Wales have their toughest test to come in the Women’s World Cup qualifying rounds.
Manager Jayne Ludlow and her Welsh team are unbeaten, have yet to concede a goal after four matches and stand top of their group, one point ahead of England.
The rivals clash in their next fixture at Southampton during April and that is going to be a huge test for Ludlow’s team.
England have won all three of their qualifying matches and took their goals tally to 15 in a 5-0 win against Kazakhstan.
“We are only halfway through the campaign and we need to keep fighting and keep pushing,” said Ludlow.
“The girls have challenges to meet over the next few months and we focus on the next game and that is a huge one against England.”
Kayleigh Green’s goal secured a 1-0 win for Wales against Bosnia and Herzegovina away and Ludlow was full of praise for her players, saying: ”It is a fantastic result. We can look forward to Christmas now.
“The girls have some big games to come, but we’ve achieved all the targets we have set so far, which is fantastic for us.
“When we come away, it is a tough task for us, I am not sure we played as well as we could have, but we fought and the effort put in is what got us the result.
Wales will return to qualifying action next spring when they travel to St Mary’s to take on England (April 6).
The Lionesses have been in fine form so far in qualifying, winning three games out of three and scoring 15 goals in the process.
Manager Jayne Ludlow and her Welsh team have four fixtures left in the group: England v Wales (Friday, April 6); Wales v Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tuesday, June 7), Wales v Russia (Tuesday, June 12), Wales v England (Friday, August 31).
Wales Women’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Claire Skinner, Laura O’Sullivan.
Defenders: Loren Dykes, Gemma Evans, Hayley Ladd, Rhiannon Roberts, Amina Vine, Alice Griffiths, Shaunna Jenkins, Sophie Ingle.
Midfield: Rachel Rowe, Jess Fishlock, Angharad James, Chloe Lloyd, Kylie Nolan, Gwennan Davies.
Forwards: Nadia Lawrence, Kayleigh Green, Chloe Chivers, Natasha Harding, Helen Ward, Grace Horrell.
England have a big decision to make before they play Wales in the next qualifying game.
Their five-goal win against Kazakhstan was Mo Marley’s last game in charge as interim coach.
Marley has applied to succeed the sacked Welshman Mark Sampson on a permanent basis. Interviews to be held on December 4.
England scored four goals in 12 minutes against Kazakhstan. Mel Lawley scored from close range on her full international debut, and substitute Fran Kirby added a second-half penalty with her first touch.
The Chelsea forward was involved in the two Nikita Parris’ goals and Izzy Christiansen completed the scoring.
