Sarina Wiegman demands England improvements for Greece second leg

HERAKLION, Greece -- Sarina Wiegman has said England made life harder than it needed to be after their 3-1 World Cup playoff win over Greece in Heraklion on Friday evening.

The Lionesses travelled to Crete as overwhelming favourites but struggled to turn attacking possession into clear-cut chances in the first half.

They went into the break 1-0 up thanks to Georgia Stanway's goal and scored two more in the second half through Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo.

But Greece scored a wonderfully worked effort in the 77th minute through Kallisti Brouksair to leave England with a two-goal advantage ahead of the second leg in Leicester on Tuesday.

Wiegman was pleased with the result, but lamented the late goal England conceded. "I think we made it [the game] a bit harder [than it needed to be]," Wiegman said. "I think Greece were very well prepared. They were very well organised and well disciplined. Of course I'm happy with the 3-1, I'm not happy with the one.

"I think we could have scored more goals, we should have. The final stage, the final pass needs to be better. I think we were a little bit in moments really good on the ball and in other moments not so good and we could have made better decisions too. Lots of things to take from today.

"Sometimes we played really well, sometimes we were a bit sloppy. So sometimes we were a bit frustrated and I think that's what you saw."

Wiegman added: "We wanted to do things better. We have an opportunity to improve that ahead of Tuesday. It's all up to us -- we have to show up on Tuesday and play a better game. At the same time we won, and that's the most important thing."

When asked about Leah Williamson's form, Wiegman responded: "I am absolutely not concerned about her form, I think she's in great form."

The night was a memorable one for Erica Meg Parkinson and Grace Fisk who both won their first England caps. And for Le Tissier, who scored her first England goal.

"I didn't really know it went in to be honest because I thought the keeper saved it," Le Tissier told ITV post-match. "I just smacked it so I'm very glad. It's always good to get your first goal, so very happy.

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"Not really [a moment she'd dreamt of] to be honest because I'm a defender and I thought I'd just be stopping it but it's always good to get up there. When I play that position, I find myself a little bit higher up, definitely something to work on but very happy to score my first goal.

"I do [enjoy playing that position], I love defending as well. It's obviously a bit different for me up there but I always try and give my best whatever position I play so I did enjoy it."

Le Tissier added: "We wanted to come here and get the win. Obviously, a bit gutted to concede a goal but it puts ourselves in a good position going into the Leicester game [second leg] on Tuesday."