Lauren Hemp has said the Lionesses know they need to be more ruthless and are working hard to score a first goal from open play since April as they try to push their World Cup campaign up a gear.
“We are all working really hard in training to make sure we are being more clinical, creating more chances and getting our goal percentage higher,” the forward said. “But we know it is something we need to improve on … We will be raring and ready to score some goals.”
England had to rely on a Georgia Stanway penalty to squeeze past World Cup debutants Haiti in their Group D opener. “Being at a World Cup is new for a lot of us,” Hemp said. “It’s across the other side of the world and, I’m not making excuses, but it’s important that each game we build and we’ve seen that last summer, so we’re more than capable of doing that.
“Things came out of the game so it’s not like we had a bad performance – it’s those final little things that’ll make us click. Hopefully we’ll bring that in the next game.” The Lionesses next face Denmark on Friday, who beat China 1-0 in their Group D opener. “Anything can happen in this tournament, you’ve seen it already,” Hemp said. “Teams are taking points off other teams that you may not necessarily expect and Haiti were a great team, credit to them.
“We prepared for them, we knew they’d be physical and what they’d bring and they are a very good team, especially on the counterattack. It’s something we can learn from because we haven’t really experienced something like that before. It’s important to use that going through the tournament because you might come up against a team like that again.”
Is there a feeling that once the first goal goes in they will flow? “That would be good,” the Manchester City player said. “We have seen in games that we are capable of doing that, so it’s not like we have not scored before. We are all capable of scoring. It is just about making it click and getting those connections working.”
Hemp is 22 but was given her England debut two months after her 19th birthday, making her one of the more experienced players in the squad. The player says she has “taken it all in my stride” – and uses Lego to help. A prolific builder, she has acquired some in Australia.
“I am just trying to work out how I am actually going to transport it home at the moment,” she said. “Not sure how I am going to do that. It’s really therapeutic. So, for me, after a long training session, after a hard day, I just go home and do that. I just enjoy doing it. I put a photo on my Instagram yesterday of a motorbike. I am working on a globe at the moment and then I’ve got a few other bits, so hopefully you’ll see them soon.”
