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Women's football: England's Fran Kirby relishing Cyprus Cup ahead of Canada 2015

Image: Fran Kirby: Eyes 2015 World Cup berth

Reading Women's striker Fran Kirby believes the Cyprus Cup is an opportunity for England to fine tune preparations ahead of this summer's World Cup in Canada.

England play Finland in Larnaca on Wednesday before facing Netherlands and Australia ahead of a final classification match on March 12.

And Kirby, who started against USA last month and made a substitute appearance in the Wembley friendly with Germany, is keen for England to sharpen their game during the annual Cyprus tournament.

"I think Mark (Sampson) knows what he wants to be able to do for the World Cup and I think there will be an element of working on new things but I’m sure we'll also be sticking with the way we've been playing," Kirby told Sky Sports.

"We've played two different formations in the last two games. We played a 4-4-2 diamond against Germany and then played a flat 4-4-2 against USA

"So I think it will be a case of seeing which teams we can play which way against and how that benefits us in terms of progressing and hurting teams in those formations. It will be a learning curve for all of us."

'Buzz'

Kirby caught the eye in the 1-0 defeat to two-time World Cup winners USA, rattling the crossbar from 25 yards on what was just her fifth international appearance.

Last summer, Kirby became the first FA WSL 2 player to earn a senior international call up and the 20-year-old admits she is still coming to terms with being an England regular.

She said: "Even looking back to last year when I get called up to play for the U23s and then to train with the seniors there was a part of me that was wondering what is going on here?”

“Every time I get an email to find out if I'm in the squad I'm like 'Oh my god'. I get a buzz, I feel nervous and I wonder if I’m going to be in the squad am I not. But I've really enjoyed every minute of being involved with England and I'm really proud.”

But Kirby is keen to push on and is desperate to play a part at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

“It would be absolutely incredible to go to the World Cup especially when I think about the journey I’ve been on,” she said.

“Ultimately being able to play in the World Cup against some of the best teams and some of the best players - we got a glimpse of that against USA - those are the kind of games I want to be playing in.

“I want to be playing against teams where we are underdogs and can prove people wrong. If we can play as well as we have done recently, hopefully come away with the World Cup trophy.”

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