Former international Sue Smith admits the controversy surrounding the FA following Mark Sampson departure as England boss “is a real mess”.
Sampson was sacked as England head coach after details emerged of "inappropriate and unacceptable" behaviour during his previous role as boss of Bristol Academy.
"It's a mess. It's a real mess and I think anybody associated with women's football thinks that and it's just a difficult time," Smith told Sky Sports News.
"We've always wanted media coverage and exposure, we want to raise the game but we don't want to raise it like this. You want it to be for football reasons.
"The fact that England have come off the back of a 6-0 win over Russia - which was a fantastic result - has been forgotten because of what has happened with Mark Sampson.
"It's a difficult time for women's football but I think it is something they can get through."