Scottish Daily Mail

RETURN OF TRIO A MAJOR BOOST FOR THE WELSH

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WALES have been handed a boost ahead of their opening Euro 2016 match against Slovakia with Joe Ledley, Joe Allen and Hal RobsonKanu all returning to full training. But Chris Coleman admitted it would be ‘reckless’ to start the trio in Bordeaux on Saturday and is likely to pick only Allen (below). The Liverpool midfielder missed Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Sweden as he recovers from a knee injury sustained during the training camp in Portugal a fortnight ago but has been described by the Wales manager as ‘integral’. Ledley is set to begin on the bench but his potential involvemen­t is remarkable given he fractured his fibula on May 7. Robson-Kanu, who has proven to be a crucial foil to Gareth Bale up front, is also expected to make an appearance as a substitute following an Achilles problem. Despite their lack of match fitness, the trio’s reappearan­ce in training on Monday was a relief for Coleman. He said: ‘They are fully integrated with the squad. We are monitoring them daily but as we speak all three are good. If it stays the same, they will be available for the weekend. ‘They are lacking game time. I’m not giving anything away to say we can’t start with all three. ‘It would be reckless really. And we don’t have to. But they have done really well. You can’t really see Joe Ledley playing 90 minutes. But can he play a part? Yes, unless there is a real bad reaction between now and the weekend. You would have to say Allen is further down the line. He has had more football.’ ANTONIO CONTE will be replaced by Giampiero Ventura when the outgoing Italy boss joins Chelsea after Euro 2016. Ventura, 68, has coached Torino for the past five seasons, guiding them from Serie B to the Europa League. His last trophy was a Serie C title with Lecce in 1996. Ventura left Torino in May to be replaced by former AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. CESC FABREGAS says Spain are hungry to complete an unpreceden­ted European Championsh­ip hat-trick. Fabregas played a key part in Spain’s 2008 and 2012 titles, but is still pushing for more. ‘There’s a good feeling in the camp,’ the Chelsea midfielder said. ‘I see a lot of hunger and desire to do something big. We need to take a step forward again.’ BORUSSIA DORTMUND have signed Turkey internatio­nal Emre Mor on a five-year deal. Mor, the third-youngest player at Euro 2016 at 18, joins Bayern Munich’s Sebastian Rode, Barcelona’s Marc Bartra and Rennes’ Ousmane Dembele as new recruits at Dortmund. Mor joins from Danish club FC Nordsjaell­and. ‘Emre is highly gifted and versatile,’ said Dortmund sport director Michael Zorc.

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