'The best is yet to come' - England star Mary Earps insists sluggish Lionesses will improve ahead of Women's World Cup quarter-final with Colombia

• Earps predicts improvement from England
• Lionesses close to World Cup exit on Monday
• Face Colombia in quarter-final on Saturday

WHAT HAPPENED? The European champions haven't quite hit the heights that they did 12 months ago when they performed brilliantly on their way to a continental triumph, surviving a serious scare on Monday when they needed a penalty shootout to beat an impressive Nigeria side. But Earps is confident that England can deliver more before the tournament is out.

WHAT THEY SAID: "I really believe the best is yet to come," she said in Friday's press conference. "I think there’s so much talent in the group, so many more levels that we can go [to]. I really do believe that. There’s an incredible wealth of talent and experience, yes from experiences that we’ve had together as an international team but also with the teams that we play for at club level.

"It’s an exciting time to be an England player but we have to earn that right every day. We’re constantly looking to improve and drive performance and drive our standards. We’re, of course, sitting here happy and grateful that we’re here but we’re not satisfied, we’re not done and there’s still more levels we want to go to."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: England face a difficult test against Colombia on Saturday, the South American side having beaten Germany on their way to topping Group H. The Lionesses will have to play this quarter-final without their best player of the tournament so far, too, after Lauren James was sent off against Nigeria and subsequently suspended for two matches.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Earps and England will now prepare for Saturday's tough test, which will take place in-front of what is expected to be a crowd that favours the Colombians.