Abbie McManus is hoping to live out her World Cup dream with England this summer.
The Manchester City defender is with the Lionesses at St. George’s Park this week, as Phil Neville’s squad prepare for games against Canada and Spain.
And McManus says she’s determined to give it everything for both club and country over the coming weeks to make sure she’s on that plane to France in June.
“We all know how big the World Cup is,” said McManus, in an interview for the official Lionesses match magazine.
“It’s something all the players and their families have worked towards for most of our lives.
“All you can do is graft and graft to make sure you have given yourself the best possible chance of being selected.”
The 26-year-old is still a relative newcomer to the England squad, with her first call-up coming last February as a late replacement for the 2018 SheBelieves Cup after impressing Neville in her performances with City.
But she’s been a regular ever since and returned to the USA for this year’s SheBelieves Cup and came home with a medal.
“I was on standby initially for the SheBelieves Cup [2018], but got called in when Steph [Houghton] got injured,” she revealed.
“I then got my first cap when Anita [Asante] got injured and I ended up playing all three games, so it’s funny how things work out sometimes.
“I don’t take for granted the way I made my debut, but it gave me a chance to show Phil what I could do – and I ended playing against France, Germany and USA and I showed that I could handle it.
“Sometimes I still pinch myself, but I got an opportunity and I ran with it. I’ll never look back.
"Anything can happen in football.”
Read the full interview with Abbie in the magazine, along with features from Neville, Beth Mead and more. It will be available at both of this month’s games and you can order a copy online too.
