Allen insists no team has scared Wales as he defends pal Taylor
JOE ALLEN is adamant that Wales can still win all five of their remaining fixtures to qualify for the World Cup next summer.
At the half-way point in Group D and four points adrift of second spot, the midfielder insists none of their rivals have done anything to cause them concern.
‘I thought we were growing into the game and it looked like they were tiring,’ Allen said. ‘Unfortunately we went down to 10 men and from that point on it was always going to be difficult to get the win, especially with the way they still set up.
‘I’m sure they will see it as an important point but it’s frustrating for us that we didn’t get all three. That’s what we came for but I think at this stage of the group, we’ve played everyone once and there are no teams that have really scared us in this group. We can take confidence from that.
‘We can take three points off everyone and that’s what we’ve still got in our hands which is important. We’re still unbeaten, which doesn’t really count for much because it’s about points. This group [of players] is capable of doing special things. We hope that we can do it again.’
Chris Gunter, who moved level with Craig Bellamy’s haul of 78 appearances to become his country’s joint-third cap holder, also stressed the need for Wales to turn draws into victories after taking only a point from each of their last four games.
‘We are left in a position where we need to put wins together. We are only half way through and we have to put a winning sequence together,’ he added. ‘We haven’t got what we think we deserve and we are more than capable of putting a run of wins together. It is still in our hands.’
Chris Coleman’s side travel to Serbia in June without the suspended Gareth Bale after his yellow card ruled him out, while Neil Taylor was shown a straight red for his leg-breaking challenge on Seamus Coleman.
The Ireland captain suffered a double fracture of his right tibia and fibula and faces 12 months out after undergoing surgery.
‘We’re missing Gareth for Serbia but while we can’t replace him directly, we have to cope without him and get a result,’ Gunter added. ‘We have managed that in the past. We are more than capable of going there and getting a result.’
Allen backed up his teammate’s assertion as he called on the Wales squad to rediscover the spirit of Euro 2016.
‘It’s always disappointing when players miss out through suspension but in our last campaign we had it,’ the midfielder continued.
‘I was one of the ones who missed out but this group of lads, that’s what we’re all about, dealing with things like that and looking forward to that game and hopefully three points. We’re going to miss him (Bale).
‘I’m not going to try and deflect from that. We’ve had games without Aaron [Ramsey], games without Ben [Davies] and we’ll just have to deal with it. Serbia will obviously be glad that he’s not going to be playing but we’ll certainly feel that we have enough to go there and overcome them.’
The major talking point from Friday’s clash was Taylor’s challenge on Coleman, and Allen insisted his close friend and former Swansea City teammate was devastated by what happened.
‘I certainly didn’t see what happened. I didn’t have the best view and it goes without saying that I think everyone hopes it’s not as bad as it looks. I hope it’s a good recovery.
‘He (Taylor) is in bits to be quite honest. He’s one of my best mates, he’s a great guy and he’s really disappointed that one of his tackles has ended up with someone getting hurt. Unfortunately in football, it doesn’t happen too often but these things can happen.
‘There’s no malice in the tackle. I haven’t seen it back and people will have their own view on the tackle itself but he certainly wouldn’t have intended to hurt anyone. I know him as well as anyone. Everyone is disappointed and from Seamus’s point of view it doesn’t look great.’
Allen was also involved in a skirmish with Stoke colleague Glenn Whelan towards the end of the first half when the Ireland midfielder caught him with an elbow to the chin.
‘Yeah, he’s given me reassurances he didn’t mean it,’ Allen explained. ‘We get on great. It happens when you come up against players you know, and teammates. There are no hard feelings there at all.
‘I’ll have to look at it back. At the time I thought I was caught with an elbow, I have to be honest, but who knows?’