Nations League: Wales target win over Poland in Cardiff to stay in top flight

Wales needs to beat Poland on Sunday in order to stay in the league.

If Poland avenge their 2-1 defeat in Wroclaw in June, Wales will be knocked out of the group.

Without injured players, Robert Page's side must do so.

Chris Mepham will miss the game because of his suspension.

After coming on as a second-half substitute in Thursday's defeat in Belgium, Bale declared himself ready to go.

TheWales' first campaign at the highest level of the Nations League has been overshadowed by the absence of key players

Page had to field largely second-string sides in June as he prepared for a World Cup play-off victory over Ukraine which secured Wales' place in the tournament for the first time since 1958.

Wales drew against world number two ranked Belgium in the summer and twice were denied points against the Netherlands by late goals.

Against Belgium, Wales showed their fighting qualities. They were outplayed in the first half and were lucky to only trail 2-0 at the break, but they fought back and almost got a draw.

Poland's 2-0 home loss to the Netherlands means that Wales will have to beat the Netherlands in Wales on Sunday in order to overtake their opponents and avoid the drop.

We have qualified for three major tournaments for our development. Page wants to stay in the division and play the best teams in Europe.

We want our young players to see these types of players. They will improve going through those experiences.

The World Cup play-off final had a huge impact on how the table looks.

We gave ourselves a fighting chance. We are going to approach this game to win and stay in this division.

Wales have no new injury concerns other than Ramsey, Allen, Wilson, and Davies, according to Page.

Kieffer Moore is fit after hurting his elbow.

With Mepham and Ampadu suspended, Ben Cabango and Chris Gunter could be in contention to replace the former in defence, while Joe Morrell could be in the running to replace the latter in the middle of the field.

Poland will look to their own captain and all-time leading scorer, Robert Lewandowski, for inspiration.

Wales has the same goal as Poland, which is to stay in the top division of the Nations League.

There is always a threat from gareth bale. He is a great player. He will be very dangerous if he is prepared.

We have the World Cup at the back of our minds as we prepare for the game. We want to win and stay in League A, but we also want to be healthy and not get injured.

We will do everything we can to get a good result for us, not only to stay in the elite, but also to improve the mood before the World Cup.

Match facts

• Wales are without a win in four games (one draw, three defeats) for the first time since June 2017 (a run of five draws).
• Wales are winless in their past two home games in all competitions (one draw, one defeat). Not since September 2013 under Chris Coleman have they gone three successive home fixtures without victory.
• Thursday's defeat in Belgium means Wales have lost consecutive games for the first time since June 2021, when they were beaten by Italy and Denmark at Euro 2020.
• Poland are winless in four matches since their opening Nations League victory over Wales in June.
• Wales have lost each of their past five games against Poland - only against England, Sweden (both six) and the Netherlands (10) do they currently have a longer losing streak against an opponent.
• Captain Robert Lewandowski is Poland's record scorer with 76 goals from 133 appearances.
• Since Robert Page took over as manager in November 2020, only Gareth Bale (seven) has scored more goals for Wales than Kieffer Moore (six).