Wilkinson reshuffled her starting side in Montenegro, with five changes to the team which began April’s win in Albania.
The sense before the game was that Wilkinson omitted the likes of Rhiannon Roberts, Angharad James, Mared Griffiths and Ceri Holland to keep them fresh to face the Czechs.
The feeling come full-time was that Wales might have been better off fielding all their big hitters, given that victory – as it turned out – would have given them the upper hand in the group.
Then again, Wilkinson might argue – and with some justification – that the team she picked should have been good enough to see off Montenegro with relative comfort.
Too often, however, Wales lacked the intensity and tempo to trouble inferior opponents, which was presumably thanks in part to the Gradski Stadion heat.
Another contributory factor may have been Wales’ far from ideal preparation, after they only arrived in Pogdorica 23 hours before kick-off thanks to Wednesday evening’s electrical storms in the Montenegrin capital.
The team flight was diverted to Italy, with the Football Association of Wales eventually securing accommodation for Wilkinson’s players in the early hours of Thursday morning.
They finally made it to Montenegro that evening, after a rough night for many and no chance for a proper training session on the eve of the game.
Wilkinson had insisted there could be no excuses, and did not pin the blame for a dispiriting display on chaotic preparation.
But clearly, Wales will hope for – and expect – a smoother build-up to the group decider against the Czechs.
“You look at the game and it’s definitely not to our standard, but now we have got to look towards Tuesday,” said Carrie Jones, Wales’ skipper for the first time in Montenegro.
“We know we are a good team based on our history. On Tuesday we have got to turn up.”
