Western Mail

World champs will provide Wales with huge challenge

- IAN MITCHELMOR­E Football writer ian.mitchelmor­e@walesonlin­e.co.uk

Wales take on France in the first of two pre-Euro 2020 warm-up matches tonight.

Here’s everything you need to know about the clash with Les Bleus.

What time is France vs Wales kick-off? France vs Wales gets underway at 8.05pm tonight.

Is France vs Wales on TV?

The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Coverage on their Football channel begins at 7:45pm.

S4C will also have live coverage from 7:50pm.

What about live streaming? Sky Sports customers will be able to live stream the game via the Sky Go app.

S4C’s coverage can be live streamed via BBC iPlayer.

You can also follow updates from the game in Nice on our live blog which will be on WalesOnlin­e’s football page.

What is the latest team news?

Ben Davies, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen are all being carefully managed but could get minutes against the reigning World Cup champions.

Tom Locyker is expected to miss the game as he continues to work his way back to full fitness following a period on the sidelines due to an ankle injury.

Midfielder Matt Smith will miss the game due to personal reasons.

James Lawrence - who has withdrawn from the Euro 2020 squad - will miss out after sustaining a calf injury during last week’s training camp in Portugal.

What has the manager said?

“They’ve [France] got a decent squad haven’t they?” said Rob Page.

“They could pick one of three 11s and compete in the Euros.

“You want to play against the best, and they certainly fall into that category.

“There’s going to be a lot of occasions in the game where we don’t have the ball, but that’s part of the exercise and see how we handle the pressure and stress like that.

“How they press is very similar to how Switzerlan­d play so the reason we picked this friendly is because of the similariti­es going into our first game.

“There’s no points on this game, so there’s less pressure. We want to continue the momentum, of course we do, but it’s about getting our performanc­e across, drip feeding the players in that need the minutes to get ready for Switzerlan­d.”

What are the latest betting odds?

France win - 1/4

Draw - 17/4

Wales win - 10/1

(Odds courtesy of Sky Bet, correct at time of publishing)

Who is the referee?

Portuguese referee Luis Godinho will take charge of proceeding­s in Nice.

He will be assisted by André Campos and Rui Teixeira while Iancu Ioan Vasilica is the fourth official.

Who is in the Wales squad?

Wayne Hennessey, Adam Davies, Danny Ward.

Ben Davies, Joe Rodon, Chris Mepham, Ethan Ampadu, Connor Roberts, Tom Lockyer, Neco Williams, Ben Cabango, Rhys Norrington­Davies, Chris Gunter, Aaron Ramsey, Matt Smith, Joe Morrell, Joe Allen, Jonny Williams, Dylan Levitt, Rubin Colwill, Kieffer Moore, David Brooks, Harry Wilson, Daniel James, Tyler Roberts, Gareth Bale.

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