Casey Stoney says England must get their preparations right if they are to beat Norway in their World Cup last-16 tie.
Mark Sampson’s side qualified for the knockout stage by finishing second in Group F, after beating Colombia 2-1 last Wednesday thanks to goals from Karen Carney and Fara Williams.
England now face Norway in Ottawa on Monday night and Stoney has warned the Three Lionesses not to underestimate their opponents.
"It just shows you it’s massively about the squad here because the manager keeps rotating the team and playing different players and everybody is coming on and having an impact"
Casey Stoney
“Any game in the last-16 is going to be tough but Norway have shown they can play very well in this tournament,” she told Arsenal.com. “We need to make sure we get our preparation right and perform well on the day. I’m sure we’ve got enough to win the game but it’s going to be a very, very tough test.”
Norway had the second-highest goal difference in the group stage but Stoney says England are aware of their opponents’ attacking threat - especially Ada Hegerberg, who has already scored three times in the tournament.
“You analyse the other team, you watch the other players, make sure you know what their strengths and weaknesses are,” Stoney said. “As a defender [you analyse] what their patterns of play are, what they’re likely to do, what formation they’re likely to play so that you can be best prepared to play against it.
“We’re building each game. It just shows you it’s massively about the squad here because the manager keeps rotating the team and playing different players and everybody is coming on and having an impact. It’s really pleasing to see.
“The mood is really positive. We did the job on Wednesday and now we move on to a very, very tough game against Norway. We’re all in recovery and preparation mode for that.”
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