CYMRU FEATURE
Gemma Grainger spoke to the media last month as she prepares for her second camp as Cymru manager with this friendly international against Scotland.
Back in April the side were defeated by Canada and claimed an impressive draw with Denmark in Cardiff, and Grainger will be expecting to see further signs of progress from her squad as the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers move closer.
“Scotland are another higher-ranked nation which was part of the plan,” explained Grainger. “For us, we're looking forward to being tested by them. As a nation, I know a lot about them and the players know a lot about them as well because they play against a lot of their team week in, week out. So it's going to be a great test for us in many ways, but I think in terms of our mentality and our preparation, a higher-ranked nation really sets the tone for what we're trying to achieve when we go into camp.
“It's a balance of learning more about the players but also learning more about the team and how strong we can be performance wise. We started in April looking at how we want to perform, because we know if we perform, the results will come. We're focused on building on the Denmark performance particularly as that was the last game, and that's got to be our mentality against Scotland. We will be focusing on ourselves, and how can we be better than what we were in the previous camp.
“I'm really excited about the game, because they're going to be great competition for us, and that's what we want and hopefully test us in a different way, and I think Scotland will do that. Every camp is an opportunity and we've got some objectives set. In terms of the Scotland game, it gives us another opportunity to see where we're at.
“One thing I know is not on my side is time, the World Cup qualifiers are coming up in September. Every player is important, and how they compete to be a part of the team is going to be key in this camp. Our mentality is to compete and to win. When you play against higher-ranked nations you always find something out about yourself, whether that's on the pitch or off the pitch, so we've got to look at what we can learn, and that's what this game is all about.
