ANOTHER important voice in English football has added weight to the praise for Barrow ace Georgia Stanway.

England captain Steph Houghton has encouraged rising star Stanway to push for the pinnacle of the women’s game.

With nine months to go until Euro 2017 kicks off in the Netherlands, the race for places in Mark Sampson’s squad is on, and 17-year-old Stanway is one of those who could make a late dash.

The forward, whose flexibility between central and wide roles weighs in her favour, is knocking on the England door after an impressive season with Manchester City Women. Sampson has already spoken of her having a bright future with the England senior team.

She might have been considered for a recent senior England training camp, had she not already been tied in to Young Lionesses duties leading up to the Under-17s World Cup in Jordan, where she scored in their opening group game against North Korea.

England responsibilities at junior level meant the Dowdales School alumnus missed Manchester City Women – whom Houghton also skippers – wrapping up a double trophy success in the last fortnight.

But Stanway played her part during a campaign that has brought Women’s Super League and Continental Cup trophy success.

Six goals in 14 appearances looks impressive, but especially so considering she started only four of those matches in her first full year with City following a move from Blackburn Rovers.

“Credit to Georgia, she’s a great kid and she listens and she works hard,” Houghton said.

“She’s earned her way into the City squad and rightly so, she’s been performing very well. As a striker, you want to be scoring goals and she’s done that.

“It’s important she just keeps her head down, makes sure she works hard and anything’s possible for her.

“If she wants to work her way through the ranks she’s got to keep performing for her club first and foremost.”

Houghton predicted Stanway would play a “vital” role at the ongoing World Cup in Jordan, where England’s youngsters started with draws against North Korea and Nigeria. They need to beat Brazil in their final group match on Saturday to be sure of a place in the quarter-finals.

“She’s enthusiastic and she’s got energy,” said 28-year-old Houghton.

“She goes in for tackles that not a lot of us would go in for, so I don’t think we want to take that away from her. If she keeps listening and keeps improving and working hard she can be as good as she wants to be.”

Houghton was first called up by England as an 18-year-old, with this month marking 10 years since that introduction to senior international football.

“It’s important we give the avenues for youngsters to come through,” Houghton added. “They have to earn a right to get in the squad and I think sometimes the hardest bit is trying to get in the squad.

“We want to be competitive within the squad so when we go to the Euros and play against the best teams in Europe, we are one of the best teams there.”