THE Wales women’s football team are back in Newport this week for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland tomorrow night.

Jayne Ludlow’s team take on the Irish at Rodney Parade (kick-off 7.30pm) before returning to the same venue for their final two UEFA European qualifiers against Israel on September 15 and Austria on September 20.

Wales’ hopes of qualifying for next year’s European championships in the Netherlands were scuppered by a 2-0 defeat to Norway at Spytty Park in June.

But star player Jess Fishlock is concentrating on building towards the next qualifying campaign with a young and talented squad.

“We’re really excited,” said Fishlock. “We haven’t been together for a while now and we always enjoy being together.

“We’re looking forward to the next campaign, which is really important for us, and we’re really excited.

“We’re going to have to look past the Euros now because we can’t qualify and look to the next campaign.

“Those young girls are going to be huge players throughout that campaign so this is why these games are so important.

“Not just for them but for the whole group,” she added. “We have to get used to them and they have to get used to the standard we want and the way Jayne wants us to play.

“So friendlies are always important. The result is not the main thing – it’s about what we get out of it and hopefully we can get good things out of this one.”

Fishlock insists the players have got over the disappointment of missing out on next year’s finals.

“The team spirit is good, it’s always good,” she said. “We’ve got a good bunch of girls and good personalities. It’s always a good camp, it’s always fun.

“We’re just enjoying being around each other now and hopefully we get the result we want.”