Phil Neville: England's women must be 'relentless' after Scotland win

England manager Phil Neville was “pleased with the result” after his team beat Scotland 2-1 in their Women’s World Cup opener on Sunday.

But Neville warned his players, who are among the favourites to win the tournament in France, that performances will have to improve if the Lionesses are to live up to their lofty billing.

First-half goals from Nikita Parris and Ellen White were enough to secure three points for England, who survived a second-half rally from Scotland after Claire Emslie had pulled a goal back.

“The first game is always the most difficult game,” Neville told BBC One.

“But we set certain standards and the players now need to keep meeting those standards and if we drop below those standards then we get second-half performances like we just got.”

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England could and should have scored more goals, especially during a one-sided first half. Neville believes his team will need to be more clinical if they are to progress to the latter stages.

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“I want us to play like we did in the first half for 90 minutes,” added the former Manchester United and Everton player.

“We need to be relentless now as we want to be here for the next 37 days and to do that then every single one of us, myself included, have got to keep driving the standards all the time. The standards start with me.

“At 2-0 it is always a dangerous scoreline and we needed a third goal. Scotland have got good players, they’re a good team.”

Scotland were appearing in their first ever Women’s World Cup match and manager Shelley Kerr was pleased with how her players responded after a lacklustre first-half showing.

“England are tipped to win this tournament so to run them so close, especially in the second half, is a positive,” Kerr told the BBC.

“I didn’t think we played particularly well in the first half but I’ve got to give England credit because they played with intensity and put us under pressure in the right areas and got their two goals.

“I think we came out in the second half and showed what we are capable of.”

Parris’ opening goal came from the penalty spot after Nicola Docherty was adjudged to have handled Fran Kirby’s cross following a VAR review.

Docherty didn’t appear to deliberately handle the ball and was just yards away from Kirby’s cross when it struck her flailing arm. But Kerr refused to criticise the officials, instead choosing to focus on a positive second-half showing.

“I don’t want to comment on the VAR decision because the referees and the officials have got a very difficult job,” said Kerr. “What I want to do now is applaud England for their performance and we need to dissect our performance.”

Scotland are hoping to reach the knockout stages of their first World Cup. The top two teams in each of the six groups progress, along with the four best third-place finishers, meaning one win will likely be enough for Kerr’s team to reach the last 16.

“We came into this tournament for the first time knowing that we just need to win one game,” added Kerr.

“It would have been nice if it was the first one and we got something out of it but it doesn’t have to be. We regroup and rest and recover and then go again against Japan.”