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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jack Lacey-Hatton & Megan Feringa

England stars hail "unsung hero" who has helped make Lionesses back four untouchable

England goalkeeper Mary Earps looked genuinely annoyed when Belgium's Elena Dhont struck a superb shot in the 91st minute to deny her a clean sheet.

The Lionesses won 6-1 against Belgium to stroll to a second straight Arnold Clark Cup title, but Dhont's stunning effort did deny them a second clean sheet of the tournament and was only the second goal conceded by Earps in an England shirt since the Euros. She even had players jokingly giving her stick for it in the post-match celebrations.

Regular observers know that despite having some huge scoreline victories since Sarina Wiegman took charge, the long unbeaten run is built on the foundations of a tight defensive unit that don't concede soft goals. And after lifting their third trophy in the past 12 months, both Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze both credited one individual in particular with helping build a rock solid base of the team. Assistant manager Arjan Veurink was credited by both after the Belgium win, with helping the defence become arguably the best on the planet.

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