Rob Page tells Wales 'forget World Cup' with Poland…

Rob Page tells Wales 'forget World Cup' with Poland now their final as Gareth Bale reveals 'great' half-time team talk

Rob Page says Wales' Nations League clash with Poland on Sunday has become their "final" following a 2-1 defeat to Belgium.

The hosts dominated the first half in Brussels and went ahead courtesy of strikes from Kevin De Bruyne and Michy Batshuayi. However, the Red Dragons were much improved in the second half and pulled a goal back through Kieffer Moore, although they were unable to find a leveller.

It means they must beat Poland at Cardiff City Stadium to avoid relegation from the top division of the Nations League, and Page says his players need to forget about the World Cup for the remainder of the current international break.

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"It's a great lesson for us," said Page. "We were without five players today who would make us stronger.

"We couldn’t press high. Every time we pressed high they played through us. We changed that at half-time and dropper a little bit deeper and changed the shape.

"There's been lessons learnt here to take into the World Cup. I said to them in the changing room, we've asked for this. By qualifying for the World Cup, we're asking to compete against nations like Belgium, like Holland, and we've been in the games right up until the end. It speaks volumes about that group of players.

"Tactically, of course we're going to have to make tweaks and changes. They're the number two seed in the world, by the way. We've come away from home, it's 2-1 at the death and we're still creating chances.

"There's too many positives. I'm not going to be negative. It's one game now. If we've come from June to now where we've qualified for the World Cup and stayed in the division [League A] then that's a massive achievement for those players."

And on the upcoming clash with Poland, Page said: "We've just got to recover the lads. There'll be some changes made and we'll go and put a team out to win the game.

"It's a final. Forget the World Cup, this is the game we want to win on Sunday."

Wales were without a number of their top stars in Belgium while Gareth Bale could only play 30 minutes off the bench following his mammoth journey from Los Angeles earlier this week. He showed flashes of his quality as the visitors ended strongly at the King Baudouin Stadium, and Bale - who could play a more prominent role against Poland on Sunday night - has opened up on Page's half-time words in the dressing room.

"We’re delighted with the second half performance and how we managed to turn it around," said Bale. "The gaffer gave a great team talk at half-time and we switched a few things around and the boys came out and did a good job so lots of positives to take and things to learn from as well.

"We said it was going to be important against Poland not to finish last so it all comes down to that now. It was good to get some minutes after the jet-lag. A wise decision not to play from the start but I was keen to get on as soon as possible and help the team."

Wales v Poland gets under way at 7:45pm on Sunday.

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