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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
James Nursey

Wayne Hennessey set to return for Wales if they beat England to reach World Cup last 16

Wales expect to have goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey back from suspension if they beat England to reach the World Cup knock-out stages.

Rob Page’s men need to beat England and hope Iran and United States draw, otherwise they will need to win by at least four goals to qualify from Group B in Qatar. Hennessey is suspended for Tuesday’s huge clash, with Danny Ward set to take over in goal after their No.1’s costly sending off in the 2-0 loss against Iran.

But the Football Association of Wales believes Hennessey will only have to serve a one-game ban as he was dismissed for denying a goal scoring opportunity rather than violent conduct. Hennessey was initially booked but then red-carded after referee Mario Escobar reviewed the incident in which the 'keeper clattered into Medhi Taremi outside the box.

Iran profited from their numerical advantage to score two injury-time goals to break Welsh hearts at their first World Cup in 64 years. But Page’s men, who had a recovery day on Saturday, return to training on Sunday at their Al Sadd base to prepare to take on rivals England

Boss Page vowed:"We want to finish the competition on a high. It's out of our hands for going through, but we want to finish with a good performance and a win. We're low at the moment, but we'll get them back up for a tough game to finish with.

"We can't sit and cry about it. Thankfully the game is just around the corner. We can go back out and give our supporters something to cheer about. They've shown a massive commitment to come out. We'll bounce back, we'll pick them up and we'll go again."

Will Wales qualify for the round of 16? Have your say in the comments!

Wayne Hennessey was sent off for a wild flying leg in Wales' defeat by Iran (Getty Images)

Brennan Johnson added: "It's going to take a win against England for us to have a chance. We don't know what's going to happen, but we do know that all the boys are going to give it everything they've got. It's definitely possible we can beat them. It's going to take a huge effort but it's something we are ready for."

Reflecting on the defeat by Iran, the Nottingham Forest forward added: "Losing this game just wasn't good enough. We've no complaints about it. At the end of the day, it's on us. We just didn't play well enough or to the level we can play at.

"It was a difficult game and it's not nice losing in the way it happened with two late goals. It feels really heart-breaking for us. Even with 10 men, we were always out there to win the game and still pushing. I think that's why we conceded those late goals, because we were still trying to win the game. We know what it will take now – a big effort from everyone."

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