The rescue kittens named after Wales' World Cup stars hoping to bring the team much needed luck

Artemisia gave birth to five kittens, who have all been named after Wales footballers. Credit: Cats Protection

A litter of kittens have been given the names of some of Wales' football stars in the hope they will keep the nation's World Cup dream alive.

Ramsey, Rodon, Bale, Morrell and Lockyer were born just hours before Wales' loss to Iran on Friday, which has left the country with a mountain to climb if they are to progress beyond the group stages.

Wales now need to beat England on Tuesday by four goals to have a chance of going through to the final 16 of the competition.

Wales v Iran: Cymru's hearts broken as Iran score twice in dying minutes

Wales will need every bit of luck after their disappointing defeat to Iran. Credit: PA

The mother of the kittens, Artemisia, was found living as a pregnant stray in Liverpool and was rescued by Wrexham's Cat's Protection Adoption Centre.

The centre's manager, Suzan Kennedy has said: “We are all so proud of our national team making it all the way to the World Cup, so when the kittens were born, we knew we had to give them names to honour them.

“Although the loss against Iran was not the result we wanted, we’re still super proud to see Wales on the world stage, and maybe the kittens will bring us good luck with the match against England next week.”

Staff at the centre say the kittens are still too young to determine their gender and they will need to wait until they're a couple of weeks to find out.

They will remain at the centre until they're old enough to be re-homed.