Three Lions Squad Depth Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Bellamy

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Friendly match: England v Wales

Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Craig Bellamy says England's squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't pair them against his Wales side.

Bellamy's men meet England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next Monday.

National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against Latvia.

"The English have a ridiculous squad, similar to France," Bellamy remarked.

"They have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."

Bellamy says making sure the Welsh team can compete with the talented opponents is a "driving force".

The Wales head coach added: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is England have more than a single lineup. They have multiple and France and others have the same level. They have loads of great players and that's a fact."

"One right-back was ruled out with injury the other day and there are 24 more to go! They've got 60-odd footballers. I'd love Wales to be well-equipped similarly."

These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a group match before the previous England team reached the quarter-finals.

Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has won domestic titles in France and his native Germany.

Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.

"He's an incredible manager - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.

"I have a degree of insight because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I gain a glimpse from that of his methods and it's very impressive. "

"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against that - see how we adjust because he will. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to that level."

Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).

Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Forest).

Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).

Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).