Sunderland-born star Jill Scott eyeing psychological advantage as England Lionesses eye Women's World Cup semi-final

Scott, who became England’s all-time record appearance maker in World Cup finals courtesy of her start against Cameroon at the Quarter Final stage, is expected to start again when the Lionesses face a ‘difficult’ test against Norway in their semi-final (June 27, 8pm).

The Lionesses’ task will be made even harder should skipper and South Hetton native Steph Houghton, who is a major doubt with an ankle injury, miss out.

But Scott remains confident that her side can mix it with a side who will combine raw strength with some real flair.

“I think Cameroon brought that physicality and Scotland brought that technical ability, but I think if you combine both of them then you get a Norway,” she said, speaking to the Press Association.

“That’s why it’s going to be difficult, because they can bring so many different parts to the game.

“But I think if you look at us as a team, we’ve got the technical ability, we’ve got the physical as well.”

Scott, though, hopes England’s psychological work will prove an advantage – both against Norway and in the long-run.

“We’ll just sit round and go through individually, so, ‘If you were looking at a Jill who was highly emotional, how would that look?’

“Funnily, we did it before the Argentina game (England’s second group game, which they won 1-0) and I did say, ‘Oh, it takes a lot for me to get into my red’, and then I got put to the test because Argentina were probably trying to rattle us a little bit.

“You just talk about what your preference would be in that moment, do you want someone to say, ‘Jill just calm down’ or do you want someone to shout at you.

“We were put to the test and came through it and I think a lot of credit has to go to the staff who work with us on our psychological side as well.”