By Jake Maddaford
Wales defender Ethan Ampadu has insisted that the squad “will always remain together” despite their 4-0 loss to Slovakia, which followed their embarrassing goalless draw with Gibtaltar.
Ampadu was made captain for the first time in the friendly in Trvana, and he remains upbeat around the squad’s morale despite the result and growing pressure on manager Rob Page.
“It was disappointing because we played reasonably well in the first half,” said Ampadu.
“Second half – it wasn’t great. I will hold my hands up there with a couple of the goals.
“But we are together, as ever. We have got the Nations League in September, and we will go into that full of confidence, as strange as it is to say on the back of this result.
“We will always remain together.”
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Similarly, left-back Jay Dasilva was quite bemused by the result, after Wales had been on a nine-game unbeaten streak before this.
“I can’t really put my finger on it,” claimed Dasilva.
“The week has been good – the work ethic, we have trained well, the boys are together.”
“I just think tonight it didn’t go our way.”
Dasilva earned his first two caps for Wales this month, and spoke about his targets.
“For me, it was about trying to help the team as much as I can. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results we wanted this week, but I think this is another step in the right direction towards it all coming together.
“That’s football – if you don’t play well, you get criticised. But we know how much they mean to us and how much they are with us, so we know everything will turn around as long as we stick together.”
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The Coventry City player also acknowledged why the fans would be frustrated with the recent performances and admits the side has been well below par these past two games.
“We know how good the fans are. They are with us all the time, every step of the way. It’s understandable being frustrated. Obviously just missing out on the Euros and this week, if we are honest, we haven’t been good enough.”
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He did however receive praise from ex-Wales forward Nathan Blake for his individual performances this week.
“I think Dasilva has had a decent couple of games but there’s been no one stand-out player for me over the two games,” Blake told BBC Wales.
There is much improvement needed from Rob Page’s side if they are to have a productive Nations League campaign starting in September against Turkey.
