IT'S not often that a footballer is put in the shade by his partner – but Stephen Darby might have to get used to it.

The City skipper may be a famous face around Valley Parade but, even with last season's FA Cup exploits, he won't have the same public profile as his girlfriend.

Not when you're going out with the England captain!

As Steph Houghton's significant other, Darby has noticed how the attention has ramped up since the success of the Lionesses in the Women's World Cup.

He admitted: "It's changed a lot. With all the coverage and the interest in it now, the profile of the girls is going to keep getting bigger.

"But Steph takes it in her stride because she's so professional. She sacrifices a lot and gives everything she's got to the game. You can see why she is the England women's captain.

"We have different schedules, so it can be tough to meet up, but we make it work.

"It does help the fact that we both know what it takes to do well and what you have to sacrifice to be in the job. We both understand what each other have to go through every day and that's a definite advantage."

Darby managed to slip over to Canada for ten days to catch two England games during the tournament – and was there to see Houghton score in Ottawa.

He said: "I caught the last group game against Colombia and then the one against Norway when she scored. That was obviously a good one to be at.

"The atmosphere was brilliant. It was a great tournament and great to see her playing – especially when she got the goal.

"The women's game is growing week by week, especially with how well they did in the World Cup.

"The interest in it was unbelievable and the way that gained momentum from the first game right the way through. The whole country was getting behind them.

"The girls did absolutely brilliant. I thought it was fantastic what the England women achieved.

"It wasn't just the bronze medal they won but far more beyond that. It's what they've done in terms of raising the profile of women's football and women's sport as well."

Darby was impressed with the overall level of play in the tournament and believes that has opened eyes.

He said: "Everyone can see that it's a great standard, not just me. The attitude in the World Cup was fantastic. The girls are passionate, they love playing the game and they are honest.

"The football they play is very good. You only had to tune in to watch any of the games to see that.

"The girls wear their heart on their sleeves and the passion they showed throughout the World Cup gripped everyone the most."

City's own indifferent start has frustrated the fans after the buzz of topping 18,000 season-ticket and flexicard sales over the summer. But Darby remains confident the team can live up to the greater expectations this season.

He said: "It's incredible the number of season tickets we've sold this year. You'd look at the number every couple of days and it kept going up and up.

"But that doesn't surprise me with this set of fans. I've said before that they are some of the best in the country and the way they've supported us in the last few years has been brilliant.

"You want to be playing in front of crowds like this. They are probably a massive part of why players join this club.

"You talk about the extra pressure but we put that on ourselves to do well. We set our standards high and we have to meet them every day in training and week in, week out on the pitch.

"The squad is changing and it can take a while but we know the quality is there. We've got bags of ability – we see how good the new lads are on the training pitch.

"We've shown some good stuff at times, even though the results haven't been there. Now it's about putting that together for 90 minutes and I know that will come."