Millie Bright

I always love going home anyway; it's where my roots are. I always like to go back. It's a good reminder of where I started and the journey that I still have to go on to get where I want to be.

When you get the relationships right and get to know each other, it really translates onto the pitch.

I don't think I started kicking a ball until I was six or seven. Horses were my first love, so I was occupied with that.

I'm happy staying in the World Cup bubble with England and eliminating the distractions. Besides, I want to enjoy every minute of this unique experience, and I don't want to look back and think that I was just sat on my phone.

I don't know where horse riding could have taken me, and it's something I can always go back to when I've retired from football, but the crossroads came in my life when Chelsea wanted to sign me and make me a professional footballer in 2013 when I was 20.

My mentality has always been focused around the mindset that you have to earn everything. So even if you get told that you're going to play, I take that with a pinch of salt and respect all the comments, but for me, I have to earn my place.

Obviously, everyone's journey is different, and we all have different ambitions and beliefs as kids as to whether we're actually going to be able to play in a World Cup and whether it can be a dream that can come true. For me and for my family, it's very surreal.

It's so busy in London, and I'm used to the countryside, fields, family, the horses and stuff.

I try not to overthink things. If you think too much, that's when the mistakes come in. Keep it basic is what I've been doing well - winning my headers and making sure I win my one-v-one battles. Often, your natural instinct tells you whether to hold or go.

There are times when you might have a bad training session or a bad day, and although I would often go to a team-mate to have a chat if that were the case, it's also great to have the option of expressing your thoughts in a journal if you don't want to bother anyone.

You're so emotionally connected to the game that it's hard to switch off afterwards. It's a good time to have open and honest conversations about your performance and what you can improve on next time.

Spending time with the horses was also a good place to escape to if you were having a bad day, so it was good from a mental point of view.