No excuses as Wilkinson insists Wales will be ready

ByGareth Vincent

BBC Sport Wales

Head coach Rhian Wilkinson says Wales cannot let travel chaos affect their performance in Friday's Women's World Cup qualifier in Montenegro.

Wales endured a nightmare journey to Podgorica, with Wilkinson's squad eventually arriving in the Montenegrin capital less than 23 hours before kick-off at Gradski Stadion.

Wales had originally been due in Montenegro on Wednesday evening, but were forced to divert to the Italian city of Brindisi as a result of electrical storms.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) eventually found accommodation for their playing staff in the early hours of Thursday, but Wilkinson and many of her backroom team were forced to spend the night in an airport waiting area.

Despite the disruption, Wilkinson insists her players are "in good spirits" heading into their penultimate Group B1 game.

"It's obviously not been straightforward, but equally these things happen, and for such a massive delay in our travel plans, I think it's been handled exceptionally and we're just getting on with it," the Wales boss added.

Women's World Cup qualifying

Friday, 5 June at 17:00 BST

Gradski Stadion, Podgorica

"There's not much we can do about weather.

"I'm just really very proud of my staff. It's not nice, right, spending the night at the airport for the staff. But how quickly they prioritise the players, getting them to sleep, prioritising food, all those things - the players have noticed [the staff] have gone above and beyond this trip."

While many staff members were at the airport, Wales' players spent most of Thursday resting at their hastily arranged accommodation in southern Italy.

"They're not aware of half of what's been happening and that's the point," Wilkinson added.

"We don't try to shield them from challenge, but equally we try to make sure their performances aren't affected and that's what we've done here.

"There's no excuses. We'll be ready for the game."

Wilkinson said trying to sleep at the airport was her only option given the shortage of beds available to the travelling Wales party.

"As a head coach, that is all I can do," she said.

"I'm actually the least useful person on match day minus one and two. You know, it's the reality of it.

"I have staff that will be working over, round the clock now, especially the medical team, to make sure that the players are ready to go and they need to be prioritised."

Montenegro is a key fixture for Wales as they fight it out with the Czech Republic to finish first in Group B1, and therefore secure a more favourable path in the World Cup qualifying play-offs which are to come later this year.

The Czechs, who currently lead the way on goal difference, host Albania on Friday before facing Wales in the group's pivotal fixture at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, 9 June.

Wales eased to a 6-1 victory over Montenegro in Llanelli in March, and will be expected to claim another win in the return game despite their far-from-ideal preparation.

Should Wales and the Czech Republic be level on points at the end of the group stage, the winners will be decided by head-to-head records.

If they still cannot be separated, the next tiebreaker will be goal difference - but Wilkinson says that is not a concern yet.

"That's not something we're chasing," she said. "What we've talked about is winning the [final two games of the] group and then we take care of our own fate."