stadium in Walsall on Friday 24 November (7.05pm KO) and Kazakhstan at Colchester United’s Weston Homes Community Stadium on Tuesday 28 November (7.05pm KO).
Tickets for the games are on sale priced at just £1 each for children and concessions. Group booking and Charter Standard discounts also apply.
Tickets for both games can be bought via TheFA.com/Tickets.
