Lionesses star Lauren Hemp explains why she has 'nothing but good memories' of Australia after returning to scene of England's World Cup final defeat on Man City's pre-season tour

Hemp was part of the Lionesses side which made history by reaching a first Women's World Cup final last summer, but then suffered the heartbreak of losing 1-0 to Spain in Sydney.

The winger is now back in Australia for the first time since that game, as part of Manchester City's pre-season tour. However, while she might have reason to have negative feelings about the trip, she insists that her memories of the place are 'nothing but good'.

"I really enjoyed my time in Australia last year," she told club media Down Under. "We got to the final, we would have liked to have gone one step further but I had some good experiences of many different games and we got to play Australia [in the semi-final] as well, which was nice. The crowd there was different to any other crowd I've probably witnessed before, so hopefully there will be a lot of those fans coming out to watch us in the upcoming games. But my experience of Australia is nothing but good memories and to be able to experience the culture and the lifestyle as well was special."

Hemp is one of three Lionesses in Man City's travelling squad who were on the wrong side of that result last summer, alongside Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly. There are two Australian stars for the home support to enjoy watching too, with Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy representing the Matildas on the tour.

Man City's first match of the Perth International Football Cup will be played on Wednesday, August 28, when they take on fellow Women's Super League side Leicester. As part of the same competition, Paris Saint-Germain will take on West Ham the next day, with the winners to play a final on Sunday, September 1, and the losers to play a third-placed match. The new WSL season begins on September 20.