Lioness Kelly lauds 'special team' after netting decisive penalty

Chloe Kelly labelled England a "special team" after they progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup.

The Lionesses and Nigeria were locked at 0-0 after extra-time, with Sarina Wiegman's side prevailing 4-2 in the penalty shootout.

Lauren James was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute for stamping on Michelle Alozie but her team-mates rallied to get the job done in Brisbane.

Kelly scored the winning penalty after Bethany England, Rachel Daly and Alex Greenwood had also converted from 12 yards.

On what was going through her head, the 25-year-old Manchester City star said: "For me, my thought is, 'I am going to score'.

"That is how I look at it, so in that mental battle, we are good.

"This team is special. We did it the Euros, we did it in the Finalissima and we keep pushing forward.

"There is more to come from this special team."

England will face Jamaica or Colombia, who collide at 9am BST tomorrow, in the quarter-finals

But the Lionesses will be without James for the knockout fixture and the Chelsea star could miss the remainder of the tournament if FIFA decide to upgrade her suspension from one match to three.

Kelly added: "Anything that is thrown at us we show what we are capable of. 

"We dig deep as a group and we believe in our ability, plus we believe first and foremost in what we are being told to do. 

"We have been practising penalties a lot actually and it is working."