England star Walsh reveals Rice inspiration as Lionesses prepare for Euro 2022

Sarina Wiegman's side have been training at St George's Park alongside England's men's team in recent weeks as they step up their preparations for Euro 2022 on home turf.

You can hear live commentary of the tournament across talkSPORT in July with the final at Wembley already sold out alongside England's group games against Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland.

As host nation, the Lionesses are considered one of the favourites for the tournament and have already tasted success under new head coach Wiegman having won the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup earlier this year.

The Dutch coach knows what it takes to win a major tournament - having won the European Championships back in 2017 with Netherlands - and has drafted in the likes of Rice and Kieran Trippier to help prepare her side for the pressure that comes with being host nation.

For Manchester City midfielder Walsh, it was particularly important to hear from Rice and the 25-year-old was left inspired by the West Ham man's infectious personality.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Walsh said: "We had a talk with two of the male players the other day - Declan Rice and Kieran Tripper - and they had some wise words for us because they played a lot of games at home last year. It was really important to hear from their experiences.

"I've watched Declan Rice and he's an unbelievable player. I don't think there's anything he can't do in midfield to be fair. He's great at breaking up play and great at setting up play at the same time.

"He's definitely a midfielder that I admire and I'm sure a lot of the other girls do as well. I think what makes it even better is that he's such a nice person. When he did the talk, you could really see what football means to him and I think that, in itself, was an inspiration. If I can copy some of his performances in the future, I don't think I'll be going too far wrong."

Walsh was named in England's squad for Euro 2022 by head coach Wiegman last week and believes this summer's tournament presents a huge opportunity to help reshape the future of women's football in the years to come.

"I think, as you said, because it's on home turf, it probably is a once in a lifetime [opportunity]," she finished.

"Just for women's football in this country, it's going to be huge and we're obviously going to be able to have loads of fans and hopefully inspire a lot of young girls and boys to keep playing football. We're all really looking forward to it and there's a real family feel around the group.

"The massive thing with Sarina is that she's very honest. That's something you can all appreciate. Everybody knows where they stand with her.

"She's a really nice coach to be around. She's always happy and positive and I think that definitely makes a difference when you're playing on the pitch because you have a lot of confidence and you do a lot of things that, maybe, you wouldn't necessarily try otherwise. As you could see in the last games we've played, that's been paying off for our attacking players."