Wales owe England after being “devastated” by their loss to their neighbours at Euro 2016, according to survivor Jonny Williams.
Midfielder Williams is part of Wales' squad in Qatar after going to the last two Euros with his country. This included Euro 2016 in France where Wales reached the semi-finals but suffered a painful 2-1 loss to England in the group stages after Daniel Sturridge’s last minute winner.
Williams played in the loss in the nations’ last competitive meeting ahead of Tuesday’s huge clash in World Cup Group B in Qatar. He says the Welsh are very fired up for the derby battle as they bid to boost their slim hopes of reaching the last 16 after losing 2-0 to Iran to prop up the table.
Williams, 29, who has 32 caps, said: “We know what the England game will mean to the fans. We were so devastated when we lost to them in the Euros, it would be nice to get a result against them.
“For any British game there is a massive rivalry. I think it will be a high intensity game whether we are playing against Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland or England, they are always high intensity games.
“There is extra motivation to win those games because they are rivals. There is no reason why we can’t we have strong belief. We have to as a nation, you have to believe in yourself otherwise there is no point going out on the pitch.”
Wales lost to England at Euro 2016 but ended up having the last laugh as they went on a run to the last four. Whereas Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions were humiliated 2-1 by Iceland to end up crashing out in the last 16 as Hodgson was axed.
Footage of Wales’ stars like Aaron Ramsey gleefully celebrating England’s painful exit was filmed at the team’s hotel as they watched the match and subsequently leaked online.
Williams, who plays for Swindon in League Two, explained: “I was just the cameraman. I was videoing it and put it in the WhatsApp group. It ended up getting leaked but the manager Chris Coleman wasn’t too bothered so I was alright.
“A lot of things went in that group chat that trip but there were a lot of players in that chat that weren’t in the squad at the time. I think it was every Wales player that had played the last few years. I didn’t know that.
“It was the summer and people were on holiday and it got leaked. The security on the WhatsApp group is a lot tighter this time. We never found out who leaked it but I get blamed anyway.”
Wales reached the last four in France with a settled side under boss Coleman. But Williams believes the present squad is better as they are able to call on talented youngsters like Brennan Johnson off the bench while captain Gareth Bale is now Wales’ most-capped male player with 110 appearances.
Williams assessed: “I feel like the squad is stronger now as a whole. The ability of some of the substitutes is a lot more, whereas in 2016 I think people could pick the team and everyone would agree, now the squad in general has some great talent.”
