England vs Wales: Roy Hodgson has no doubts over 'patriotism and desire' after Gareth Bale comments

Roy Hodgson has defended the commitment and desire of his England players and insisted doubters should witness the determination of his dressing-room following claims by Gareth Bale that the Wales squad has ‘more passion and pride.’

England face the Welsh in Lens on Thursday needing to secure a positive result against Chris Coleman’s team after emerging from Saturday’s Group B opener in Marseille with a 1-1 draw against Russia.

Vasili Berezutski’s equaliser, two minutes into stoppage time, denied England their first opening game victory at the European Championships – a winless run now stretching to nine games – after dominating for lengthy periods of the fixture at Stade Velodrome.

With Wales beginning their Euro 2016 campaign with a 2-1 victory against Slovakia, England go into Thursday’s encounter needing to beat their neighbours to retain a realistic hope of topping the group.

But with Bale re-igniting Anglo-Welsh rivalry with his incendiary comments – the Real Madrid winger also claimed ‘England big themselves up before they’ve done anything’ – Hodgson insists that he has no concerns over his players’ hunger, with Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane also rejecting Bale’s accusations.

“The other day it was (Russia goalkeeper) Igor Akinfeev saying we were the worst-seeded team in there and now it’s Gareth Bale,” Hodgson said “They can have those opinions.

“But I don’t have any doubts personally about our patriotism and our desire and that’s the most important thing. If he (Bale) believes that’s the case, then he’s welcome to that opinion.

“The fact is that receiving disrespectful comments is part and parcel of being a footballer and a football coach.

“I’m pretty sure there will be lots of players going forward in opposing teams who have opinions about us but we know who we are; we know what we are. We don’t have any doubts about ourselves in that respect and that’s the most important thing.

“It’s a tight dressing room. It’s a passionate dressing room and I would recommend anybody who does have any doubts about players in that respect to just watch the game against the Russians and then come to me afterwards and tell me where they have seen that lack of passion and that lack of patriotism because I certainly didn’t see it.”

England captain Rooney, who is set to continue in his midfield role against Wales, was quick to brush off Bale’s remarks.

But the Manchester United player insisted that there will be no shortage of commitment and patriotism within the England camp prior to the Wales game.

“That’s what he (Bale) feels,” Rooney said. “I’m sure all us English players will feel different, but he’s obviously a proud Welshman, which he should be.

“It’s where he’s from and we’re from England and we’re very proud Englishmen.

“You have to be proud to play for your country. I’ve said it many times and I’m sure the other lads have said it many times. We are proud, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.

“But Thursday will be a hugely-anticipated game. We have to prepare well, recover from Saturday and get ready.”

England have not been beaten by Wales since losing to a Mark Hughes goal in a 1-0 defeat in Wrexham in 1984, but Thursday’s encounter, the first between the two nations at a major tournament, is arguably the most significant meeting in the history of the football rivalry between the countries.

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And Tottenham forward Kane admits that the ‘derby’ nature of the game will see it take on even greater significance – regardless of Bale’s comments.

“We know it’s a derby,” Kane said. “We know how much it is going to mean to us and our fans and everybody involved.

“We are looking forward to it. It is another game and it is a big game in our group. We want to win it. We have got to go out there and try to do that.”

But will England have to make special plans to nullify Bale, who scored the opening goal in the victory against Slovakia?

“We have got great players,” Kane said. “We ain’t no mugs, we are a good side, so we have got to go out there, play our own game, put in a good performance, play our football like we did today and hopefully go out there and get a result.

“I didn’t hear what Gareth said, but that’s his opinion because he is Welsh.

“People are going to have their opinions and say their country is better, but we are focused.”

Hodgson, who has sent England scout Jamie Clapham to monitor Wales in recent months, could start Jack Wilshere in Lens having been impressed by the Arsenal midfielder during his substitute outing against Russia.

But after the disappointment of dropping two points against the Russians, Hodgson insists the encounter with Wales will be a wholly different test for his players.

“I saw the first 45 minutes of Wales against Slovakia, but Gary Neville saw the whole game,” Hodgson said. “It’s a different challenge, they play in a totally different way.

“Congratulations to them for winning the game, but it will be another very different type of match to prepare and there will be another very different one after that against Slovakia.

“But we will be ready for that because our preparations have not been 100 per cent focussed on this first game.

“We have also done our homework on Wales and Slovakia in preparation for the next two.”