Women’s World Cup qualifiers: Wales aim to make amends against Czechs

Wilkinson reshuffled his starting team in Montenegro, with five changes to the team that started in April’s win in Albania.

Pre-game speculation was that Wilkinson had left out the likes of Rhiannon Roberts, Angharad James, Mairead Griffiths and Ceri Holland to face the Czechs.

The feeling throughout was that Wales could have been better off fielding all their big hitters, as a win – as it turned out – would have given them the upper hand in the group.

Then again, Wilkinson could argue – and with some justification – that the team he picked should have been good enough to see off Montenegro with relative comfort.

But often, Wales lacked the intensity and pace to trouble inferior opponents, perhaps thanks to the Gradsky Stadion heat.

There may be another contributing factor Far from Wales’ ideal preparation, They arrived in Pogdorica 23 hours before kick-off due to an electrical storm in the Montenegrin capital on Wednesday evening.

The team flight was diverted to Italy, with the Football Association of Wales finally arranging accommodation for Wilkinson’s players in the early hours of Thursday morning.

They finally arrived in Montenegro that evening, after a rough night for many and no chance of a proper training session on the eve of the game.

Wilkinson insisted there could be no excuses, and did not blame the disappointing display on chaotic preparations.

But clearly, Wales will expect – and expect – a smooth build-up to the group decider against the Czechs.

“You look at the game and it’s certainly not up to our standards, but now we have to look to Tuesday,” said Wales captain Kerry Jones, who is making his first appearance in Montenegro.

“We know we’re a good team based on our history. We’ve got to come in on Tuesday.”