With the group stages nearly over and the quarters as the next hurdle, England ladies did themselves no favours yesterday as they drew 1-1 to Russia. England are now sitting third in Group C with only one point, France are leading at the top of the table on six points. The England ladies must try and win against France on Thursday 18th July, failing to do so will probably see them heading out of Euro.  How the group stages work sees the top two teams of each group going through to the quarter finals, following by the two best third-placed teams left in the tables, this is unlikely for the England squad but they will not know for sure until the remaining games from Group A & B have been played on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th.

England manager Hope Powell expressed her disappointment with her team following the 1-1 draw.  She stated "I think we are lacking some real quality in terms of executing that final ball, it's sloppy." England were saved by Toni Duggan's injury-time goal in the 90th minute, the Everton striker had just hit the bar minutes before she equalised. Powell decided to bring Kelly Smith on in place of Aluko in the 79th minute, she made immediate impact after being introduced and showed great skill in her England women's home shirt. The Arsenal forward has recently been suffering from a shin injury, so it was a big risk to take but it paid off well. Smith crossed the ball over which was deflected on to the left foot of Toni Duggan who then fired home with a shot from 12 yards.

The team had several opportunities for goals, with Ellen White coming close after she clipped Karen Carney's cross on to the back post. Some fans were shocked as leading goal scorer from the Women's Super league Natasha Dowie was not included in the Euro 13 squad, maybe she could have made the difference, instead some of the more noticeably capped players including Chelsea's Eniola Aluko, Arsenal striker Ellen White  and Everton's Toni Duggan were preferred by Powell. Dowie who plays for Liverpool ladies has scored 12 goals this season and has kept Liverpool at the top of the league for a while now.

There is plenty of young talent in the England squad, one of these being Jordan Nobbs, the 20 year old has had some very successful games with the England youth team and is now testing her abilities in the senior squad. There are many more fantastic young players including Jess Clarke, Toni Duggan, Ellen White and Steph Houghton. The team will have to really work hard against France and give 100%, Hope Powell will need to put out her best players on to the field for this match as it could result in the squad having to travel home and miss out on Euro 2013.

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Emily writes exclusively for Soccer Box, here you can see the latest range of England football products.