Robert Page and Gareth Bale expecting tough test from in-form Czech Republic

Robert Page admits he expects a tough test when Wales host the Czech Republic in Tuesday’s World Cup Qualifier. 

The visitors have made a very positive start to their campaign, claiming a 6-2 victory over Estonia in their opening game. 

Jaroslav Šilhavy’s side followed up their first win with an impressive 1-1 draw against Belgium, in which they took the lead through Lukáš Provod. 

With other notable players such as West Ham United’s Tomás Souček and Patrik Schick of Bayer Leverkusen, Wales manager Page expects a difficult contest. 

“I’ve been very impressed, absolutely,” he expressed. 

“I watched some footage of them against Belgium and how they go about the game.

“They press at a high intensity, they’ve got quality in their team, they’ve got goals in their team, Souček in particular. 

“It’s going to be a tough game for us and should make for an entertaining game.”

The Czech Republic’s positive start sees them lead Group E on goal difference, as both they and Belgium have four points. 

However, Page stressed that Tuesday’s opponents’ form has had no bearing on Wales’ mentality ahead of the game.

“It’s always been important, there’s no more importance on it, it just gives us a better opportunity if we do get the win, the table looks a lot healthier. 

“It’s still early stages, we’re not going to get carried away with it, like we do every game, we approach it with the mentality to go and get the win and Tuesday will be no different.”

Wales made 11 changes to the side who fell to a 3-1 loss to Belgium, as they beat a strong Mexico side 1-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium. 

Despite a strong showing from a number of Wales’ fringe players, further changes are expected for the clash with Czech Republic, with the likes of Gareth Bale set to return.

Wales’ captain, like Page, recognised Tuesday’s opponents as a tough test, but insisted his side will be focusing on themselves. 

“They’re a very good team, very organised and they have some good players,” he admitted.

“We’ve watched them, we still have meetings to go so don’t know everything about them yet, but we’ve worked on ourselves in training and our plan. 

“We know the threat they pose and their last couple of results have been very positive for themselves, but we’ll be looking at ourselves to know what we can do and looking forward to the game to try and get a victory.”

A victory for Czech Republic at the Cardiff City Stadium will see them open up a seven-point gap between them and Wales, having played a game greater. 

Despite acknowledging the importance of the fixture, Bale insisted time is on Wales’ side in their quest for World Cup qualification. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a must-win match, but we want to win the match. I think that’s the mindset that we have. 

“Obviously, we don’t want to start a campaign off with two losses straight away, but we’ve been there before and done that. 

“I think in the last Euros campaign, we started with a win but had two defeats on the bounce. We’re not thinking about that, but it won’t be panic stations. 

“Us experienced lads know it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, but we have the mindset that we want to win this game, we believe we can win and that’s what we’ll try to do.”