Gemma Grainger and Jess Fishlock have stood defiant amidst some criticism levelled at Wales ahead of their Nations League game away to Denmark.
Coming into this game, Wales were defeated 5-1 by Germany on Friday, making it back-to-back 5-1 losses.
Sections of the fanbase have criticised the defending and some of the tactics Grainger has used so far, and for the first time, there may be a little bit of pressure on the team to get something in their final Nations League fixtures.
Many will point to the games against France where Wales battled valiantly, and those days for some seem like a long time ago.
Nonetheless, Grainger has played down any problems with her side, insisting that these are the things her team have to go through in order to qualify for a major tournament.
“You can talk about the France games, but they were one off games. You can prepare for a one off a lot more than this. We’ve never been in a position where we’re playing top teams back-to-back.
“We are trying to take steps forward; goals against Germany and Denmark were top class goals. When we qualify for the European Championships, we’re not going to be playing Germany and Denmark in a playoff, we’ll be playing someone of a similar level to us.
“We’re two and a half years into an investment, and we’re making great progress. If the game stopped after 80 minutes against Denmark and Germany, we’re asking different questions.
“You can look at the scores, but if people are talking about the performances, then people need to look at the bigger perspective and also have a bit of realism as well. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves about where we are as a nation. It’s a process that’s going to take a long time.
“The players and I aren’t listening to the outside noise.”
Jess Fishlock has been around the squad for many years and has seen the team in low points and high points.
The OL Reign star says the squad are on a journey and that they need to go through these things in order to improve, something others may have to understand.
“No one wants to lose, we all know that, losing is hard and it sucks, but you can’t win all the time. We want to go and perform in a certain way, and sometimes that just doesn’t happen. For us, we need to take what we can from these games and not dwell on certain things and aspects of the games.
“We have to understand where we are and where we want to be. Maybe it’s not just us that needs to understand that, but others have to understand that as well.
“We’re trying to achieve something that’s never been done, playing against teams that are in and around the top ten in the world, but we’re here because of what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved.
“Now we have to find another level, and we’re finding that level while working on the job. Sometimes it goes perfectly well and sometimes it doesn’t. We’re not going to let the immediate short-term situation affect our long-term goal. If we do that, then we lose everything.”
Team News
News broke this morning that both Ceri Holland and Hannah Cain have departed camp due to injury.
Both picked up knocks during the game against Germany, and Grainger is hoping both will be available for the December matches.
“It’s disappointing to lose them both. They both got injured during the game against Germany and we’ve assessed them over the last couple of days.
“We think it’s important to send them back to their clubs to get the right treatment and preparation. They’re not huge injuries, but they are injuries that we need to make sure are looked after.
“We believe they’re short terms injuries. We could have kept Hannah with us, but we want to make sure we did the right thing for her and Ceri. Hopefully, they will be involved with us in the next camp in December.”
Grainger then went on to say that one of their “finishers” will have an opportunity to step up and start the game tomorrow.
One player who has been highlighted as a finisher in the past has been Ffion Morgan, and Grainger has been impressed with the work she’s done.
“There is an opportunity for someone to start this game who has made an impact as a finisher previously.
“I’ve been impressed with Ffion, and I’ve been impressed with our finishers as a whole. We have to focus on being better individually, and that mentality from Ffion and the other players has been fantastic.”
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