Lucy Bronze believes gender should not be a factor when it comes to selecting a successor to Phil Neville as England women's coach. Former Manchester United and England defender Neville is set to step down next year with the English Football Association looking to appoint a replacement to lead the team into the delayed European Championship in 2022. Jill Ellis, England-born but twice a World Cup-winning coach with the United States, Chelsea's Emma Hayes and former Manchester City manager Nick Cushing have all been suggested as potential replacements. "Do I think it needs to be a woman? No. Do I think it has to be someone in women's football? I don't really think that," Bronze told Union JACK radio's The Show Must Go On podcast. Bronze, the reigning European Women's Footballer of the Year, added: "In women's football especially, I don't think that we see that as a difference, whether it's a male of a female manager. "If they know what they're doing on the pitch and they can make us a better team, then bring them in and let's go and win something." Meanwhile, England team-mate Leah Williamson said a decision to curtail the Women's Super League season due to the coronavirus was a "massive shame", and could have a negative impact on the growth of women's football. "It's no secret that the women's game has been jumping and jumping each year to new heights," Williamson said. "So I think that's the biggest fear -- that we'll lose that when we go back and it'll be two steps backwards." jdg/jc