Three Lions Team Depth Labelled 'Absurd' - Welsh Boss Craig Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

International friendly: England v Wales

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

The Wales head coach states England's squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers would not match them with the Welsh team.

Bellamy's men face England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.

England manager Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

"The English have a ridiculous squad, similar to the French," Bellamy said.

"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."

Bellamy explains making sure the Welsh team can compete with the talented opponents is a "driving force".

The Wales head coach continued: "Our team do not rely on values, but the simple fact is England don't just have one team. They have two, three, four and France and other nations are similarly stacked. England have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."

"A defender was ruled out with injury the recently and there are 24 more to choose from! They have 60-odd players. I'd love Wales to be well-equipped similarly."

These two nations most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when England ran out comfortable victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the last eight.

The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his home country.

Bellamy was formerly an assistant at the Belgian side and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.

"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his achievements is proven," Bellamy added.

"I have some sort of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's remarkable. "

"His tactical detail is top level and I aimed to be facing that - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I can learn from that. I'd love to get to such heights."

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

Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).

Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).

Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).