by Suzanne Beishon

MANCHESTER CITY midfielder Jill Scott believes that England’s strong squad can power them past quarter final opponents Canada in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Manager Mark Sampson has used all 21 outfield players during England’s opening four games and Scott believes it will the be the element of surprise that will give the Lionesses the edge over the hosts.

Speaking to the Fifa website, Scott said: “Canada won’t know what England team is going to show up on Saturday.

“I actually think we could field two teams of 11 in this tournament and they would both get to at least the quarters, that’s how good I think this squad is.

“I think we have proved in this tournament that we can play in a number of different ways and a number of different formations, and that’s quite pleasing,” the 2011 international player of the year added.

The Canadians will have the advantage of a large home crowd of up to 60,000 packed into Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium but, as one of the more experienced players in the side Katie Chapman noted, this comes with added pressure.

The Chelsea midfielder explained: “The crowd will be very hostile so we’ll have to manage that well. I quite like the crowd being against you though, it drives you on.

“It is going to be a tough game even though Canada will have a lot of pressure on them.”

Commenting on England’s outlook and chances ahead of the charged encounter, the 33-year-old said: “We have nothing to lose. We’ve got to give it everything and play the way we have been playing. If we do that, go there and perform we can definitely get a result.”