HAYLEY LADD says Wales are well prepared for what is likely to be their “biggest challenge”.

Rhian Wilkinson’s side are within sight of qualifying for a major tournament finals for the first time in their history, with a two-legged play-off versus the Republic of Ireland standing between them and a place in the 2025 European Championship Finals.

Cardiff will play host to the opening leg this evening and experienced campaigned Ladd has stressed Wales are well prepared.

Ladd said: “For some reason, I feel like myself and the whole squad feel so ready.

“I think that’s probably down to Rhian and her staff. I think the preparation’s been really good, but I don’t know, just as a squad we feel in really good shape and we kind of feel like we’re ready for the biggest challenge.”

Wales had to come from behind to triumph 3-2 on aggregate in their thrilling semi-final success over Slovakia.

Wilkinson’s side managed to recover following a slow start in the away leg and Ladd, who has accumulated 97 caps, is looking for a better beginning this time around.

She added: “There’s two games, obviously. But I think we’re going to waste no time in getting stuck in and getting kind of involved in the game as much as possible.

“We know what we’ve got to do and we obviously know the threats that Ireland pose as well.

“So, yeah, I think the Slovakia games were great in terms of getting us to this stage. But we know we’ve got to kick on.”

Players from the respective camps are sure to know plenty about their opposition and Ladd added: “I think there’s probably an element of familiarity with a few of their key players, which probably does help and I think it’s the same, probably, for them as well.

“So, we know that they’re a really good team. We’ll obviously do our research and we’re doing our analysis to really get to know them in more detail.

“So, when we get to match day, it’s always the same. We feel like we’ve done all the preparation we can do to kind of get to know them as well as possible and then enable us to perform at the highest level.”

Northern Ireland and Scotland are also hoping to reach the finals.

Scotland host Norway this evening and Northern Ireland will welcome Norway for their first leg.

Today’s other play-offs: Poland v Austria; Ukraine v Belgium; Portugal v Czech Republic.