Bristol City winger looking to put questions in Wales manager’s head
Ffion Morgan of Wales warms up during the second half. Wales v France in a FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifier at Parc y Scarlets on the 8th April 2022 Credit: Lewis Mitchell
While the Wales attack hasn’t been shining brightly recently, one person who has made an impact whenever she appears in a red shirt has been Ffion Morgan.
The Bristol City winger has made a number of standout appearances off the bench in recent times but hasn’t been able to force her way into the starting eleven.
There’s no doubt Morgan is pushing for that starting shirt, and she thinks she’ll be lining up for the anthem on the pitch sooner rather than later.
“Obviously, I want to play, and I want to be starting in the team. I would grab the shirt and hold on to it for dear life. But I want to come here and compete and show what I can do.
The last couple of games have been really good for me as a player. I’ve come on and I feel confident and feel that I can create chances, and I’ve been lucky enough that the ball has fallen to me, and I’ve been able to do that.
“I want to continue with that and if I can compete and get a chance, that’s what I want to do.
“I want to put my name out with any opportunity I get. I want to put questions in Gemma Grainger’s head, I want to compete, and I do feel like I’m edging closer to that starting spot.
“Hopefully my time will come. If I get 90 minutes, if I get 10 minutes, I’m going to put my all into every performance.”
One factor that’s certainly helping Morgan is that she’s playing week in and week out in the WSL with the Robins.
Lauren Smith’s team have lost every game so far this season but did impress in their narrow defeat to Arsenal on the weekend.
Morgan is hoping the team can pick up where they left off from here on out, and that will help her performances with Wales in the long run.
“We’ve had a tough start to the season. From the Championship to the WSL is a huge step. From a physical point of view to a mental one, you can’t switch off, it’s brutal.
“However, I am really enjoying it. It’s improving me as a player and I’m excited by that because I can help Wales more as well.
“For us as a team, we had a really good performance against Arsenal. Hopefully, we can build on that and build on our in-possession qualities. Hopefully I can get on the ball more and not just make tackles, and also get more chances going forward.”
A new addition to the promotion winning side has been Carrie Jones, who has joined on a permanent basis from Manchester United.
The pair play on opposite wings for Wales, and now with them playing together on a weekly basis, you’d think it would benefit Gemma Grainger exponentially.
The two are also Welsh speakers, and Morgan revealed they always speak the language together, even on the pitch occasionally.
“We’re both still so young and we’ve got so much time left in our footballing careers. Being in Bristol and being able to play with her every week and create that relationship, we hopefully can bring that into each Wales camp.
“During the Tottenham game, I wanted to say to her to do something again, neud e eto, because it was working. But then I quickly realised Angharad James was the full-back! And I quickly thought I can’t say that because I knew she’d understand me!
“Every morning Carrie and I come in and say bore da, sut wyt ti, and it’s nice to have that back having been away from it for so long. It’s just typical, the one time I wanted to speak Welsh on the pitch, which never happens, Angharad just has to be there!”
Wales will need both Morgan and Jones firing on all cylinders this camp, as they try and bounce back into form in the Nations League.
After suffering defeats to Iceland and Denmark, Wales now face a tricky away double bill against Germany and the afore mentioned Danes.
Morgan knows performances have to improve, and said the squad needs to go back to basics and do what they do best.
“We know what we want to do, it’s been drilled into us over many years. We’ve always been hard to beat and when we’re chasing after a game, there will always be gaps and spaces that teams can exploit, and that’s what Denmark did.
“Hopefully we can change a few bits. We still want to get on the ball and create chances and risk a bit more, but we just have to knuckle down on the hard to beat part. That’s who we are as a team.”
Wales face Germany away in Sinsheim on Friday. The game kicks off at 16:45 and will be available to watch on BBC2 Wales.
