Rhian Wilkinson says that 2025 has been a hard year for her Wales side.
They play Poland in a friendly on Tuesday night knowing they have not won in their last ten games.
That extends back to February this year, and includes three successive defeats in the summer’s Women’s Euros – their first time in a major international tournament.
And now they have to plan for a future without their talisman Jess Fishlock, who retired from international football after Saturday’s defeat to Australia.
“We talk about this last year being hard, it’s hard learning lessons like that, we know,” said Wilkinson.
“But we do it together and I think that’s important that it’s not just on the players, it’s how we support them as staff.
“It’s not about finger-pointing, it’s about now Wales has seen what top teams can deliver, we need to try to get there.
“Some of the games have been really painful and others we’re getting so close and we’re knocking on the door, and I don’t think we can lose perspective.”
She added: “We want to push our standards.
“We go out every game and we talk about performance, and I talk about it in terms of the result.
“If we deliver a performance we will get the result, so we have to focus on getting through the game to our standards.”
Rhian Wilkinson: Poland will be a really good test
Wilkinson said that she thought that Poland – who come into the match off the back of a goalless draw against the Netherlands – would be a strong test for her team.
“I think they are a really good test for us,” said Wilkinson. “They’re a strong attacking unit and they’re aggressive.
“I think it’ll be evenly matched in certain areas of the game where we have our strengths and they have theirs.
“I think they work together as a team really well, it’s going to be a bit of a chess game, I think.”
She went on: “We saw them get a result against Denmark, and we know they’re going to really push us, so I’m expecting a tough, tough game.
“Like every game, we’re going to go out there to win, as they do.
“Then we reset and we prepare for November [camp] because all of this is growth and opportunities, so we can hit the ground running next year in [Nations] League B.”
