England defender Millie Bright said the Lionesses were being "proper English" in their 1-0 victory over Spain on Wednesday night, rebounding after dropping points in the first Nations League game to Portugal.
Jess Park scored the only goal of the evening at Wembley Stadium as the European champions defeated the world champions, who beat England in the Women's World Cup final in Sydney in 2023.
Vice-captain Bright insisted that England are on a new journey ahead of Euro 2025 in Switzerland with the squad looking vastly different to the team who secured the 2022 title.
"We're on a new journey, and we've been working really hard to build those connections," Bright said after the match. "I think after the last game we wanted to be even more connected."
"To be honest, we spoke about just being proper English tonight and having that fight and that desire to defend for each other, work hard for each other and be hard to beat.
"I think it's so important in football to be hard to beat first and foremost. And obviously getting the win, a clean sheet, I think you've seen the performance from everyone. It's outstanding."
England took the lead in the opening Nations League game in the Algarve but allowed Portugal back into the game to level the tie. It was a trodden path for the Lionesses whose form has dropped off since the World Cup final 18 months ago.
Before defeating Spain, manager Sarina Wiegman admitted she was not concerned about the team's lacklustre form, having only won two of their six previous games.
"I think when you're in the game, it's easier to keep level-headed," Wiegman said. "Yes, we dropped points in the last game, but listen, you can't let that derail you too much because there's more games to play and ultimately it's part of football.
"Some days you have good days, bad days, but like I said, we're on this new journey of building new connections, players coming into the team, coming into the squad, experiencing a lot of firsts to be honest.
"So yeah, different personalities, different characters. So we're trying to just really gel together and I think tonight showed huge improvements from the last game and took a real step forward. The next step now is creating even more chance and getting even more goals."
England were able to secure the win with the singular goal, having nine shots in total while Spain, who are usually exceptionally clinical, were unable to convert any of their 20 chances.
Bright's club teammate, Lauren James, played a crucial role in England's victory. While serving as the focal point of the attack, she also demonstrated significant improvement in her defensive game -- tracking back and making key blocks, a side of her play that fans haven't seen much of lately.
"She's incredible and I think her defensive duties have really gone to another level," Bright said of the 23-year-old. "I think that at this level, it's something that you have to do, even in the WSL, it's so competitive now, but I think she's really added that to her game and it's taken her to a whole other level. She's a fantastic player. You don't need me to tell her that anymore than anyone else does."