Yankey is closing in on 100 caps for England

Arsenal winger Rachel Yankey has paid tribute to the spirit of the England team that qualified for Euro 2009 with a 2-2 draw in Spain.

"It's just another step for this team," Yankey, 28, told BBC London 94.9.

"We have to keep pushing on and proving that we're capable of playing in these major tournaments.

"Every time we play we've got to push it on; not just for us but for womens football in England. We need to prove we're up there with the world's best."

England came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Spain thanks to goals from Karen Carney and Kelly Smith.

They will now prepare for Finland 2009 and Yankey added: "We've been top of this group all the way through. It would have been a real shame to slip up at the last game.

"That drove us on, knowing everything was at stake and we had to prove a point to ourselves.

"Now we've qualified the hard work starts again we've got to go there and keep playing well. Hopefully, we will do better than we did in the World Cup and go one step closer."