Sunday 12 June 2016 09:47, UK
Chris Coleman watched Wales beat Slovakia in their Euro 2016 opener - and then insisted his players can do the same to England.
Goals from Gareth Bale and Hal Robson-Kanu earned a 2-1 victory in Bordeaux on Saturday to put Wales in a good position to qualify from Group B and extend their stay at their first major international tournament since the 1958 World Cup.
And speaking ahead of England's clash with Russia, Coleman insisted his players proved they have nothing to fear in Thursday's battle of Britain.
"We'll enjoy these moments in this competition if we do what we did today," said the Wales manager.
"It's not coming here and enjoying it, and going home making excuses about it being our first tournament.
"There's nothing to be afraid of, even if sometimes you are afraid of the unknown.
"We just have to go about our business and, if we do that, there's every chance that we will get what we need.
"We know we're up against it in the next game.
"We are the underdogs, England are a top-10 team, and they are used to high-pressure situations.
"But that could work to our advantage, and if we are ourselves it can be enough to get what we want."
Wales talisman Bale opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a left-footed free-kick, but Robson-Kanu netted the winner after Ondrej Duda had levelled on the hour.
Coleman was eager to praise Bale's all-round contribution - but insisted all the players and supporters played an important role in the historic win.
"Everyone will look at Gareth's goal, but some of his best moments were at the end of the game at 2-1," he added.
"He used his intelligence. He was basically heading the ball out of play to waste time. It wasn't pretty but he gave everything for the win for Wales.
"He knew it wasn't about Gareth Bale, it is about Wales.
"You can see his passion and how much he feeds off our supporters - and that's why three million people love him to pieces.
"We got the three points which is fantastic, but more importantly was the performance.
"When our supporters are like that - when you see that sea of red and hear them singing like that - it's so important we give our very best, because after that there's no complaints."
Coleman had suffered a blow ahead of the game as first-choice goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey woke up with a back spasm and was ruled out.
That meant 22-year-old Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward made his first international start in goal and Coleman said it was a "devastating" day for Wales' first-choice stopper.
"It was such a blow for Wayne and he's a big reason why we're sitting here," said Coleman.
"He's devastated to miss the first game, but we were not in a position where we could take a chance with him.
"He's had it before and he has recovered quite quickly, so we're hoping over the next 24 to 48 hours we will monitor it and see.
"Hopefully he can play some part on Thursday, but Danny stepped up and, to come in to that atmosphere and perform like that, I thought he was outstanding."
