THREE Gwent players have been picked to represent Wales in the women’s European Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic next month.

The 18-strong squad that will travel to Prague to compete in the EuroHockey Championships Division II includes Usk’s Abi Welsford and Newport pair Sophie Clayton and Izzy Webb.

Captain Welsford, who recently won her 100th cap, led the side at the Commonwealth Games last summer.

Clayton also played at Glasgow 2014 but 16-year-old Webb is new to the squad having made a dramatic rise from the under-18s side.

Webb, who plays for Penarth Ladies, is one of three players who recently picked up their first senior caps in the Test series against Scotland.

EuroHockey will be a first taste of senior international tournament hockey for her, Rebecca Heywood (Bristol Firebrands) and Lisa Daley (Swansea City Ladies).

Drawn in Pool B of the tournament, Wales will be up against Belarus, Austria and Azerbaijan in the preliminaries.

A dominant performance in Division III of the EuroHockey Championships two years ago in Athens saw the women’s squad secure promotion while going undefeated.

Head coach Amanda Partington said: “I am really pleased and excited about the make-up of this squad as we go into the Europeans in Prague.

“We have a nice balance of youth and experience as we look to build upon our success two years ago.

“The whole squad have been fantastic to work with post Commonwealth Games last summer and our recent test matches against France and Scotland gave us good opportunity to really test the squad players in the run up to selection.

“The performances put us in good shape heading into July.”

Team manager Ben Eaton said: “This is a really exciting squad. It’s got a great balance of experience and youth and everyone has bags of desire and determination.

“I’m really pleased how some of the younger members have staked their claim and how the other squad members have really kicked on and brought the youngsters through with them.

“The competition will be tough, we have to be mentally and physically tough and we have to hit the ground running.”