Wales head into their final Nations League match against Iceland needing results to go their way to secure the top spot.
Starting the day two points behind group leaders Turkey, Wales must beat Iceland and hope Turkey lose to Montenegro to leapfrog them in the table. Alternatively, a draw in Montenegro will give Wales a chance to win the group if they score four clear goals against Iceland.
Wales will be without several key players with Kieffer Moore and Wes Burns among those who have withdrawn from the squad since manager Craig Bellamy named his squad last month.
Should Wales avoid defeat tonight, Bellamy will become the first Wales manager in history to remain unbeaten in his first six matches. Cai Parry, a Sports Writer at ClickOut Media, says he has “made the most of his short time with the players”.
Parry said: “I feel players like Joe Rodon and Ben Davies have shown a different level since Bellamy [came in]. He’s worked with Conor Roberts before, we’re seeing Neco Williams utilised in a few different positions as well.”
“[Bellamy’s] made it clear the team gets a lot of time for meetings and analysis for each match and it’s clearly working.”
The last time the two teams met, Wales raced to a two-goal lead through Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson before Iceland equalised through full-back Logi Tómasson and a Danny Ward own goal. Iceland could beat Wales to the promotion play-off with victory tonight, but they will be without Tómasson who is currently suspended.
Parry expects Iceland to defend deep and use the counter-attack but thinks Wales should be able to win.
He added: “We’re going to have to dominate possession but I think we will do that. We’ve shown we’re capable of managing the game like we did in Turkey and I think we can secure a win, maybe with a substitute from the bench.”