Three Lions Squad Depth Called 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

International friendly: Wales vs England

Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Craig Bellamy says England's player pool is so impressive that a boxing promoter would not pair them against the Welsh team.

Bellamy's men meet England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.

National team coach Tuchel has left the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

"The English have a incredible squad, like France," Bellamy remarked.

"They have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."

He says ensuring Wales can face the talented rivals is a "driving force".

The Wales head coach continued: "Our team do not rely on market prices, but the reality is they don't just have one team. They possess multiple and the French and others are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."

"One right-back was ruled out injured the recently and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They have over sixty players. I wish Wales to be stacked like them."

The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the English emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a group match before the previous England team made it to the last eight.

The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.

The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at the Belgian side and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at Bayern Munich.

"He's an outstanding manager - his achievements is proven," he added.

"I possess some sort of insight because the team he departed I know individuals who have gone in there. I gain a glimpse there of how he works and it's remarkable. "

"His strategic planning is top level and I aimed to be facing that - see how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from it. I aspire to reach that level."

Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).

Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Forest).

Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester - loaned by Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).

Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from Liverpool), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).