Chris Coleman experimenting with Wales squad in friendlies

Wales boss Chris Coleman says he is using this round of friendly fixtures to learn more about his squad as they continue preparations for Euro 2016.

A Simon Church penalty in the final minute of the game rescued a share of the spoils for the Welsh in a 1-1 stalemate against Northern Ireland on Thursday after Craig Cathcart had put the visitors ahead.

Coleman now takes his Wales team to play Ukraine on Monday where he is hoping to build on that draw before their final warm-up game against Sweden on June 5 ahead of this summer's tournament.

And Coleman, the first manager to lead Wales to a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, said the draw allowed him to learn more about his squad.

"I'm not going to learn anything about Joe Ledley, Joe Allen, Ashely Williams or Chris Gunter. They have been there so many times." Coleman said. "A, we wanted to give one or two of the new boys a taste of it and B, some of the guys who have not been with us for a while, they needed to be re-introduced to it.

"And that was really what we were looking for [against Northern Ireland]. You always want to win, you want to get a result but there were other issues for us that we needed to concentrate on so, really, we got out of it what we wanted, except for a win.

"But we got a good performance, they worked hard, the guys coped well with the challenge from Northern Ireland. A couple of debutants came through unscathed and enjoyed it and did well. Like I say, some of the other lads who have not been with us for a while, they got more time on the pitch so it was a positive night all round for us, really."

While Coleman may take the opportunity to experiment with his squad in these friendly fixtures before Wales' tournament begins against Slovakia on June 11, he insists the message is always the same to his players when they represent their country, regardless of formation.

"I think with us, no matter if we change formations, and I have changed formations in different games, the message has always been the same to the players," Coleman said.

"It's all about the challenge, it is always about when we play, when we put the red jersey on, we have to play with meaning and that has always been the question and the challenge to the players.

"We always say plan B is working harder at plan A and our plan A has been very good."