Wales bid to return to top of the group

NEWPORT STADIUM 7pm

WALES WOMEN v RUSSIA

WALES can return to the top of their Women’s World Cup qualifying group with victory over Russia at Newport Stadium tonight (7pm).

A solitary goal from striker Kayleigh Green proved to be the difference between Wales and Bosnia at the Liberty Stadium on Thursday night.

But, while the 1-0 win moved Wales back to the top of the group, England went back into pole position on Friday with a 3-1 win over Russia in Moscow.

However, Wales remain undefeated after six games, and incredibly are yet to concede a single goal, an achievement matched only by Group 3 leaders and European champions the Netherlands.

“We’re very proud of the performance and the result on Thursday,” said Ludlow.

“It’s kept us on a journey, and I don’t think anybody involved at the start of this campaign would have thought that we would be in this position right now. We’re obviously still a developing team with things to work on, but we’re extremely happy.

“The group has a whole proved that they do listen to instruction,” Ludlow added. “They went out in the second half and they changed it. It’s kept us on the road to potentially making history.”

But Ludlow knows, that with success comes an expectation, and her side are aware of that.

“The expectations with regard to our performances is to just be better in certain areas than we have been in the previous game, and that’s no different going into Russia,” she added.

“There’s areas we can improve on, and there’s areas we’re actually really pleased with, but there’s lots that we can definitely improve on.”

Wales could well be unchanged for tonight, with record cap holder Jess Fishlock looking to celebrate being awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

And Green, the scorer of the winner against Bosnia, hopes the fans will again come out in force.

“It’s great to have them singing and cheering throughout the game,” she said. “It lifts us up on the pitch and right the way through.”

Wales and Russia played out a 0-0 draw in St. Petersburg last October, and while Elena Formina’s side have a game in-hand over their opponents, Wales now have a seven-point advantage over Russia heading into tonight’s match

The seven group winners will automatically qualify for the finals in France, while the four runnersup with the best record against the teams first, third and fourth will head into the play-offs.