Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey will 'answer critics' to perform in Wales' do-or-die England World Cup clash
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Updated 27/11/2022 at 16:49 GMT
Joe Allen has backed Wales stars Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey to deliver big performances against England after they came in for criticism following defeat to Iran. Wales are bottom of Group B ahead of their must-win clash with the Three Lions, and their two star men were poor in a 2-0 loss to the Iranians. But Allen backed them to silence their doubters on Tuesday.
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Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey will silence their critics and produce "a top performance" in Wales’ must-win World Cup game against England, believes Joe Allen.
Wales need to beat England on Tuesday to stand any chance of progressing to the knockout stages after picking up one point from their first two games against the USA and Iran respectively.
Bale and Ramsey, who are widely considered to be Wales’ two best players, both came in for criticism after poor performances in Friday’s disappointing 2-0 defeat against Carlos Queiroz's Iran.
But Allen, who returned from injury to come off the bench in that game and is now fit to start against England, gave his team-mates his full backing.
"Two incredible players - they are and have been for our country," said 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."
Wales’ first World Cup campaign since 1958 is at risk of ending early, as they sit bottom of Group B after two games.
Rob Page’s side have one point, while England have four, Iran have three and USA have two. They must now beat England and hope for other results to go their way.
"It's not impossible," said Allen. "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."
There have been some calls for Gareth Southgate to rest England captain Harry Kane for the game after he picked up a knock in the Three Lions’ opener against Iran.
England are guaranteed to reach the last 16 unless they lose by four goals to Wales.
Wales defender Ben Davies is a team-mate of Kane at Tottenham Hotspur and was asked about the situation.
"Look, Harry's a world-class player and he's one of the best players in the world,” said Davies.
“He's obviously going to make any team better with him in there, but that obviously doesn't mean that England haven't got very capable replacements to come in, and whoever we're up against, we're facing a team of world-class players."
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