Wales Women v England Women preview
Wales lead 2019 Women's World Cup qualifying Group 1 by one point from England, who have a game in hand
Friday 31 August 2018 19:43, UK
England Women need at least a point to keep World Cup qualification in their own hands when they face Wales in Newport on Friday night.
The only points the Lionesses have dropped in qualification came in the reverse fixture against their neighbours, as they stoutly defended to force a 0-0 draw at St Mary's in April.
That has led England manager Phil Neville to deem Friday's game at Newport's Rodney Parade a "grudge match", with Wales needing victory to assure themselves of a place in the finals.
"We know exactly how we're going to play against Wales," Neville said. "We're going to play a different way than we've played in the last three or four camps.
"We've got a formula and we've been working on it for the last 10 days. We hope to catch Wales by surprise by the new system we're going to play against them."
Wales have played a game more than their visitors, and sit a point ahead of them as things stand, but should England pick up at least a point they can use their final game of qualification to leapfrog Wales into top spot.
That would leave Jayne Ludlow's side at the mercy of the play-off qualification rules. Only four of the seven second-placed sides will make it into the two-legged ties for a place in France next year, and Wales would be in danger of not making the cut with the likes of Scotland in a favourable position to take their place.
But having a chance of making it to next year's finals is in itself a significant step for Ludlow's side, who have never reached the finals of a World Cup or European Championships in their history.
"It's been a fantastic experience for all of us," said Ludlow. "We set some targets at the beginning of the campaign with regard to what was the minimum expectation for us, and that was to step on the pitch and compete every time, and we've done that. We've ticked that box in every single game so far.
"Our preparation will be the same, things have worked so far. We have certain things that we do very regularly. It's worked extremely well with regard to players understanding and acknowledging their roles and responsibilities prior to the game. Nothing changes in that respect."
Team news
Ludlow has a fully fit 20-woman squad to choose from for Wales' final game of the qualifying tournament, including record scorer Helen Ward. Charlie Estcourt was omitted from the squad through injury.
Fara Williams, also ruled out with injury, has been replaced in the England squad by the inexperienced Hannah Blundell, whose debut for the Lionesses came in March. She joins Lucy Staniforth, who was added to the squad on Tuesday.
