Jess Fishlock lined up for Wales coaching return if team reaches play-off final

Jess Fishlock will return to the Wales national-team set-up as a coach if they reach the Women's World Cup play-off final in December, head coach Rhian Wilkinson has said. BBC Sport Wales reported that the plan does not involve a playing comeback for the country's most-capped footballer, who retired from international duty last October.

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Wilkinson disclosed the possible coaching role after Fishlock jokingly offered to make herself available as a player before the semi-final squad was announced on Tuesday. Wales are missing several senior players for the tie against Albania, but Wilkinson has ruled out reversing Fishlock's retirement. She said the midfielder remained capable of contributing on the pitch while maintaining that her departure after Wales' European Championship qualification had come at the right time.

Fishlock, 39, is still playing for Seattle Reign and scored twice in their win over Boston Legacy last weekend. Those goals took her to 52 in regular-season matches for the club, moving her ahead of Megan Rapinoe's previous record. Her continued club form has therefore not changed the distinction Wilkinson is making between a return to international football as a player and a role on her staff.

Reign commitments will keep Fishlock occupied when Wales visit Albania on 9 October and host the return match in Llanelli four days later. She has said this will be her final year playing club football. Her involvement with Wales in December remains dependent on the team progressing through that first play-off tie; it is not an unconditional appointment for the next international matches.

Another recently retired Wales player, Kayleigh Barton, will join Wilkinson's staff for the Albania games. Fishlock also has recent experience helping the national team away from the pitch, having served as a technical assistant for the opening match of this qualifying campaign against the Czech Republic in March.

Wales beat Albania twice during the group stage of World Cup qualifying. If they advance again, they will face either Norway or Romania in a two-legged final in December, the round for which Wilkinson intends to bring Fishlock back into the coaching group.