Hope Powell's looking to keep faith in Faye

White, who is captain of England and Arsenal Ladies, missed Tuesday's 2-0 win over Japan with a knee injury and looked short of full fitness in the first two group games against Mexico and New Zealand.

But Powell has hinted she would select her most experienced player as England bid to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time.

The England coach said: "Faye leads by example. She has had a torrid time in recent years with injuries and she has bounced back and worked extremely hard to put herself in a position to play.

"She is a natural leader and the good thing is we have a few of those. The togetherness of the squad and its ambition was highlighted in the last game, so we just need that to continue.

"The players that came in against Japan did a fantastic job, I know there is a depth to our squad, so wait and see what happens."

England have never beaten France in a competitive fixture although they did knock them out of the 2007 World Cup qualifying tournament on away goals after drawing home and away.

France are ranked seventh in the FIFA rankings, three places ahead of England but Powell believes her team have yet to show their best form and can pull off another upset after the impressive win against Japan.

"We've played well in all three group games but not quite to our best yet so hopefully we can get better," she said. "This squad wants to win games and now it's a case of you win you stay, you lose you go home, so we have to prepare ourselves the best we can before we face France.

"They are a very technical side and very aggressive in their play, so it will be a tough contest.

"Both teams know what is at stake. They have some talented players in their squad but so do we."

England's win against Japan ensured they topped Group B and avoided hosts and reigning champions Germany but right-back Alex Scott is not underestimating the threat posed by France.

"We know it's not going to be easy," said Scott. "We have played them before and know it's going to be tough and physical.

"They'll want revenge for what happened in 2007 but we're confident. We are buzzing. We've reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, we've topped our group so it's all positive."