Steph Houghton wants England to clinch Euro 2017 berth as soon as possible
Tuesday 31 May 2016 13:24, UK
England Women's captain Steph Houghton is targeting six points from the forthcoming Euro 2017 qualification double-header against Serbia.
The Lionesses are unbeaten in qualifying Group 7 for next year's tournament in The Netherlands, but left it late to clinch a 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, four days after a 1-1 draw at home to Belgium.
They face Serbia at Wycombe's Adams Park on Saturday before making the long trip to Stara Pazova for the reverse fixture against the same side on Tuesday.
And Houghton is keen for England to seal their place in Holland as soon as possible to allow boss Mark Sampson to blood some youngsters ahead of next year's tournament.
The England and Manchester City Women's skipper told Sky Sports: "We look back at the last two qualifiers against Belgium and Bosnia and we were very disappointed by the Belgium result [in particular] but we still got that point.
"Realistically the group is in our hands and the two games against Serbia home and away are massive and ones we want to win without a doubt.
"In terms of qualification, we want to do that as quickly as possible to give people experience, give youngsters the chance to come in and play for their country, and also to try and work out how we want to play at Euro 2017.
"I think it's important we do that and realise what we are good at and look at what strengths we can bring to that tournament."
Despite Serbia lying 45th in the FIFA World rankings - 41 places below the Lionesses - head coach Sampson will guard against complacency, particularly after England's below-par performances in their last two games.
"As always our main focus during qualification is on our own team," he said.
"We're confident if we can perform to our levels we can get the results that we want but we don't take any team lightly [after what] we saw against Bosnia and Belgium.
"Serbia will make it very difficult for us and they will defend for their lives. It's a big game for them coming to the team that were bronze medallists at the World Cup."
