Women’s World Cup qualifying: Lessons to be learned as Wales chase top spot

“It was about the three points but lessons need to be learned,” former Wales striker Gwennan Harries told Match of the Day Wales.

Wilkinson’s side had overwhelmed Albania in a 4-0 win in Wrexham four days earlier, when the hosts’ only frustration was that they did not score more goals.

But the return fixture had a very different look, with Wales struggling for fluency in possession as Albania sat deep but carried a threat on the counter-attack.

“At the minute, we’re probably not seeing Wales at their best and we’ve struggled at times to break down teams who sit back,” said another ex-Wales forward Helen Ward on BBC Radio Wales.

“That’s where a Jess Fishlock can do something magic.

“We don’t have her anymore, so someone else is going to have to take that responsibility.”

The one goal Wales did manage was as scrappy as their performance, Roberts bundling home from a Lily Woodham cross with Albania claiming the ball had gone in off the veteran defender’s arm.

There were other opportunities for Wales, Mared Griffiths coming close on a couple of occasions and Ingle shooting straight at Albania keeper Rajmonda Spahiu having seen an earlier effort ruled out for offside.

Had one or two of those chances been converted, the evening would have had a different feel.

As it was, there was tension in the air right up until the final whistle, with Safia Middleton-Patel making a late save from Fortesa Berisha having earlier seen Ilarja Zarka’s drive rattle the bar.

“I thought Albania were really good,” said Ingle. “They blocked up, made it hard for us.

“They defended really well and they nearly punished us on a few transition attacks, so we were quite lucky at times.”