|
Wales captain Ashley Williams says there will be no excuses if they fail at Euro 2016. Manager Chris Coleman names his 23-man squad on Tuesday for Wales' first major finals appearance for 58 years. Star man Gareth Bale will link up with the squad after winning the Champions League for the second time at Real Madrid, and Williams says he will be joining a group re-energised by a five-day training camp in Portugal last week. "I don't really know who planned it, but it was unbelievable," Williams said of the Vale do Lobo training complex previously used by England and Manchester United. "The place they took us to, the apartments we stayed in and the way we worked, all the attention to detail was a step up. "It was good before, but from the meetings we have had there will be no excuses now. "We can't say oh 'we didn't have this or we didn't have that'. Everything was taken care of. "I have been on enough trips where you are moaning about every little thing, but when everything is taken care of you can relax in your downtime. "It means you can perform a little bit better on the training pitch and gives you the best opportunity of doing well. "Now we can just concentrate on playing football - and that is the way you want it." Wales play Sweden in a Stockholm friendly on Sunday before heading to France. Slovakia provide Wales' first Euro 2016 opposition in Bordeaux on June 11, before the Lens showdown with England five days later. The final group game is against Russia in Toulouse on June 20 and Williams accepts he has come a long way since spending the early part of his career at Hednesford and Stockport. Williams was nearly 24 by the time he moved to Swansea, and it was another three years before he won promotion to the Premier League. Asked about the prospect of leading Wales out in Bordeaux, Williams said: "I've thought about it but, to be honest, I try not to get too caught up in any of that. "It is going to happen but that is why we are the professionals, we have to get the job done. "There is no point being too emotional either way because then you can't perform to your best. "I think the whole Euros will be something you can't really enjoy as players until after the occasion, because we have a job to do. "It's probably when you look back you will think that is brilliant, however it goes." Coleman has to make a decision on Joe Ledley, who fractured his left leg playing for Crystal Palace on May 7 but still hopes to make the squad after stepping up his recovery programme in Portugal. And the whole squad will be relieved to see Bale following his fitness scare in the Champions League final on Saturday, although in the end it was nothing more than a severe bout of cramp. "He is a player who has always been there when we have needed him," said Williams. "We are going to need him through this tournament definitely, it is on the world stage and everyone will be watching. "His experience will be valuable in and around the dressing room. "He has the most experience of all of us of big occasions, and he normally he doesn't let us down."
|
