I want to play for England, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I give it everything I can, not just for me but for my team-mates as well.
— Steph Houghton
It is important to have down time between training and matches.
I think there's so many areas within the football game that women are being more involved in, and I think it's great to see.
As captain, I want us to be ambitious; I want us to be winners - but above all, I hope we will show how much we love the game by passing the ball and achieving success through our technical and tactical approach.
In terms of leading by example. I feel as though that's what my game is. Trying to drive the team forward, win my tackles, win my headers.
I have to keep performing well for club and country. That's what I always want to do. If I do that, then that extra media attention comes towards me.
With the likes of social media and outside influences - we're going to be on telly a lot more - I think it's important that you listen to the right people, whether it's your team-mates, your parents, or your coaches, and don't take too much to heart.
I'd like to be more assertive when it comes to confrontation. I'm fine on the pitch, but off the pitch, I'm a bit of a softy.
Serena is an icon of women's sport.
I think that's vitally important, that we get players playing at a younger age group.
My all-time hero for Sunderland was Kevin Phillips. He was the one I looked up to.
When I was named captain under Mark Sampson, there were a lot of questions about whether I was ready for it. I wasn't a certain starter. There were more experienced players than me; I was only 25. I was trying to nail down a centre-half spot, and it was a difficult situation.
Playing with the boys made me a better footballer. It made me more competitive and made me want to win even more. You were playing against the boys and wanted to prove how good you were.
The women's game has grown, but when I was playing at Arsenal, I don't think people realised how good we actually were. I think there's just a perception that we just play football, but we're not very good, and it was a challenge for us to try and prove those type of people wrong.
The support of our fans is vital to everything that we do - we always play for our country and our fans.
I knew there was going to be pressure on me with the captaincy. I knew people would be writing about my performances more than anyone else's, but that's not a problem because I have my dad telling me about my performance every single game, and he is my biggest critic.
I've never, ever set my sights on getting 100 - it's more my family. My dad's been counting down the caps for every single home game, and he's been to every single one I've played in England.
I will always be grateful for having that opportunity to be part of a home Olympic games. It is a memory I will cherish forever.
We want to play against the best in the world, nevermind Europe.
I think a massive part of players wanting to stay in England was to be able to be on the ball every day, playing the sport you love, and being able to class it as a job and dedicating your whole life to it.
I am proud to be captain of an England team who believe in themselves and enjoy the way we play.
For women's football in this country, it's important we do play in the best stadiums, and for me, Wembley is the best in this country.
Everybody is really committed to making the women's game as good as it can be.
You get the best out of the girls when they're enjoying themselves, when they've got a smile on their face - they're working hard on the training pitch, but they're allowed to relax off it as well.
I'm a very motivated person, and that goes hand in hand with being very organised. I always plan what I need to do to get the best out of every day.
I think it's important that we try to showcase what we're about as women footballers.
My role models were Kevin Phillips and David Beckham, and, for me, now girls can look up to female footballers and want to aspire to be them and try to follow in their footsteps and even be better than us.
I'm a professional footballer, and I get paid for doing my job.
We want to be treated as professionals and like the male footballers.
I think women should inspire. It is our duty to inspire young girls to play a sport, whether it's just for enjoyment and keeping fit or to actually go on and try and make a career out of it.
Ever since I've been able to walk, I've always had a ball at my feet.
We want to win. We want to win big football matches.
The captaincy is about putting the team first, making sure the girls are happy - that they're comfortable with the processes we have, the way that the schedule is - to be able to challenge people on and off the pitch: not telling them off, but advising them.
When you're training every day, recovery is so important. I find that foam rolling helps me to make sure I don't get tight anywhere so that I keep mobilised and keep on top of things.
In women's football, you can't plan to go out and win everything in one season. It's not like that.
I think the likes of Alex Scott and Rachel Brown-Finnis have been unbelievable in terms of the punditry they do.
Michael Owen's wonder goal against Argentina in 1998 was one defining memory, and as a Sunderland supporter, I remember crying my eyes out after they lost that play-off final against Charlton. Much as that hurt, it made me realise how much I wanted to play the game.
You want to be winning trophies, and you want to be winning medals.
To be playing in FA Cup finals at Wembley is obviously a dream come true.
Within the girl's game, you have to be motivated to be part of this sport.
My mum was very determined and motivated and always wanted the best for us. That rubs off on you.
I get nervous before every single game, but I think it's a good sign. It means I care and want it to go as well as it possibly can.
As players, we need to try to inspire young girls to keep playing because, at grass roots, we need more girls playing football.
There was no better feeling than lifting that Continental Cup.
It's not so long ago I was paying £250 a season to play. I don't think in my lifetime it will ever get to wage parity with the men, but we have made so many great strides already.
If we, as a group, can change people's view from thinking they're watching football as opposed to women's football, then I think we've been successful.
I always knew I wanted an educational background, and my mum and dad were quite big on that.
Since the World Cup in 2015, we've all experienced an increase in the interest in women's football, which has led to more and more fans supporting the team.
You have to be able to shut out everything else, all the distractions and criticism. There's a lot of work that went on off the pitch, a lot of conversations, to make that happen.
That was something I probably had to go through, a learning curve in terms of trying to develop into the captain I want to be.
