Hannah Hampton has vowed to live up to the legacy left by Mary Earps as she prepares to be England's first-choice goalkeeper for Euro 2025.
The question over who England's No.1 would be was one of the questions hovering over selection since the 2023 World Cup.
Earps was England's undisputed first-choice keeper for both their Euro 2022 triumph and journey to the 2023 World Cup final. But since then, Chelsea stopper Hampton has staked her claim for the jersey.
Back in April, Sarina Wiegman admitted Hampton was just ahead of Earps in the pecking order. By late May, Earps announced her retirement from international football. The announcement came as a shock given it was just weeks out from the start of this summer's tournament, but Earps' departure left Hampton as England's undisputed No.1 for the Euros.
"We have to obviously respect what her decision is," Hampton said of Earps. "I think there's been quite a bit of scrutiny that she probably doesn't deserve with everything she's achieved in the game. She put women's goalkeeping on the map for the younger generation ... it was never really a thing, and Mary's changed that.
"I think l've done everything I need to do. I've sent her a text and I congratulated her on a very successful international career and I think that's all I really can do.
"She's been an unbelievable player. We're gonna miss her as a person here. She's a big personality in this team and she glued us all together at times when we needed to. So, I think it's been difficult for everyone to come to terms with what her decision is, but we have to respect that. And yeah now l've got to just go and live up to her legacy. I'll give it my best shot for sure."
Hampton made her senior England debut in February 2022 but was very much Earps' No.2 under Sarina Wiegman. In that understudy role, Hampton was part of the squad that won both the Euros in 2022 and reached the World Cup final in 2023 but since then she's progressed to take the starting spot.
She is now England's only capped goalkeeper in the squad with Khiara Keating and Anna Moorhouse the other two keepers going to the Euros.
"I think it has been a bit of a whirlwind," Hampton said. "Did I think, when I was a young girl, I'd be sitting here right now in the position I am? Absolutely not, but am I proud and am I looking forward to the challenges ahead? I think it's going to be a summer of very exciting football.
"I'm going to be trying my absolute best to fill the gloves of the keepers [who came] before and the success they've had. I think like everyone here, they've had ups and downs in their careers.
"They've fought out of that to be in the position they are today and I'm probably one of them, but it's no different to anyone else here. There have been moments when everyone [in the squad] has probably thought they were in a tough position, but you get each other out of it."
Hampton said it's her underdog mentality which has fuelled her journey to the No.1 jersey. She also faced media criticism earlier in her career, which she's used as motivation.
"I think I've always gone through life trying to prove people wrong," Hampton said. "I was told from a young age that I couldn't play football, that it wouldn't be a profession I could pursue -- the doctors told my parents that. I'm here right now.
"You can't let all the media scrutiny win. I think if you do that it just adds fuel to the fire and I wasn't willing to accept that. I wanted to show who I am as a person and show that wasn't always true. So I just thought: 'just dig in.' I did that and I'm sat here right now. I think I can say that I've proved people wrong."