Millie Bright

We are getting to the point where, like the men's game, playing football is not only a legitimate career but enables you to live really well and can perhaps even set you up for life. It will allow little girls to tell their mums and dads they want to be professional footballers and not have their dreams dismissed so easily.

Women's football will always be different from men's football, but that doesn't mean you cannot still appreciate it. OK, so it might be a bit slower than the men's game, but then League Two football is slower than the Champions League, and it doesn't stop people turning out to see their local teams.

If you're a footballer, your club should be able to help you with medical needs, and that's where the women's game gets a lack of respect. It doesn't reflect well on women's football at all.

We see every game as a big game, and, as you know in tournament football, anything is possible. Each game, we want to keep raising the bar and lifting our standards and putting goals past teams.

Football is my priority. It's a short career, and you have to make the most of it, which is why making the World Cup squad is such a big deal and something I will never take for granted.

You have to make the strikers fear you. Make it difficult for them to get on the ball and go into different areas. That makes my job easier.

Top players now will get bonuses for winning competitions or reaching various stages of them, scoring goals, or keeping clean sheets, but most don't play football for the money, because it's not been in the game that long. They do it for the love of playing.

My grandad gives me an honest opinion on the games and my performance. I really respect him for that. He's really helped me develop as a person and a player, and he's always been honest with me, whether I've had a good or bad game, where I need to improve.

In the past, I tried to put on a brave face and smile after a defeat, but then it would backfire in training, and I'd get frustrated. Now I just embrace it, let it out, and then, two days later, I'm back in training and ready for the next game.

It was a village where I come from, obviously a lot smaller than London, so the support was unreal and close by. To come away to a new challenge, a new level, knowing that I was going to have to step up massively - not having those people around me was a test.

When I was at Doncaster Rovers Belles, I used to play up front or as a number 10, but when I joined Chelsea in 2015, I was more a midfielder, and over the last few years, I've moved into the back four.

I've always stuck my arms behind my back anyway when trying to block a shot in the penalty area.