Ramsey looks to the positives as Wales go in search of their first goal in four games

Tuesday 11 September 2012

It was almost the Craig Levein defence but with added ingredients.

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Staff Writer

Chris Coleman could see more positives than negatives as he reviewed Wales' 2-0 defeat by Belgium.

The upsides related to team performance, the downsides to refereeing decisions, specifically James Collins' first-half sending off and a free-kick awarded against Aaron Ramsey that led to the second goal, which directly impacted on Wales ability to attack.

If Coleman felt he had a point, it was one accepted only by those viewing the match through red-hued spectacles. The tackle on Guillaume Gillet was reckless and fully deserving of a red card and while the set piece from which Jan Vertonghen rifled in the goal that sealed Wales' fate was harsh, the defeat inflicted on Coleman's fitful side was anything but.Nevertheless Ramsey, too, believes there is reason for optimism, but wants any sense of grievance to be put to one side in order to ensure a victory against Serbia in Belgrade this evening.Levein's charges were as ineffective as Coleman's in breaching their visitors' goal and there was much to suggest that Serbia will prove to be stolid and unorthodox opponents while unlikely to threaten at the business end of the campaign.Ramsey, though, believes there is an opportunity to ensure a result at the Karadjordje Stadium, one that will kickstart the nation's bid to reach Brazil 2014."Overall we are delighted with how we defended and counter-attacked against Belgium and it was a shame we couldn't get a couple of goals, but it is always difficult when you are down to 10 men against a good side," said the Arsenal playmaker. "But that game has gone now, we can't dwell on what's happened."We have to move on from it. We felt a couple of decisions went against us like when they scored off the free-kick, but we can't do a lot about it."I felt we played well, we defended well and hopefully we can do that tomorrow and play with 11 men for the entire game and have a better opportunity to get a result."Wales go into the game having failed to find the net in their last four games, while Serbia have failed to score in five of their last six fixtures.That may suggest a goalless draw is the likeliest outcome, but Ramsey is confident Wales will soon rediscover their touch in front of goal. He is, nevertheless, wary of the talent available to Serbia."They are technically good, they like to get the ball down and play," said Ramsey. "They have some real quality in their team, they like to retain possession and keep the ball, but we like to do that too."It will be an interesting battle and hopefully one we can come out on top."We haven't scored in our last few games but we have still created opportunities, we have hit the bar a couple of times and stuff like that, we are creating but not taking our chances. But we have the players who like to play and create and if we also defend well we will have a really good result."To that end, Ramsey and his team-mates may take comfort from Sinisa Mihajlovic's watered-down expectations.The Serbia coach intends to make changes to the team that eked out a draw in Glasgow and has told his players the same result against Wales will suffice. "We will bring several new players into the starting lineup against the Welsh, especially up front because we have to play a different game and be much faster than we were in Glasgow," he said."However, this is not a must-win match and I don't want the players to feel that they have to win tomorrow because it's early days yet and points will be dropped in this balanced group."

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Ramsey looks to the positives as Wales go in search of their first goal in four games

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