Chelsea starlet is like Arsenal legend and can help England win World Cup, says Jill Scott

Sarina Wiegman's side continue their World Cup preparations in the Arnold Clark Cup over the next week and you can hear live commentary of all of England's games on the talkSPORT network.

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The Lionesses are the defending Arnold Clark Cup champions and followed that up by winning their first major tournament last summer when they won the European Championships on home turf.

Scott was a key part of the squad during the Euros - making four substitute appearances - and became a social media sensation for her foul-mouthed rant at a Germany's Sydney Lohmann in the final.

The former Manchester City midfielder announced her retirement from football last summer and will go down as one of the game's greats having been capped 170 times for her country. She also won every major trophy in the women's game in the UK.

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Having won their first major tournament, Scott believes the Lionesses will go one step further this summer by becoming world champions for the first time.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Scott said: "Now I'm not playing, I don't have to sit on the fence. I'm telling you, we're going to win it. I'm saying it now, England to win the World Cup!

"I was thinking about the Arnold Clark Cup recently and I think without that, would we have gone onto win the Euros? I think it was fantastic preparation. I think the England staff knew exactly what they were doing.

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"Sometimes, people can throw that word belief out there, but I don't think you can actually believe in yourself until you've achieved something. Getting that win against Germany in that Arnold Clark Cup really set us up for that final.

"I would urge everyone to try and get tickets and go and support the Lionesses. It's going to be a great summer again for women's football and it starts with the Arnold Clark Cup."

One player who could be key for the Lionesses this year is Lauren James, who has been in scintillating form for Chelsea in the Women's Super League this season.

"I saw Lauren's goal [against Tottenham] and it was actually incredible," Scott continues.

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"The way that she turns with that ball, she reminds me of Kelly Smith [and] that's giving her a really big compliment. Lauren's doing great. It's fantastic to see her in the England squad as well and with exciting players like that - especially heading into major tournaments - young girls will be just as excited as we are as fans of the team."

Since the Euros win, interest in women's football in the UK has surged with attendances up 227 per cent in the WSL this season.

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The Lionesses also sold-out Wembley for their friendly against USA in October and they will play in front of another sell-out crowd when they host Brazil in the Women's Finalissima in April.

Having captured the hearts of the nation last summer, the Lionesses were quick to pen an open letter to the Government calling on all young girls to be given access to football in PE in a bid to build a legacy and inspire the next generation.

Scott was speaking to talkSPORT with the Football Foundation, having opened the first of 23 football pitches named after each of the Lionesses in their home-towns and hopes the initiative will provide more safe spaces for girls to play football.

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Asked how it felt to have a pitch named in her honour in the Tyne and Wear, Scott said: "To think that maybe the next future Lioness will be running around on here, it's a great feeling.

"When I first joined Boldon Girls, that's when I first realised that there were people like me that wanted to play football. So, that was a great moment for me.

"We were on pitches that weren't very good. I now have no ligaments in my ankles probably because of that. To know that these young girls will be training on pitches where they are safe, they're not going to get injuries, it's well lit - they're going to have floodlights and everything - it will be a dream come true for them."

Life has also changed for Scott as well, after the 36-year-old was crowned Queen of the Jungle after winning ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here before Christmas.

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But despite winning a host of new fans, Scott doesn't intend to forge a career as a media personality and instead hopes to give back to the next generation of women's footballers.