England manager Mark Sampson yesterday challenged his team to improve before Euro 2017 rolls round in July.

The Lionesses signed off the SheBelieves Cup on Tuesday with a 1-0 defeat to Germany, finishing third for the second year in a row.

However, Sampson’s attention immediately turned to the tournament in the Netherlands and making sure England don’t rue a missed opportunity.

He said: “For the players now it’s about fronting up in these big games.

“The important part is that when we reveal our full hand in July we are much better than we were in this tournament.

“That’s the challenge for the players now. We’ve got to go away as staff and players and make sure we come back in July a much better team. I definitely think we’ve got the potential and the attitude to do that.

“The players have got to put some pressure on themselves. They’ve got to wake up every morning, look in the mirror and set themselves a challenge. They know what they need to do.”

There were plenty of positives to take from the three games played in the United States, including the late winner against world champions the US on Saturday night.

Despite narrowly losing to France last Wednesday, conceding in the 95th minute, and Tuesday’s defeat to the European and Olympic champions, Sampson was pleased with their overall performance.

“We wanted to make sure we competed and found ways to win matches,” he said.

“We got two more points on the board than we did last year. It’s six points less than we wanted but it’s two more points on the board and we got a big win against one of the big three away from home.

“I keep telling the players that there is such a big difference between a win and either a draw or a loss. We’ve been drawing lots of games but to get over the line is important.

“We have played three games against quality opponents in a short space of time.

“We were in each game for every single second. There wasn’t one second in this tournament where England weren’t competing. It’s small margins [in this tournament] between winning and losing.

“Unfortunately, we fell on the wrong side of the line and we didn’t make those details go our way.”

Victory over Germany would have left England with a slim chance of winning the SheBelieves Cup. However, Anja Mittag’s strike in the 44th minute prevented England from lifting the trophy.

Sampson said: “We’re disappointed, of course. We wanted to get three points and we’ve come up a little bit short in the end.

“In the first half, we definitely felt the effects of playing three games in such a short space of time, but huge credit to the players.

“They showed character, resilience and the mentality of the team that when we’re not at it, foot to the floor, in fifth gear we can still find a way to create chances, limit our opponent and stay in the game.”