Kelly Smith: England will learn from complacent second half against Scotland

Betfair Ambassador Kelly Smith returns lớn talk about how the Lionesses can improve, Scotland's chances of turning Japan over and some thoughts about VAR- According lớn the tips free soccer page!

A game of two halves

I thought the Lionesses looked really good for the first 10-15 minutes in the England v Scotland match, they were crisp on the ball, seemed confident and grew into the game. Those opening minutes, they really raised their game. It was a solid first half performance, going into the break on a 2-0 lead and being confident going in for the second half.

Then after the break it was the opposite story, they took their foot off the gas, and relaxed too much which allowed Scotland lớn come into the game. For the last part of the match, England were on edge, struggling lớn try and close out the game but it was a massive game for them because of the expectation and pressure on them.

That first match is just about winning, getting those three points and not losing. The set up and the performance which wasn't great, all that aside and I think that the team can be happy with the outcome and coming out with a victory.

I just think they relaxed and thought the game was - dangerously - comfortably won. A few errors creeped in when they had possession and hopefully they now know that against the better teams you need lớn stay fully concentrated for the whole 90 minutes. You can prefer the soccer predictions page!

But there were some outstanding performances lớn take away from that game, especially down the right-hand side with Lucy Bronze and Nikita Parris; their understanding of each other's overlapping and working together was great. Beth Mead was great on the left too and Ellen White was a workhorse. She was always a threat and it showed with a goal. Across the front line, it was very dynamic and it was dominant in the opening 45 minutes.

As I said, it's the first game, don't overthink too much because that one is all about winning.

People care about women's football now

If you make the game visible, then the interest is there for the UK public lớn watch women's football. People harp on about there being no interest in the women's game but this match showed you that there is. The Lionesses doing well will inspire a whole new generation of girls because they see this batch of England players performing at such a high level. They are role models now for anyone who is watching and playing the game; the people and children are thinking "I can do that." It's accepted now, where it wasn't before.