Beth Mead pleased with Lionesses' reaction

England’s Beth Mead was in positive spirits following the Lionesses' 3-0 victory over Australia in their second game of the European Champions' Homecoming series.

The Arsenal forward displayed an impressive performance in front of a sold-out crowd at Pride Park and reflected on the dominant performance following the defeat against Brazil in Manchester three days earlier.

“I think it’s a good reaction,” said Mead.

“I think we started the game off really well; they got a player sent off and it changed the dynamic and it helped us be more dominant in the game. A good win, good goals but we probably still need to be more ruthless than that in the final third.”

Alanna Kennedy received her marching orders in the 19th minute, and Mead revealed how that changed the game for Sarina Wiegman’s side.

She said: “We were playing well, we’re in a good place and you obviously don’t want to see that in a game, and you don’t want to see people getting sent off because you want to test yourself against eleven players.

“It’s a little bit of a shame but you have to play what is in front of you and I thought we did that really well.”

After the narrow defeat against Brazil on Saturday afternoon, Mead spoke about the importance of this victory and the resilience within the side.

She added: “We say we don’t lose, we learn, and that’s what we did against Brazil and today, it was nice to get the win.

“We were disappointed, it was not the best 20 minutes of football we’ve played but ultimately we have to show a reaction, we’re playing against different teams with different styles of play, and I thought we reacted well.”

This fixture was the first time the Lionesses had played at Pride Park, the home of Derby County, and the Arsenal forward has expressed how much she enjoyed the experience in the East Midlands.

She said: “It was a nice pitch to play on; we were excited to play another game against a different team.

“The further north you get, the wilder the fans get, right? It’s nice to play all over the country and get the fans here, they’ve been amazing with the support for us so we’re really happy we could put goals in and a good performance today.

“The support is amazing wherever we go, and it’s nice to be able to people a little bit more local and not always playing in London where some people can’t get to, so it’s nice to have different fans to come and watch and support us with their energy.”

Lucy Bronze delivered the perfect birthday gift for herself when she found the net for England’s second goal and has earnt some high praise from her teammate:

Mead said: “I’ve been here a little bit longer and I’ve only ever known Lucy being here in the changing room and she’s such an amazing person.

“She brings a great attitude and professionalism day in day out and she deserves everything that she is getting right now and is an incredible legend Lioness.”