Wales call up five uncapped players for Euro qualifiers

Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson has named five uncapped players in her squad for their final group games in European Championship qualifying.

Wales will travel to Croatia on Friday, 12 July before concluding their group with the visit of Kosovo on Tuesday, 16 July at Parc y Scarlets.

Sunderland forward Ellen Jones, 21, is called up, as are a quartet of teenagers including Celtic’s Amy Richardson and Bristol City’s Tianna Teisar.

Also included for the first time are 16-year old Cadi Rodgers and 17-year old Mared Griffiths who play for the Football Association of Wales' north academy.

"We've had injuries and we are continuing to make sure these camps give us a chance to see our younger players," Wilkinson told BBC Sport Wales.

Wales are already guaranteed a play-off berth as they bid to qualify for a first major finals and are chasing two wins to guarantee them top spot in their group and a seeded berth in the play-off semi-finals in the draw on Friday, 19 July.

After disappointing draws with Ukraine last month, Wales know they will likely need two victories to seal top spot in Group B.

"We went into the last camp wanting two wins, but it was the camp we needed, absolutely, it was a reality check, big learnings for us," Wilkinson said.

"These are not games for experimenting now, we are clear on what we need to be doing in these next two games.

"The draws with Ukraine were not a huge setback, but I'm not going to lie and say they were not a let down.

"Had we walked through our qualifying campaign we wouldn't have been as ready for the play-offs.

"I think feeling a little pain there will help us. We probably should have won at least one game against Ukraine, but we didn't."

Wales will be without Josie Green, who suffered an injury on the last Wales camp, with the defender – currently unattached after leaving Leicester City - joining Elise Hughes, Hannah Cain and Esther Morgan, who are recovering from long-term injuries.

Wales have included their most-capped player, Jess Fishlock, and her Seattle Reign team-mates Angharad James and Lily Woodham, but they will be on a separate training schedule ahead of the Croatia match.

The trio have a club game on the evening of Sunday, 7 July as Reign face Utah Royals.

"We will have lots of conversations with those players and prioritise their rest and recovery," Wilkinson added.

"It's a long flight to Croatia, but they are being led by one of the best ever in Jess Fishlock.

"We can't treat them like the other players. It's a huge amount of travel and recovering from their game. They will miss some training sessions to make sure they are ready to go."

Wales: Clark, O’Sullivan, Middleton-Patel, Roberts, Estcourt, Ladd, Evans, Davies, Richardson, Rodgers, Teisar, Woodham, Powell, Ingle, A Griffiths, James, Joel, Jones, Morgan, Rowe, Fishlock, Holland, Jones, Barton, McAteer, M Griffiths