England’s Rachel Daly: Loss to Australia was lesson we needed and will shape us

England forward Rachel Daly vowed the Lionesses will “pick the bones” out of their first defeat in 31 matches ahead of their final international game before the World Cup.

A plucky Australia side took advantage of the hosts’ errors on Tuesday night to seal a 2-0 victory in Brentford, 100 days before the global tournament kicks off in Australia and New Zealand.

Daly, who has now returned to club duty with Aston Villa, is choosing to see the now-snapped 30-game unbeaten streak as an opportunity to regroup and prepare for a final home send-off match scheduled for early July, with a date and opponent still to be determined.

She said: “For us, it’s a learning (curve). I am sure we will break it down into a million pieces and develop from that.

“You never want to lose, but we have had a great run – 30 games unbeaten until (Tuesday night) is unbelievable.

“I don’t know that necessarily ‘reality check’ is the right way of putting it. We have had close games – you saw us in the Euros.

“We have had tough tests and (Australia) was another tough test. I don’t think ‘reality check’ is the right way of framing it, but definitely a lesson that we needed and one that can only shape us for better things in the World Cup.

“We are not looking that far ahead right now; we are looking at the here and now. There’s a long way to go until then, 100 days until the World Cup. We will pick the bones out of this.”

Tuesday also marked the first time the Lionesses had lost under manager Sarina Wiegman since she took charge of her first match in September 2021. Her next task will be to finalise her squad selection ahead of an expected announcement in late May.

England will arrive at their Sunshine Coast pre-tournament base camp on July 7 ahead of their tournament opener in Brisbane, where they will take on Haiti on July 22 before travelling to Sydney to face Denmark and then wrapping up the group stage against China in Adelaide.

In World Cup co-hosts Australia, ranked number 10 in the world, the Lionesses came up against one of the best – a test Daly believes came at an opportune moment.

“The camp has been great, been positive, a few new faces in,” the 31-year-old said. “It’s a lesson for us and there is no better time to have it than now, rather than in the World Cup. We have had an unbelievable run.

“It won’t stop us, it’s a lesson for us, and we have got to take the positives and negatives from it and move forward.”

Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson was thrilled his injury-plagued side managed to beat an England team he said has “the best form in the world right now”, but urged his players to adopt a measured response to the victory.

“This might sound a bit strange, but it hasn’t changed my mindset at all,” the Swede said. “This was part of a longer process we started more than two years ago.

“We might not have the biggest resources, we might not have the most players in the big clubs in the big leagues, but what we have is heart and commitment and pride in representing Australia.

“When you have that, and when you have players that are this loyal and committed, I always believe in this team and I am so proud to be a part of it.

“The internal belief has always been there, but I also think it is very important that we don’t get carried away now. We need to stay very, very humble.”