'I dream of international debut'
Liverpool Ladies defender Gemma Bonner could achieve a dream when the England women's team begin their European Championship against Spain later this week.
Bonner, along with club colleagues Lucy Bronze and Fara Williams, is currently based in the Swedish city of Linköping, where Hope Powell's team will play each of their three Group C fixtures.
The Ladies No.5 will celebrate her 22nd birthday the day after England's opening match and is hoping for an early present in the form of an international debut.
"As a player, you always want to play at the top level. At the beginning of the season I wanted to concentrate on having a good season for Liverpool," she explained to FA TV.
"I knew that if I was playing well week in, week out I would be in with a shout. I was happy that I've done that, I'm happy to be here now and obviously I want to push on and keep my place.
"It would be an achievement that I would be massively proud of. You dream of making your international debut - to be able to do it in a major competition would be even better.
"Hopefully if I got the chance, I would be able to make the most of it off the back of all the hard work that I've put in.
"I'm really proud to be here, named among some big-name players and they've got a lot of experience. There are quite a lot of them who have got over 100 caps. So to be in the same squad as them is a massive privilege and one that I'll learn from."
Bonner was a member of the England women's squad which captured the U19 trophy in 2009 and she believes the crop of players who have since graduated to the senior team can provide a boost.
She continued: "Playing at a younger age group and getting experience at major tournaments always helps.
"We won it that year then came close again the year after, so hopefully the younger players can bring the experience of winning the tournament - we know what it feels like. Hopefully we'll bring something into the senior set-up."
Powell's side have experienced a mixed bag in their preparation matches for the tournament, drawing 1-1 with world champions Japan before suffering a 4-1 defeat by Sweden.
"Playing in those games, you want to be playing against top-quality opposition coming into a tournament. We'll have learnt a lot from playing in those games, albeit we didn't win one," Bonner reflected.
"Maybe sometimes you can learn more from the defeat against Sweden; we've reviewed the game and hopefully we'll take what we can from that game, progress into the tournament and keep improving."