by Jordan A Jones
WALES manager Jayne Ludlow has selected an experience squad for the vital World Cup qualifier against England.
Ludlow will lead her side out at St Marys, Southampton, next Friday (April 6), in a first versus second match in Group A of World Cup Qualifying.
Mainstay Jess Fishlock, who is Wales’ all-time appearance-maker is named in the squad, along with Loren Dykes, captain Sophie Ingle and record goal-scorer Helen Ward.
Fishlock recently won the W-League title with Melbourne City scoring and assisting once, to beat Sydney FC before returning to Seattle Reign.
Natasha Harding is also in the squad, having scored four goals across the boarder in the Women’s Super League this season, ranking her as the highest scoring Welsh woman in the top flight of English football.
“We have a fairly settled squad with a lot of younger players involved and we have done since the beginning of the campaign,” Ludlow told the assembled media at Cardiff City Stadium.
Laura O’Sullivan is the Welsh Premier Women’s League solo representative, after her League Cup glory with the Mighty Oaks last Sunday, seeing off the challenge of Cardiff Metropolitan University Ladies.
Only four players in the squad have less than ten caps for Wales, as Ludlow looks to go for the tried and tested against the old enemy.
One of the less experienced players is Everton’s Elise Hughes, who only made her first team debut for her club back in February and her performances for the Toffees earned her a call-up in Wales’ senior side for the Cyprus Cup against Switzerland.
“She stepped on the pitch and it was like she had been there for ten years. She has a lot of ability and she’s a competitor,” said Ludlow of Hughes.
Hughes has also been included in the Wales’ U19 squad, as they fly out to Denmark to play the hosts Serbia and Portugal in the U19 UEFA Elite Tournament. That squad includes eight players who have featured for the senior team.
Amina Vine, Alice Griffiths, Shaunna Jenkins, Amelia Ritchie, Gwen Davies, Bronwen Thomas and Chloe Chivers all make up the squad which will play in the six-day tournament.
Jayne Ludlow’s squad to face England:
Goalkeepers
Claire Skinner (Wales Performance Squad), Laura O’Sullivan (Cyncoed Ladies)
Defenders
Loren Dykes (Bristol City Women), Sophie Ingle © (Liverpool Ladies), Alice Griffiths (Wales Performance Squad), Rhiannon Roberts (Doncaster Rovers Belles), Rachel Rowe (Reading Women), Elise Hughes (Everton Ladies)
Midfielders
Jess Fishlock (Seattle Reign), Hayley Ladd (Birmingham City Ladies), Angharad James (Everton Ladies), Nadia Lawrence (Wales Performance Squad), Charlie Estcourt (Bristol City Women on loan from Reading Women), Natasha Harding (Reading Women), Gemma Evans (Yeovil Town Ladies)
Attackers
Helen Ward (Watford Ladies), Kylie Nolan (Bristol City Women), Melissa Fletcher (Reading Women), Kayleigh Green (Yeovil Town Ladies), Hannah Miles (Yeovil Town Ladies
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