Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey are ready to start for Wales in Tuesday s crucial Euro 2020 qualifier against Hungary, manager Ryan Giggs has confirmed.
Real Madrid forward Bale made his first appearance in a month in the 2-0 win over Azerbaijan on Saturday, a result that kept alive Wales hopes of qualifying automatically for next year s tournament.
Bale, who has been struggling with a calf injury, was replaced in the second half by Juventus midfielder Ramsey, who has been hampered by recent thigh trouble.
Giggs expects to be able to have both players in the starting line-up for the first time in their qualifying campaign when they face Hungary in Cardiff, a match in which the winners will secure a place at the Euro 2020 finals.
We ve got a few players who played 90 minutes for the first time against Azerbaijan, so it is important they get the recovery in over the next few days, Giggs said on Monday.
The lads who got minutes needed minutes. It s a bit of a balancing act, the players I know who can t play 90 minutes that will obviously influence the selection.
Confirmation of the Group E standings following today s results:
AZE 0-2 WAL
CRO 3-1 SVK
If we can beat Hungary on Tuesday at Cardiff City Stadium, automatic qualification to the finals would be confirmed. |
— Wales (@Cymru)
Yeah, [Bale and Ramsey] are both ready to start. Gareth and Aaron, with Chris Mepham and Ethan Ampadu, all players who haven t had an awful lot of football, got the minutes they needed.
We were able to get Gareth off and it was important to get Aaron on the pitch. Everyone in the squad is available to start.
Giggs has challenged his players to capitalise on the good fortunate of Croatia s win over Slovakia on Saturday.
The World Cup finalists came from a goal down to win 3-1 and book their own place at Euro 2020, while also ensuring Wales and Hungary have their fates in their own hands.
We had the high of winning the game but when Slovakia go ahead you are fearing the worst, but Croatia are fantastic at home, Giggs said.
They showed their quality. We needed favours and we got those favours. Now it is time for us to capitalise.
It s in our hands. It s a great, exciting challenge for us but we need to finish the job – it will be a very, very difficult game.
