Mon Nov 28, 2022 11:04 am
Wales' post-Iran torment revealed
Ben Davies admits the emotion after Wales’ loss to Iran proves tough to deal with.
The Red Dragons produced a blunt display and fully paid the price as they conceded twice in injury-time after goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was sent off for a reckless challenge on Mehdi Taremi.
Defeat leaves Wales’ hopes of reaching the last-16 hanging by a thread, with victory over England on Tuesday now being a must if Rob Page’s outfit are to stand any chance of extending their stay in Qatar.
And defender Davies says the healing process of the 2-0 defeat has taken time, although the England contest provides Wales with the chance to show their “best side”.
"It's never easy after a loss,” said Davies. “It's tough to take at any level, especially at the pinnacle where we've worked so hard to get to. But that's football. You have to take the highs with the lows.
“We've gone back and talked amongst ourselves, we've had meeting with the team on what didn't go well and it's really been a case of focussing again and making sure we go into the England game giving everything we've got and trying to show the best side of ourselves.
"It was a very emotional time, not just for us, but for everyone involved in Welsh football. After the game, it's not easy to get that emotion and the words out straight away. It's more of a case of, even the day after, it's about realising what's happened has happened. We can't affect that.
“Dwelling on a tough game is not really the way forward for us. It's been head down, knuckling down and looking at what we need to do to get a result.”