Three Lions Squad Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy

• Published 60 minutes ago

Friendly match: Wales vs England

Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST

The Wales head coach says England's squad depth is remarkable that a boxing promoter wouldn't pair them with the Welsh team.

Bellamy's men face England in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.

National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against Latvia.

"The English have a incredible squad, similar to the French," Bellamy said.

"England have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."

He says making sure the Welsh team can compete with the talented rivals is a "driving force".

The Wales head coach added: "We do not rely on market prices, but the reality is they don't just have a single lineup. They possess two, three, four and France and others are similarly stacked. They have many top talents and that's the honest truth."

"A defender was ruled out with injury the other day and there's only 24 more to choose from! They've got 60-odd players. I wish us to be stacked like them."

The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the English ran out easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.

Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup winner at the London club who has won league championships in France and his home country.

Bellamy was previously an assistant at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.

"He's an outstanding manager - his record is proven," Bellamy added.

"I possess some sort of insight because the team he departed I know people who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight there of his methods and it's remarkable. "

"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to reach that level."

Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).

Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).

Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).

Attackers: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).