Joe Allen return to boost Wales but 2016 leaked video might come back to haunt Bale and co

Former Premier League ace Joe Allen is looking to return to the starting XI when his side take on England, looking for a big win to save their World Cup dreams. Allen had been nursing an injury and missed the 1-1 draw to the USA.

He was able to return off the bench for the defeat against Iran and is now looking forward to the biggest game of his career against England. He admits it’s been disappointing even if it’s all not lost yet.

He told reporters ahead of the game against England: “Yeah, mixed feelings in terms of the pride of playing for my country in a World Cup but a very disappointing performance and result (against Iran).

“We’re not where we hoped to be two games into the group stage. In terms of what went wrong, I don’t think there’s any one thing you could put your finger on.

“We’ve gone through everywhere we can improve and so far it’s not been a fair reflection of what we’re capable of. That’s been a real disappointment because we can offer so much more and we will certainly have to do that in the next game.”

Allen might be quitefull but England are still holding the grudge created by Wales fans celebrating after England got knocked out of the Euros by Iceland in 2016. Luke Shaw who has been brilliant so far for the Three Lions says the incident is still fresh in their memory.

He told reporters ahead of the game: “I think we are a respectful group. We do things in the right way. That’s the example Gareth wants to set and we are all fully behind that. Does it give us any more motivation? I think you could say that.

“But our motivation in itself has to be at its highest level. We are at the World Cup. We have great aims for what we want to achieve. We have to have the maximum motivation at every game. I don’t think there’s any more motivation than what we have already.

“Of course, it (the video) wasn’t nice. But I don’t want to dwell too much on it. I want to focus on what we do on the pitch. We can say things in interviews but I’d rather do our talking on the pitch, rather than off it.”