Control the key for Matildas in England clash, says van Egmond

Matildas assistant coach Gary van Egmond has called on Australia to take control of the match when they take on England at Craven Cottage on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

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Australia come into the match against the Lionesses after a 2-0 loss to France on Saturday (AEDT) and will be determined to deliver a much improved performance.

The match is set to be one of the biggest tests the Matildas have faced in recent times as they take on a Phil Neville coached England team, who are ranked third in the FIFA Women's world rankings.

Van Egmond said the focus going into the match has been the Matildas' ability to control the tempo of a game when in possession, after identifying it as an area to work on after the loss to France.

"The one thing we want to make sure is we’re well organised and we understand what England are doing and we’ve prepared well to analyse what England do,” van Egmond said.

“Then it’s about looking to see how we can implement that and how we can control the game with the ball.

“We really didn’t do that against France - they were better in that department.

“We like to see how we can control games better with the ball, so that’s a real task for us against England.”

Adding to the challenge is the fact Australia is once again without a number of their biggest stars and will rely on rising talents to help them find their way to victory.

Van Egmond believes the clash against England is the perfect test of the Matildas' squad depth leading into the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, with a number of players in line to make their national team debut.

“We’re trying to keep on building our depth and everything we’re doing now is working towards the World Cup," he said.

“It’s important for us to keep giving some of these players - that haven’t had as many minutes over the last couple of years - some time on the field and especially against world class teams like England and France."

The clash is the second of a busy four-game schedule for Australia, with Alen Stajcic's side set to take on Chile next month in a two-match series to be held in Penrith and Newcastle.