After making her senior debut in June 2013, Bronze has accumulated 133 caps and scored 18 goals for the Lionesses. The defender started all six games and scored in the semi-final on their way to winning the European Championship at Wembley Stadium in 2022.

Yet when we sat down with Bronze before our players left for the summer, it was clear the wealth of experience has not diminished her enthusiasm for representing her country.

‘I’ve learned so much at each tournament I’ve played in, and I’ve never taken any of it for granted,’ she said. ‘It's so easy to miss out on them, especially through injury. I'm very fortunate that I’ve kept myself fit and healthy, and I know people who have missed out on each one I’ve played in, so I know what it takes to get there.

‘I'm just as excited for this one as I was for the first one. You never know when it’ll be your last, either.’

There have been plenty of changes to the England side ahead of this summer. Seven players – including our striker Aggie Beever-Jones – will be appearing at their first ever tournament.

There will undoubtedly be references made to England being the holders of the competition, but Bronze will not dwell on any past glories as this side embark on a fresh challenge.

She’s comfortable with her role as a senior figure in the squad, and after all, she remembers what it was like to be an inexperienced international player.

‘My first tournament was a Euros,’ Bronze recalls. ‘I didn’t play a single minute of that one! You go from not playing to being a substitute, then a key player, then being a star player, then you start to play less.

'I’ve been in most of those positions going into a tournament, and it gives me great experience to help all the other players, especially those who are new.

‘It’ll be the first tournament for a few players, so it’ll be a different feel. We're not too focused on what happened at the last Euros, and of course, we’ve had the World Cup since then. It’s a new England, we have new players, there’s a new goal.'