England have only reached ‘third gear’ under Sarina Wiegman, Karen Carney believes

Former England midfielder Karen Carney feels the team have only reached “third gear” so far under Sarina Wiegman and that things are looking “exciting” ahead of the home Euros this summer.

England won the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup

Since Wiegman, who guided the Netherlands to Euro 2017 glory, took charge of the Lionesses last September, they have won six out of six World Cup qualifiers, with 53 goals scored and none conceded, and the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup.

That was sealed on Wednesday as England beat Germany 3-1 at Molineux – just a second victory in 27 meetings – following draws against Canada (0-0) at the Riverside Stadium and Spain (1-1) at Carrow Road.

“I think the England side is still in third gear,” Carney said. “You have to give credit to the manager. She’s come in and made England defensively solid. It’s about staying in the game at all times, but you see she’s tactical and she’ll make changes.

“She’s experienced, she’s been there, she’s done it, she’s won it. I think we have one of the best managers out there, if not the best. And it’s exciting because I think there’s still a lot more room for England to grow and develop, and there’s plenty of time for that to happen.

“When I say third gear, I could probably go through that XI and the others that played on Wednesday and could know there’s still a lot more to go from them individually.

“Come the start of the tournament, I hope we’re going to be in such a good spot. I think we’ve got some really world-class players. It’s exciting.”

Carney, who retired in 2019 with 144 England caps to her name, was part of the squads that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup that year and the last four of the two major tournaments before that.

“We won the SheBelieves Cup