Connor Roberts gave a detailed post-match interview following his side’s 3-1 defeat in Belgium, which started their World Cup Qualification campaign on the wrong foot.
Harry Wilson fired Wales into a shock lead in the game’s early stages, rounding off a captivating counter attack to carve open Belgium’s backline.
However, goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard and Romelu Lukaku ensured that Belgium overcame the Red Dragons for the first time since 2012.
“The pitch wasn’t great, to be honest,” said Roberts.
“I thought the pitch was going to be better. I think that showed with their second goal. Obviously, I went to jump and I slipped but these things happen in football. We have to move on and hopefully, we can put it right on Saturday and on Tuesday.”
Roberts, despite the defeat, remains level headed and realises what his side were up against.
Though Wales displayed no lack of heart and will, their opponents quality eventually came to fruition. You do feel, if Wales can perform of that standard in their subsequent Qualification fixtures, they will get more from games.
“It wasn’t as if we were expected to win this game,” added Roberts, who earned his 22nd International cap at the Den Dreef Stadium.
“Belgium are first in the world with loads of good players. We haven’t picked anything up but it’s not the end of the world.
“We’ve got many games to come, hopefully we can get as many minutes as we need which will hopefully see us qualify in the end. I don’t think it’s too much to worry about at the moment but it’s obviously disappointing not to get a win.
“I think the second-half especially we were good,” stated the Swansea City man in good spirits.
“We didn’t create much but in general play, we defended well. We didn’t give them that many chances. They had a handful of chances and they scored three of them, unfortunately.
“I think there are positives to be taken of course, that is the main thing when you lose a game or don’t get what you want from it. You look at the positives and get on to the forthcoming games.”
Embed from Getty ImagesWales’ opener, which embodied fluid, counter attacking football, was certainly a goal to savour. And Roberts evidently agrees, having been the man who actually started the move.
“Tonight was a brilliant move from front-to-back and it was a good finish from Harry Wilson.
“I heard murmurs of Brazil in the celebration. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold on and we lost two points. It was a good goal and that is a positive to look back on but hopefully, during this campaign we can score a few more like that.”
Subsequently, Wales face off in a friendly against Mexico on Saturday evening before hosting the Czech Republic next Tuesday.
That will be the last World Cup qualifier Wales play before this summer’s European Championships.
In September, a trip to Belarus beckons, closely followed by a home match against Estonia. Wales will need to bounce back from Wednesday evening’s loss and Roberts remains adamant that they can do so.
“I think we’ve got more than enough quality to get points from the games we’ve got coming up,” said the 25-year old.
“If you look, they’re (Belgium) the first team in the world. They didn’t look like they were miles ahead of us in the rankings. The players they’ve got all play at the top level. We’ve got some players who play in the Championship and lower.
“They were more clinical than we were tonight. They punished us with the chances they had, it is what it is and we need to move on.”
However, Roberts was left somewhat dumbfounded at the playing conditions endured that evening.
“I’m not sure why we played on such a bad pitch. You’d think they’d want to play on a nice pitch and play it around,” said the Welsh International.
“Whatever the reason that is for, it was the same for both sides. In parts of the first half, it looked like they were playing on Wembley and we weren’t of course.
“In the second half, we went toe-to-toe with them. It’s the same pitch for everyone and we can’t use it as an excuse. Hopefully, we don’t have to play on something like that any time soon.
Additionally, you can see that Roberts firmly recognises the wealth of options within the Welsh ranks.
“We’ve got other options like Kieffer Moore who could come into the team. When he plays it’s more direct; it’s not hoof it football, but long ball football,” he explained.
“When we play with a false nine in Harry Wilson, there is no point in booting it up to him. We do find those little passes and get runs off to him that way.
“The first goal was brilliant and the more them three (Harry Wilson, Dan James, Gareth Bale) link-up, we can get the wing backs joining in and getting up the pitch. We can create more chances as we did and that is the plan going forward.”
Not one to get carried away, the ex-Yeovil Town loanee stated “it is just about taking each game as it comes.”
“We could get Estonia on a really good day and they could put up a good fight. We could beat Belgium next if we put our chances away and they don’t get too much.
“There are loads of games. They’ve started well but there is a long way to go. Even in our European Qualifiers, we lost a game to Croatia and we still managed to do it.
“It’s not the be-all or end-all. We have to take the positives of tonight’s game” Roberts concluded.
(Featured Image: Lewis Mitchell)
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