Joe Allen insists Wales are not on their knees - yet. Pic: Getty Images.

Wales’ Joe Allen Backs Gareth Bale And Aaron Ramsey To Answer Their Critics And Insists England Clash Is Not Mission Impossible

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By Graham Thomas in Doha

Joe Allen insists Wales’ final World Cup group clash against is not “mission impossible” and has also defended Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey against their critics.

Wales will go into Tuesday’s game against their oldest enemy requiring two small miracles to occur simultaneously.

Firstly, they have to beat England for the first time since 1984 and prevent their biggest rivals from gaining a seventh successive victory.

Secondly, they must hope for a draw in the other group between the United States and Iran.

If the USA-Iran match does not end in a draw, Wales must beat England by four goals to advance.

The United States must win to progress, while Iran will go through with a draw unless Wales beat England.

 

Asked if Wales were already packing for home after their 2-0 defeat to Iran, which followed an opening 1-1 draw against the Americans, Swansea City midfielder Allen insisted: “It’s not impossible, no.

“It’s a tough task, it’s always uncomfortable when it’s not in your hands and you’re relying on certain things to unfold but while there’s still a chance it’s really simple for us.

“We’re fully motivated, fully incentivised into throwing absolutely everything into getting the win. Then, who knows? Hopefully, there’s a chance we can still get us out of this group.”

Allen came on as a second-half substitute against Iran and for a time added some semblance of calm after other established figures in the teams had failed to subdue the opposition.

Two of those well below their best were captain Gareth Bale and midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Both have come in for heavy criticism for their lack of influence, but Allen believes the individual attention is misplaced.

“They’re two incredible players – they are and they have been for our country,” added Allen.

 

“I don’t think there’s anyone else in the squad who’s reached the heights they’re capable of.

“It’s a huge game coming up, they’re big game players and always have been and hopefully, if any criticism has come their way then they’ll be able to answer a few of those critics with a top performance.”

Allen missed the opening game against the USA because of a hamstring injury which at one stage appeared as it might rule him out of the tournament entirely.

With an intensive personal programme completed, the former Stoke City and Liverpool player managed to make his first World Cup appearance from the bench, but he admitted: “It was mixed feelings in terms of the pride of playing for my country in a World Cup but a very disappointing performance and result.

“We’re not where we hoped to be two games into the group stage. In terms of what went wrong, I don’t think there’s any one thing you could put your finger on.

 

“We’ve gone through everywhere we can improve and so far it’s not been a fair reflection of what we’re capable of.

“That’s been a real disappointment because we can offer so much more and we will certainly will have to do that in the next game.”
Ben Davies has suggested England will be weaker without Harry Kane amid talk that Gareth Southgate should rest his skipper for Tuesday’s clash.

Former England captains Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney have both urged Southgate to rest Kane with qualification for the knockout stages in Qatar all but guaranteed.

England would have to lose 4-0 to Wales to be denied a round-of-16 spot and Kane, who picked up a knock on the ankle in the first group game against Iran, was subdued in the goalless draw with the United States that he was ultimately declared fit for.

Davies said of his Tottenham team-mate, who he came up against in England’s 2-1 win over Wales at Euro 2016: “Harry’s a world-class player and one of the best in the world, so he’s going to make any team better with him in there.

“That doesn’t mean that England don’t have very capable replacements to come in.

 

“Whoever we’re up against, we’re facing a team of world-class players.

“They’re a world-class side. It’s going to be a very tough game, but we have to prep as well as we can, look for areas of weakness they have and try and capitalise on that.

“We’re under no illusions it’s not going to be anything other than very difficult.”

“I don’t think it’s a question of trying to find that belief – we’ve got it in our squad.

“Everybody knows that we’ve got quality in there and we really do believe we can win the game.

“We know it will be hard and we know we’ll have to be at our best to do it, but we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey misses the England game through suspension after being sent off in the closing stages against Iran.

Danny Ward will deputise and Allen is set to start in midfield.

 

On bouncing back from losing to Iran, Davies said: “After every loss it’s very tough to take. We knew the manner we lost in, the last kick of the game.

“It was a tough way to react and bounce back. We’ve had that disappointment and we’ve got no choice but to move on and give everything we can.

“We’re a team that’s set high standards for ourselves and that’s the reason why we’ve got to where we are now.

“That’s the reason why we’ve been critical of our last few results – it’s only because of the bar we’ve set ourselves.

“We know we can play a lot better and we hope to do that in the next game.”

 

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