I’M NO COWARD
Defiant Coleman has a score to settle with Serbia
CHRIS COLEMAN says it would be “cowardly” if he walked out on Wales before their tricky trip to Serbia.
The Wales boss has been linked with the vacancy at his old club Crystal Palace, where he played during the 1990s.
But Coleman is focused on Wales’ next World Cup qualifier at group leaders Serbia on June 11.
It is a crunch game for the European Championship semifinalists and Coleman is still haunted by a 6-1 thrashing to Serbia at Novi Sad in 2012, which led to calls for his head.
The 46-year-old said: “It wouldn’t look very good now if I did jump ship before we go back to Serbia.
“It would look cowardly, going back to where I got my backside spanked. It is a game that I am really looking forward to.
“Anything else is not in my thinking, I promise you.”
The campaign is due to be Coleman’s last with Wales, despite last summer’s glorious run in France, and he could bring forward plans to go if his men are beaten in their next match.
Wales are third in Group D, ahead of their trip to Belgrade – and their star player Gareth Bale is suspended for the crucial game.
Defeat would leave them seven points off automatic qualification, with only four group games left.
If second-placed Republic of Ireland beat Austria at home the same day, even a play-off spot will look out of reach. Coleman, who was speaking after naming his squad for a Portugal training camp, added: “If it comes to a point where we cannot affect our future in this campaign, then I will need to sit down with the powers that be.
“But, points-wise, the gap is not unbridgeable and performance-wise, we are not too far off where we need to be.”
When asked about being linked to the vacancy at Palace, Coleman – who was awarded the OBE last week – jokingly replied: “I’d love to go back to the Palace, I had a good time at the Palace. But I’m sure Prince Charles is not ready for me to go back just yet!”