Roy Hodgson says England should be "ashamed"
if they allow Wales' pre-match barbs to affect their performance on Thursday.
Hodgson has been forced to field repeated questions in
recent days about Gareth Bale's
claim that Wales have more pride and passion than their English rivals. .
But Hodgson, addressing the media on the eve of the
game, said all the talk would count for nothing come kick-off.
"I'm surprised people focusing so much on
talking, and if we were really taking seriously what people are saying or
reported to be saying or allowed it any way to affect concentration, we would
be ashamed of ourselves.
"I'm surprised the questions are coming our way
because talk is talk and action on the field is action on the field."
Asked how many Wales players would get in England's
side, he said: "I think that's a question journalists like yourself and
maybe many a fan will be asking, but as a coach I've never once considered
which other players would get in our team, it's a matter of total disinterest
to me.
"I'll leave you to come up with the answer and
you can have a quiz between yourselves, we are here today doing our job for
UEFA talking about the game. I'll leave that question with you."
Wayne Rooney, sitting alongside, echoed his manager saying:
"You'll have to ask what they mean by comments, it's them who's come out
with them, we're just focusing on the game."
READ ALSO: Gareth Bale 'happy' with claim Wales have more pride than Euro 2016 opponents England
READ ALSO: Gareth Bale 'happy' with claim Wales have more pride than Euro 2016 opponents England
And the pair were equally reluctant to discuss
England's selection options for Thursday, Hodgson saying: "I was very
satisfied [with the team against Russia] and have also been satisfied with the
other players in training and the two who came on against Russia.
"Options are open to me and I'm grateful we have
so many good players available. People will find out tomorrow night what the
decision is."
Whatever he decides Hodgson concedes it is unlikely to come
as a major shock to his opposite number, and the England boss is not expecting
Coleman to rip up the blueprint that secured a first major finals appearance in
58 years.
"I think they will play like they have been
playing for quite a long period of time now with Chris Coleman," he
said. "They've been playing very successfully that way too.
"We are not anticipating that there will be any
vast changes in their style of play or in the personnel that they've been
using. I don't think we'll be surprised particularly by either their line-up or
what they try to do when they've got the ball or when they don't have the ball.
"We might not be able to spring surprises either
as they know our players and they know the type of football that we
play."
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