England captain Williamson says Lionesses are in good shape ahead of Spain clash

Captain Leah Williamson says England are feeling confident heading into Wednesday's Euro 2022 quarter-final against Spain as they look to maintain their fine form from the group stage .

The game at the Amex Stadium will see the Lionesses for the first time in the tournament face a team higher than them, with Spain ranking one place higher in seventh place.

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England return to Brighton after beating Norway 8-0 there in their second group game, the biggest win in Euro history. They also beat Austria 1-0 and Northern Ireland 5-0 either side to advance to the last eight as Group A winners.

Williamson said of Spain, second in Group B who beat Finland 4-1, lost 2-0 to Germany and then beat Denmark 1-0, said: "It's a team we obviously have massive respect for. The way they play football is great to watch and they all come from the same style, all the players are on the same page.

"They certainly have a lot of threats. But I think we are a team that, despite our ranking, are in good shape, in good shape and I hope our threats will be enough.

"Obviously it's knockout football, the game changes once you get through the group, the nature of the game is different. There will be a winner and that's it.

"We know the situation, but we choose to see it as an opportunity and we are confident. We are in good shape, and hopefully we can do what we did in this tournament tomorrow night."< /p>

Returning to the scene of the record win against Norway, Williamson added: "We came here, we know the stadium and we also naturally have good memories, I don't think it will hurt. J hopefully we can use this to our advantage.

England have reached the semi-finals of each of their last three majors, and Williamson said: "I think when you've done something before it gets easier, next time helps, so it is certainly an advantage that we have occupied these positions.

"But a knockout match is a knockout match, and a tournament is a new tournament, so you have to be prepared for anything, and I don't think you can bank on that experience - it's just an advantage for that."

Williamson was asked if comments from Northern Ireland boss Kenny Shiels would resonate with the squad - who, after his side's loss to England at St Mary's on Friday, said it would a "mass failure" if the hosts did not win the tournament.

The Arsenal defender said: "Obviously he's entitled to his opinion. It's interesting to hear, but no, I don't think so.

"I think we know what we want to do and we know what we dream of, and the path you have to take to get there. So it's not that simple - if it was , happy days. But it's not that simple, and I think we're focused enough on the day-to-day to not let that affect us."

England boss Sarina Wiegman was absent for Friday's game after testing positive for coronavirus and said earlier on Tuesday that she "feels good" and "has a lot of hope" in waiting to see if she can attend the game against Spain.

Williamson said: "Obviously it will be a huge bonus for us. We are strong enough to survive without her, as we showed the other day, but I think she would be back, it would be great."