What went wrong for the Lionesses?! Sarina Wiegman highlights 'huge learnings' from England's 'disappointing' defeat to Germany

England found themselves 3-0 down with less than half an hour on the clock at Wembley, with individual mistakes and the incisiveness of a lively Germany attack causing a mismatch in the Lionesses' defence that proved too much to come back from.

Georgia Stanway scored twice before the break to claw back some of that deficit and a poor error from Germany goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger also allowed Lucy Bronze to get on the scoresheet as a wild game eventually ended 4-3. However, the scoreline flattered England, with Germany guilty of missing some big chances to extend their lead.

"I didn't want the result. I wanted us to do a couple of things better, and the players wanted that too. That was kind of disappointing but I thought it was a very high level game," Wiegman said after the game. "There were so many challenges for us but also for them. That's what we want in this stage. It gave us so much information on what we need to do better.

"Defensively, [our problems] started with losing the ball in moments we didn't want to. We wanted to press high and didn't get that right in moments. They're really good on the counter and exploited us. Again, that's what we need to improve.

"What we look at is how did the chances develop. Most came from transition moments. Those are huge learnings for the team. It's a team thing how we defended today. We had too many unforced mistakes and then they're gone because they're so explosive up front. If we're tight on the ball, we don't get into these moments."

Friday was the first time in almost 10 years that England had conceded three times in the first half of a match. The last occasion was also against Germany, in November 2014.

The Lionesses will be keen to learn from the mistakes of this defeat as they continue their preparation for next summer's European Championship, where they will be the defending champions. South Africa will be their next test, on October 29.