Nations League: Women’s game getting ‘tighter’ as Wales eye Sweden scalp

Mayzee Davies was handed her first start for Wales against Italy and won the Welsh Player of the Match award.

Mared Griffiths also made her debut in the Monza defeat as Wilkinson continued to stick to her promise of developing her squad with an eye on this summer’s Euros.

“We said early on that we wouldn’t qualify for the Euros if the least experienced members of the team didn’t feel as worthy of qualifying as the most experienced,” added Wilkinson.

“That is a hard thing to do. These women have been trying to achieve this goal for years.

“It’s a massive testament to the more senior players on the team for how they’ve made them feel such an important piece of the team very quickly.

“We have young players stepping on the field and they don’t play frightened.”

Wales are unbeaten on home soil under Wilkinson and are expected to be backed by the biggest home crowd outside of Cardiff when they take to the field against Sweden.

Despite planning ahead for group stage matches against Netherlands, France and England at Euro 2025, Wilkinson stressed the Wrexham crowd will see a side that will be set up to secure a positive result against Sweden.

“At no point have I said that these (Nations League) games and results don’t matter, they do matter,” added Wilkinson.

“We’re out to win every game we play. Equally, I will not be a coach that sacrifices the team’s development just because I’ll do anything for the win.”