Wales still in contention for top spot says striker Helen Ward

Wales striker Helen Ward believes England can still be caught at the top of Women's World Cup qualifying Group 6.

England have a 100% record in the group and have scored a total of 20 goals in their four 2015 World Cup qualifiers.

Wales are second after a 3-0 win in Montenegro in which Chelsea's Ward scored twice.

"We're only three games into the competition so there's a lot of football still to be played," she said.

"England are undergoing some changes with their management. No one's quite sure who's going to be in charge.

"That might be enough to unsettle them. Maybe they'll drop a few points here and there and we've still got to play them at home.

"Wales away is going to be a tough game for them and we hope we can go into that game still with the possibility of coming in the top two.

"We obviously want to win the group, we know it's going to be difficult but I still think we're in with a great shout."

Brent Hills has been in caretaker charge of England since Hope Powell's departure with a permanent appointment is expected in December.

Wales, beaten 2-0 by England in October, are six points behind the group leaders but with a game in hand.

Jarmo Matikainen's side secured a second win of the qualifiers with a 3-0 win in Montenegro last Saturday and Ward has been pleased with the campaign so far.

"When you compare it to the last campaign, where after three games we only had one point, we're delighted to go into the new year with six points out of nine," Ward told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"We've got a difficult game out of the way in terms of the travel and the timing of it and we've come away with three points.

"We've got to be positive going into every game."

Wales' World Cup campaign resumes with two games in April with a trip to Turkey before hosting the Ukraine.