England captain Steph Houghton has claimed that the future is bright for the women's game in this country after her side finished third at the World Cup.

Semi-final heartache at the hands of Japan was followed by a 1-0 victory over Germany in extra time on Saturday, and Houghton believes that there is more success to come as the Women's Super League continues to grow.

"I think the standard of the WSL has increased within each season. Clubs are taking it very seriously in terms of allowing players to train full-time," the Manchester City defender told Sky Sports News.

"I'm not going to say that everything is perfect in the WSL because nothing is perfect. Every single season we as players, but also clubs and also the FA as a whole, have to look at how to progress and potentially get the standard even higher than it is now.

"But we also need to have a continuity of fixtures and draw big crowds in. We have to look at the overall game and see how we progress and improve year by year."

England had previously failed to beat Germany in the last 22 matches between the two sides.