Danger man: with England expected to dominate possession, Wales's best option will be to look to exploit Gareth Bale’s pace and power on the counter-attack

A home victory against Gary Speed’s team, the bottom side in the group and ranked 117th in the world, would mean only a draw was needed from the trip to Montenegro on Oct 7. For Fabio Capello, anything other than the three points is unthinkable.

“I told the players, the Fifa ranking is one thing, being on the pitch is another,” Capello said. “For this reason we played with real focus in Sofia and we need to do the same against Wales. Wales have some players who are really dangerous.

“I know Bale did not play in the last game [against England]. And some other players are improving a lot. It will be a tough game because you saw they beat Montenegro. I know the value of Montenegro.”

There is no doubt their first win of the campaign will have an uplifting effect on Welsh confidence but countering that is the loss of Craig Bellamy and David Vaughan to suspension.

Bellamy might not have had any club football so far this season but his pace and capacity for the audacious will be missed while Vaughan is an underrated player, bafflingly restricted to a substitute's role in the 2-0 England win at the Millennium Stadium back in March.