Steph Houghton says captaining England against Germany at Wembley is a dream come true

Manchester City and England Women’s skipper Steph Houghton admits it’s a dream come true to return to Wembley Stadium as captain of the national side.

The 26-year-old was top scorer for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics and netted the winner in the memorable 1-0 victory over Brazil in front of over 70,000 fans at the national stadium.

And the Durham-born defender is eagerly anticipating the November 23 match-up against two-time world champions Germany, which will be played in front of a reduced-capacity 55,000 sell-out at Wembley.

“I couldn't have imagined that I'd be going back to Wembley as England captain,” Houghton told Sky Sports.

“The match against Brazil was a fantastic occasion but to be able to go back there and play in an England shirt is sort of what you dream of doing when you are younger.

“To have a girls' game at Wembley is going to be fantastic and the more support we can get for women’s football the better. The whole squad are really excited about playing there.”

European champions Germany are ranked second in the FIFA World Rankings just behind Women’s World Cup favourites, USA.

Houghton is aware of Germany’s quality and insists England are determined to put on a performance ahead of what looks like their most difficult test to date under manager Mark Sampson.

“Every time England play Germany it's always tough competition and a feisty game,” she said. “It's difficult to pin one of their players down as the biggest threat.

“I think they are a team who have shown how successful they are over the last few years and are the type of teams we want to emulate because they are hard to beat and clinical.

“We'll need to focus on ourselves and how we perform and just make sure we work as hard as we possibly we can.

“I think it will be a very good test for us individually and collectively against a tough German side."