England boss's call to football fans

England Women's boss Hope Powell has urged Shropshire football fans to replicate the patriotic support they showed the last time the team came to the county.

Powell's side outfit host Norway in the St George's Day friendly at Shrewsbury Town's Prostar Stadium tomorrow night as they continue their preparations for Euro 2009 in Finland.

The ground holds happy memories for the England Women, who beat Spain 1-0 in November 2007 in front of a crowd of 8,753 – a figure which remains a stadium record.

England have already arrived in the county ahead of the game, staying at the Telford Golf & Country Club and training at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall.

"The weather's fantastic and that's an improvement on last time," joked Powell.

"The hotel is superb and we know Lilleshall well so it all bodes well so far.

"Last time we played in Shrewsbury, it was a good result for us and the crowd were fantastic – hopefully they'll come out again."

Norway have built a reputation over the years as one of the strongest international sides in the women's game and are currently ranked sixth in the world.

They enjoyed a long run of domination over England, winning 11 out of 12 meetings – but Powell's Lionesses have come out on top on the two most recent occasions.

"It's an opportunity to test ourselves against arguably one of the leading nations in women's football," the coach added.

"It will give us a marker of where we are and what we need to do to get to where we need to be."