After confirming that Gareth Bale will miss the match against England, Wales manager Gary Speed has admitted that his absence will definitely be a cruel blow for a very determined Welsh side.
It has been confirmed that Gareth Bale will miss the all important clash between Wales and England this Saturday after injuring his hamstring during the Welsh training session on Tuesday. His injury came as a shock and blow to the Welsh fans who were all expecting to see their star man 'tear' England apart this Saturday.

Nevertheless, Gary Speed admitted his disappointment over that matter but reiterated that losing key players is something that Wales will have to cope in order to prove themselves among the best in Europe.

Speed said: “He still felt the tightness in his hamstring Tuesday morning so we took him off and he didn’t train Wednesday so we took him for a scan and the results came back that he’s got an injury there.

"I think you can tell now with scans that it was an injury from last week. We do our utmost here to make sure we look after the players and Gareth is the most important person in this scenario so we decided he wouldn’t play Saturday."

He added: "It is a big blow. Any team in the world would miss a Gareth Bale but between now and the next three and a half years we’re going to miss players.

"If Wales are going to achieve anything we’re going to have to cope with missing players like that because no player that I have here will play every game in the next three and a half, [or] four years. So the quicker we deal with it and the better we deal with it, the better team we’ll be.

"If Wales are going to achieve anything the most important thing is the team."

With Bale's injury on his mind, Gary Speed somehow rather found time to announce that Aaron Ramsey will captain the side on Saturday.

"Aaron Ramsey will be captain. I thought about it a lot. As I have mentioned before, it is about the future and planning ahead.

"There were two or three candidates. I thought about what is best for the team going forward.

"I spoke to Aaron before making the decision and told him there were certain responsibilities and duties that would go with it, and to see if he was happy with it.

"I'm delighted and he was really happy. I made the decision because I thought it was best for the team and the future of the team."

With Gareth Bale missing, the pressure will now shift upon Craig Bellamy and Aaron Ramsey who will both be expected to be at their best against the Three Lions.