England Team Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Boss Craig Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

International friendly: Wales vs England

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

Craig Bellamy says the English player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not pair them with his Wales side.

The Welsh squad meet England in a friendly at the national stadium on Thursday before their crucial qualifying match against Belgium next Monday.

England manager Tuchel has left the such as Jude Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his squad for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.

"England have a ridiculous team, similar to the French," Bellamy remarked.

"They have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is 170 million. Were you a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."

He says making sure Wales can compete with the star-studded rivals is a "driving force".

Bellamy continued: "We don't go off values, but the simple fact is they don't just have a single lineup. They possess multiple and the French and others have the same level. England have many great players and that's a fact."

"A defender went out with injury the other day and there are two dozen others to go! They've got 60-odd footballers. I wish us to be stacked similarly."

These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England ran out easy victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.

The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and world club champion at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.

Bellamy was formerly an assistant at Anderlecht and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.

"He's an incredible coach - his record speak for themselves," he noted.

"I possess a degree of understanding because the club he left I know individuals who have gone in there. I get a glimpse from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "

"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from it. I'd love to get to such heights."

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

Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).

Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).

Attackers: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).