Ludlow confident her stars will carry on

WALES manager Jayne Ludlow is confident she will have her international stalwarts to call on in their next major campaign - to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Wales Women’s hopes of reaching a play-off berth for the European Championship in 2022 took a significant blow on Friday when Northern Ireland claimed three points on offer to them.

As things stand, they are set to advance ahead of Wales as group runners-up by virtue of a superior head-to-head record. The away goals rule favours Northern Ireland, who drew 2-2 in Wales before a 0-0 draw in the return fixture in Belfast.

Wales will complete their campaign against Belarus at Rodney

Parade tonight. If Faroe Islands manage to pull off a shock win or draw against Northern Ireland on the same night - they have conceded 37 goals and scored 0 this campaign - Wales would make the play-offs if they won too.

But despite the Euros blow, Wales stalwarts Jess Fishlock - the mostcapped Welsh international - and Tash Harding have both gone on record with their commitment to the next campaign, something Ludlow has dubbed “fantastic”.

Ludlow said: “As a group of older players - I’ll put them in a collective because there are a few who are coming to the latter stages of their career - I believe they’re all in the same thought process there.

“They do want to be a part of this, they recognise that at times they may be needed for 90 minutes, and at times they won’t be.

“We’re not trying to do a nice thing here and keep players involved even if they can’t step on the pitch. If they are competitive, they will be staying here.”

Ludlow insists her plans for the match haven’t dramatically changed in light of Wales’ likely Euro fate.

“We haven’t changed the line-up with regards to thinking that we’re just developing players. That’s not what we’re doing, we are setting up to try and win the game.”

As for hopes of a Faroe Islands win or draw, Ludlow added: “I’d love to hold out a slight bit of hope that that’s going to happen, but I would be amazed.”