Women’s Head coach Kev Johnson is relishing Wales’ three match series against Scotland which starts in Glasgow on Friday night.

The squad will face their fellow Home Nation having risen six places in the latest world rankings to 26th – nice places below Scotland.

And this weekend’s games will be vital preparation ahead of the European Women’s Championships II being held in Cardiff in August.

“After our recent rise in the World rankings, we are committed to learning more about how to improve ourselves both individually and collectively and therefore seek to play higher ranked opposition as regularly as we can,” said Johnson.

“Playing Scotland at this time is perfect preparation for us as we head towards our home Europeans this summer.

“Scotland are to be admired for the way they have developed their programme over recent years and they are busy preparing for both World League Semi-Finals and European A division this summer.

“Whilst there is no doubt this will be a tough challenge for us, we are learning to meet these challenges head on and relish the opportunities to confidently take our game to whoever we face.”

Wales are set to give a debut to Emily Rowlands in the games at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre.

Rowlands replaces the injured Natalie Blyth having impressed in the Challenger squad in recent games.

Johnson added: “Her inclusion is testament to the depth we are now developing with more players pushing hard for future senior opportunities.”

Games: Friday 26th May 19:00 start; Sunday 28th May 13:00 start: Monday 29th May 11:00 start

THE SQUAD: Abi Welsford ©, Leah Wilkinson, Beth Bingham, Danni Jordan, Ella Jackson (GK), Eloise Laity, Hannah Cozens, Joanne Westwood, Julie Whiting, Lisa Daley, Natasha Marke-Jones, Phoebe Richards, Emily Rowlands, Roseanne Thomas (GK), Sarah Jones, Sian French, Sophie Clayton, Tina Evans, Xenna Hughes