69 Quotes by Nikita Parris

Every time I step on the pitch, I think about winning and putting on a performance that ensures my team comes out on top.

I do a bit of boxing in the off-season to stay fit - it's a different kind of fitness.

Ever since I was kid, I dreamed of playing for England.

Playing at the Women's World Cup is my long-term goal and, hopefully, I can contribute to winning a medal.

It was never a case of male and female when I was growing up. I played with my cousins, my friends. From a young age, I played on the local streets, just with my neighbours. The majority would be boys, but a couple would be girls, so I never really thought too hard about it.

There weren't any opportunities to be a professional women's player until I was 16 and the WSL was formed.

As a young kid, you never really understand what it takes to be a footballer: what it's like after you've won or what the changing room is like after a loss, or, as an individual, have you played a good game? Have you played a bad game?

Let's build women's football from the bottom before we get to the top; it's not about building from the top to get to the bottom. We can talk about the Etihad and Man United's ground, the Theatre of Dreams, in a few years' time. Let's fill the Academy Stadiums, the Kingsmeadows, first of all.

Our under-19s, under-20s, under-17s teams are all getting into Euro finals, World Cup finals, winning bronze medals. We're winning bronze medals; it's about that final step now. We've got to punish teams. In every game - youth games, senior games - just to push the game further.