‘We’re really strong’ – England manager Sarina Wiegman ready for Sweden Euro 2022 semi-final

England manager Sarina Wiegman thinks her team have become more confident and possess more resilience than when she took over.

The Lionesses take on Sweden on Tuesday night in the semi-finals of Euro 2022, and the winner will play one of Germany and France, who face off in the other game.

They reached the last four with a comeback victory over Spain and Wiegman has confidence in her players.

“I think the mentality has been good. I have seen only a good mentality, actually, since I came in last September,” she said.

“The resilience has been really good. The confidence in the team has grown and that has also grown over the past year. We’re just really, really accountable to each other.

“We had a little setback, of course that’s part of the game too, when we conceded a goal [against Spain]. But we stayed calm, we stayed trying to play our game. I think we’re really strong and we can handle setbacks.”

Wiegman, who replaced Phil Neville in the role last year, is refusing to look backwards.

“I’m in the now, thinking in the now,” she said.

“We are England, Sweden is our opponent. Tomorrow they have a very strong squad. So do we. And we just hope we will play our style of game and that will bring us the win.

“I think it’s going to be a very tight game. We know they’ve performed really well in recent years – they’ve always performed well in the women’s game. They are the No. 2 in the Fifa rankings. So, it’s going to be a totally different game, very different to Spain because they have a different style of play, but we have prepared.”

England have won one, drawn one and lost four in their last six games against Sweden in European championships, but the former Netherlands boss beat them with her former country in 2017 and 2019.

“It’s a different situation,” Wiegman claimed. “That doesn’t count. It’s tomorrow and only tomorrow.”

England have suffered semi-final heartbreak at three consecutive major tournaments, but defender Millie Bright is looking forward to a new chapter in her home city of Sheffield on Tuesday.

“It’s hard to compare, every semi final is different and forms part of the journey,” said Bright, who played in the last four defeats at Euro 2017 and the 2019 World Cup.

“You learn from experiences and we’ve learnt a lot of lessons from the previous semi finals but they have to be parked to one side, we’re on a new journey and we’re in a different place as a team.

She added: “The past is the past, so all eyes forward. We remain in our own little bubble. Everybody says the pressure is on us but we stay focused on what we need to do to stay in the games.

“Every time I pull on the England shirt I feel at home. I don’t want to erase any memories in football, you just learn from the past. It’s really nice to be back in my home town and I’m looking forward to seeing the fans in the crowd.”