England Women vs Spain Women. SheBelieves Cup.
Toyota Stadium.
Follow England Women vs Spain Women on Sky Sports' digital platforms with a dedicated live blog from 8.30pm on Wednesday; Kick-off 9.15pm
Wednesday 11 March 2020 20:15, UK
England Women can leave themselves with an outside shot of retaining the SheBelieves Cup if they beat Spain Women in their final game at the tournament on Wednesday (kick-off 9.15pm GMT).
After a 2-0 opening loss to USA, the Lionesses beat Japan 1-0 in New Jersey thanks to a late Ellen White goal on Sunday night to get their first win of the tournament, and leave themselves in contention to retaining the trophy they picked up 12 months ago.
They will now need to beat Spain in Frisco, Texas, to stand any chance of doing so, and then hope that USA are surprised by Japan in the final game of the tournament, which takes place at the same Toyota Stadium at midnight on Thursday morning.
England have won each of the last three games against Spain, the latest a friendly ahead of last summer's World Cup which they emerged triumphant from thanks to goals in each half from Beth Mead and Ellen White.
In the previous game, England fortuitously dispatched Spain 2-0 in the group stages of Euro 2017, where despite having only 22 per cent possession and two shots on goal, the Lionesses won.
There was a bitter taste left in their opponents' mouths that afternoon after the match referee overruled her own decision to award Spain a penalty with England leading by one goal.
That game provided some revenge from England's most recent defeat to Wednesday's opponents, when they were beaten by an injury-time own goal in the opening game of Euro 2013, a tournament they would exit without registering a single win.
England could rotate following the 1-0 win over Japan. Youngsters Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly and Ellie Roebuck all started that game, while Alessia Russo, Sandy MacIver and Grace Fisk were unused substitutes.
Neville selected Bethany England up front but the goal came from the tried-and-tested combination of substitutes Toni Duggan and Ellen White.
Jill Scott, Nikita Parris, Toni Duggan and Lucy Staniforth will all be pushing for a starting berth.
Results and performances over the last week would indicate Spain will provide a more serious obstacle than Japan.
Spain were comfortable 3-1 winners over Japan in their opening match and impressed against the US before falling to an 87th-minute winner.
Phil Neville believes victory over Spain on Wednesday would make it a successful SheBelieves Cup campaign for England.
Neville and his side came in for criticism after a 2-0 defeat by USA in their opening match but they responded well to beat Japan 1-0 on Sunday.
The England boss concedes the team are unlikely to successfully defend their title whatever the result in Dallas, with USA going into their final match against Japan as heavy favourites.
Neville told Sky Sports: "I would expect USA to probably get maximum points so probably six points won't be enough but I think six points going into this tournament would resound as a successful tournament for us.
"We got seven last year and won and the year before that we got four so it would still resonate to me in terms of the young group that we've got. I think it would be a real satisfactory tournament. And that's now the challenge."
