Jordan Nobbs said yesterday that England are still trying to exorcise the demons of their dreadful Euro 2013 campaign, admitting they weren’t ready or prepared for the tournament.

Under former boss Hope Powell, the Lionesses finished rock-bottom of their group, losing to Spain and France while drawing with Russia.

That tournament ushered in drastic changes, starting with the dismissal of Powell after 15 years in charge and the appointment of Mark Sampson, who has since turned England into contenders at major tournaments.

Nobbs was an unused substitute in Sweden four years ago and is now vice-captain of the team, ready to use the experience of 2013 to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Even though it was a bad time for us at the time, it was probably a big turning point when you look at where we are now, and what we’ve all experienced we don’t want to experience that again,” Nobbs said.

“We’ve learnt a lot from that tournament. I was a young player and I hadn’t been in the squad very long, but everyone was obviously gutted not to have done better.

“Maybe it was just one of those tournaments, but we’re far away from that tournament now, in terms of talents, strengths and beliefs as a squad.”

While Nobbs was a junior member of the squad at the time, she understands that the preparation for the tournament was wrong and since then, the game has grown from strength to strength.

Thousands of fans are turning out for Women’s Super League games while the FA Cup has been moved to Wembley and attracts crowds of over 40,000, with Nobbs saying that another good summer for England will continue to help the game grow.

“We weren’t prepared and ready for it [Euro 2013],” she said. “The women’s game had just started to progress and I just think we weren’t ready for everything that was happening.

“As elite athletes we take that on board, accept it as part of our job, but we just want to keep pushing the women’s game, and hopefully us performing this summer will definitely be good for the long run with the growth of women’s football.”

England start their Euro 2017 campaign tomorrow against Scotland and Nobbs is relishing the derby, hoping victory against the Auld Enemy sparks a run to the final.

“We’re excited. I think both teams know what a big game that is, and with us knowing some of their girls and them knowing us. But every single game we’re going to treat like a Scotland game.

“We’re going out there to win every single one and the Scotland game is the first target.”