Sarina Wiegman was thrilled with the response of her England players to their 4-0 thrashing by Spain, but she acknowledged there are still plenty of improvements to be made. 

England rounded off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Ukraine on Tuesday, with Jess Carter, Georgia Stanway and Beth Mead all on target. 

However, it was not enough for the Lionesses to automatically qualify for the 2027 World Cup, with Spain pipping them to the finals after comfortably beating Iceland 6-1. 

The Lionesses' defeat to Spain last Friday was the heaviest of Wiegman's career as an international manager, and it proved to be key in their near miss for qualification. 

England must now go through two rounds of play-offs later this year, with their opponents for the next phase officially confirmed on June 18. 

But Wiegman's side did all they could against a Ukraine side who lost all six of their group games, with England dominant throughout after finishing with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.71 from 26 shots, 10 of which were on target. 

They are also now unbeaten in each of their last 26 home matches in World Cup qualifying (W24 D2), though Wiegman was still left wanting more from her players at full time. 

"I'm happy with how we showed up, how we played the game against a very defensive Ukraine. Everyone was really disappointed after Spain," Wiegman told ITV Sport. 

"We've seen good things and also things we want to improve. We have a year and some things that are wrong that we have to really improve and be ready.

"We're trying out some things, and we need the year to work out which players are best for us. Players are still improving."

Carter opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a header from Lauren James' cross before Stanway slid in England's second eight minutes before the break. 

The win was sealed by Mead's brilliant 67th-minute free-kick, which took her tally for the Lionesses to 40, going joint-fifth alongside Fara Williams in the all-time scoring list. 

Only Karen Walker (41), Kerry Davis (43), Kelly Smith (46) and Ellen White (52) have scored more goals for England than Mead, who was keen to play down her personal achievements and instead rued her team's failure to secure automatic qualification.

"It is frustrating. There are not many teams not qualifying on 15 points," Mead said. 

"It's the nature of the competition, and it's very tough when you are in a group with Spain. We will stay motivated to qualify through the play-offs."

Mead was also asked about her future at club level, with the attacker bringing the curtain down on her nine-year stint with Arsenal at the end of last season. 

It has been reported that the England international is close to completing a switch to Women's Super League champions Manchester City, and Mead said her new team will be announced shortly. 

"I am not telling anyone today, but you will be told very soon," Mead added.