England junior players were given inside access to one of the biggest clubs in Europe when they dropped in online to a training session at Linz AG Froschberg.

The players were able to watch a one-hour session at the Austrian club via Zoom, before a 45-minute question and answer opportunity, including with leading European player Liu Jia.

Linz are multiple winners of the Champions League, while 38-year-old Liu Jia’s accolades include being European women’s singles champion in 2005 and having competed at the last five Olympic Games – carrying the Austrian flag at the opening ceremony at Rio 2016.

English duo Tin-Tin Ho and Denise Payet have both trained and played at Linz during their careers.

Around 35 junior players joined the session and squad coach Marcus Gustafson said: “The purpose was for our young players to get a glimpse of what it looks like in one of Europe’s leading training environments, to watch the practice and listen to their manager Robert Renner talking about what expectations the club has of the players.

“There was also the opportunity for our juniors to ask Liu Jia about her career, listening to her insights in terms of mental strength, strategies of the game and how to be so competitive at a high level throughout her long career.

“There were a lot of learning opportunities for our players and it was good to see them open to that. We’d like to thank Linz very much for providing this opportunity.”