Chris Coleman is in calm and confident mood ahead of Wales’ crucial World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on Friday night.
Third-placed Wales have ground to make up, with their opponents and Group D leaders and four points ahead of them before their Aviva Stadium clash.
But manager Coleman could name the side which shocked Belgium 3-1 on the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 for the first time since that memorable night in Lille.
Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies have missed games since that victory, but are available against the Republic, with Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale spearheading the attack.
“People look at us now in these first four games and we’ve won one and drawn three,” said Coleman.
“But we’ve lost one campaign game in 16. That’s the truth of the matter.
“Whatever happens against the Republic these players are at a great age, and their attitude and application is the best I’ve ever seen.
“They will go on and on and achieve long after I’ve gone. Whatever pressure people put on them for this game is up to them, but I won’t be doing that because I trust them.”
Coleman insists Wales will be a major influence in the group even if they do not claim victory in Dublin.
Wales are two points behind second-placed Serbia, who they will play in Belgrade in June.
“You get written off today, built up tomorrow – but we’re right in it,” Coleman added.
“The Republic of Ireland know it, make no mistake about that. People say it’s a must-win game for us, but I won’t be saying that.
“We’re not going into this game thinking it doesn’t matter, of course it matters. But there are 18 points to play for and a long way to go.
“This is the fifth game in 10 and some of those games we’ve had good form. We’ve lost focus at times, but this time round it’s different.
“We can hardly go under the radar now. We’re seen as a scalp now and we have to deal with that.”
Chris Gunter will reach a new Wales caps landmark in Dublin – but what he really wants is a first international goal.
Gunter will draw level with Craig Bellamy on 78 caps when he makes his 58th consecutive appearance.
Only Neville Southall (92) and Gary Speed (85) will then have played more for Wales and, as Gunter is still a few months short of his 28th birthday, his country’s appearances record appears well within his grasp.
“Because of the summer (Wales reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016) I got quite a large number of caps in such a short space of time,” Gunter said.
“Getting this many caps is not something you think about when you start out, going past the people I have or drawing level with Craig. But it is nice to be mentioned alongside some of these players. It’s a really proud feeling.
“I always wanted a lot of caps but the real aim was to be successful as well, and I’ve been massively fortunate that I’ve got both in a way. People say about me getting to 100 caps, but there’s still a long way to go and in football you never know what’s around the corner.”
While Gunter remains cautious about reaching three figures, he is not reticent about his determination to end his Wales goal drought.
The Reading full-back surpassed the most Wales appearances without a goal when he went past Kevin Ratcliffe’s 59-cap mark.
“Whenever the cap question comes I know that record is going to come up,” Gunter said. “I set a new record on 60 caps by not scoring – and I’ve smashed that now!
“I do think that will take a while to get beaten. To play that many games and not score is stupid really. I would snap your hand off to score a goal – and never get that question again. But the good thing is that we have players who do score goals.”
Third-placed Wales may be four points behind the Republic and two adrift of Serbia, but Gunter denies that it is a game Wales must win to keep alive ambitions of reaching the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
“It’s not must-win,” Gunter said. “That’s a saying in football I don’t particularly like, and I certainly don’t sign up to that one this Friday. If we were to draw the game are we stopping the group? Is there no point in playing the rest of the games?
“I’m not taking away from the fact it’s a big game, it’s going to be because we’re halfway through the group. If we were top of the group having won every single game we’d be sitting here saying it’s a big game and we want to keep the gap between the rest of the teams.”
