Bronze hoping for home crowd lift for Lionesses as they aim for Women’s Euros glory
LUCY BRONZE reckons playing in front of capacity crowds could give England a “twelfth man” boost in their quest for Euros triumph.
And the Lionesses full-back, 30, says her team-mates are gelling well with Gareth Southgate’s men with both sides training at St George’s Park.
This month could see Bronze included in an England squad competing at a European Championship for the third time in her career.
Head coach Sarina Wiegman is expected to name the players who have made her final cut for the tournament at 5:00 pm on Wednesday
Her team are set to play their tournament opener on July 6 with tickets for all three of the Lionesses' group stage matches sold out.
The team will face Austria on July 6 at Old Trafford which has a 76,000 capacity before playing Norway at the Amex and Northern Ireland at St Mary’s, with both grounds able to host 30,000.
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Bronze, told reporters: “I think the best and biggest players want to play in those games, with the full crowds.
“And I think we’re trying to see it as just a lot of support. It’s our twelfth man, hopefully.
“We saw what a difference it made to the men’s team last year and we’ve actually spoken to a lot of them in the past week about their experiences and what a difference it made, being that home nation – even though they technically weren’t, but they were.
“They made the final, so I think that's something that we kind of want to replicate and use to our advantage."
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The past few weeks have seen the Lionesses and their Three Lions counterparts both training at England’s base with the men’s side competing in Nations League matches this month.
And Bronze, who is set for a summer transfer move following her Manchester City departure, says Southgate’s players have been sharing their Euros experiences.
The three-time Women’s Champions League winner added: “Declan (Rice) and Kieran (Trippier) came in to talk to us as a group and speak about experiences.
"But equally, we’ve been in and around St George’s Park with them for the past couple of weeks, so we’ve chatted to a lot of them.
“It’s a nice atmosphere because I feel like both teams have gelled really well, which in the past I don’t think has really happened. They’re just our peers and they see us the same.”
