Wales learned ‘painful lesson’ in defeat to Italy – Rhian Wilkinson

Rhian Wilkinson insisted Wales would not suffer any psychological trauma in Switzerland after being thrashed 4-1 by Italy at their Women’s European Championship send-off.

Wilkinson suffered the biggest defeat of her 15-month reign as Italy scored four times in the first half of a Nations League finale in Swansea – the Wales boss calling it a “little bit of capitulation”.

Jess Fishlock produced some late cheer with a stunning consolation eight minutes from time, scoring off the underside of the crossbar from 35 yards for her 47th Wales goal.

‘Exposed’

“The first half felt like a punch in the face,” Wilkinson said after Wales’ final fixture before their Euros opener against the Netherlands in Lucerne on July 5.

“Let’s be clear, that was not a performance that I expect from this team.

“Obviously this is a painful lesson and this is the first time that we’ve really been exposed.

“There’s no psychological damage, there really isn’t. I think we’ve had a lot go our way and I’m not naive.

“There’s been a few games where we’ve got away with things and then we’ve managed to get a foothold in the game.

“This team punished us for every mistake, and that’s something that we talk about as a team.

“We’ve got to react faster, we’ve got to fix lines. I don’t just mean the players, I mean technical staff. This is a big lesson for us.”

Relegated

Wales were already relegated from the top tier of the Nations League after losing to Denmark 1-0 on Friday.

They finished with a record of two draws – both against group winners Sweden – and four defeats and have been unable to bridge the gap between themselves and opponents ranked in the world’s top 15.

There was more bad news for Wales as goalkeeper Olivia Clark, already sporting a black eye suffered in the Denmark game, was forced off before half-time with a head injury.

Clark had required treatment for a head injury 15 minutes earlier after being caught by her own defender Hayley Ladd, but continued before conceding a third goal.

Wilkinson said: “She had a significant black eye from the Denmark game, we did the proper protocols for concussion.

“We were positive she was in a good spot but when you hit your head again, you don’t take risks.

“Two head hits in a week is not good, so we decided to pull her.

“We weren’t messing with this and took her out, but I’m not concerned there’s any lasting damage.”