England vs Wales: Roy Hodgson would be ashamed if England are distracted by Gareth Bale's 'fighting talk'

There has been no shortage of background noise to England’s 102nd meeting with Wales, so it was appropriate that Roy Hodgson’s initial response to Welsh "fighting talk" at his pre-match press conference here in Lens was drowned out by the rumbling of the TGV as it raced past the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Once the Parisian express train had gone, however, it was clear that Hodgson was having none of the incendiary comments, largely from the Welsh talisman, Gareth Bale, about English passion and commitment.

His team may go into this Group B fixture, as Hodgson concedes, under greater pressure to claim three points, but the simple message from the England manager was that talk is cheap and events on the pitch will dictate the outcome of Thursday’s fixture.

“It surprises me that people are focusing on the talking,” Hodgson said. “If we really took it seriously, thinking about what people in the other team are saying, and allowed it to affect our concentration, we'd be very ashamed of ourselves.

“I'm surprised those questions are coming our way. Talk is talk. Action on the field is action on the field. We're perfectly satisfied with the passion we bring to our games, and we don't doubt our passion, desire or commitment, or our wish to do well in the tournament. If others think they're better at it, it's fine by me. But it's not worthy of comment.”

Aside from Hodgson’s determination to turn a deaf ear to what has become the Bale voice choir, there is no doubting the magnitude of this so-called Battle of Britain in northern France.

Wales go into the game desperately aiming to secure a first victory over England since Mark Hughes stooped to head the winner in a 1-0 win at Wrexham in 1984 – only the Principality’s 14th victory over their neighbours in 137 years of cross-border rivalry. But England must discover a way to earn the win which would put them in control of the group having emerged victorious in just three of their last 12 fixtures at a major tournament.

With qualification matters complicated by Slovakia’s 2-1 victory over Russia on Wednesday, England captain Wayne Rooney insists there is more to the game than British bragging rights and that stopping Bale is not the only objective.

“It's an important game for us, three points up for grabs, and it's important we get them,” Rooney said. “But you'll have to ask the Wales lads what they mean by their comments, because they've come out with them. We're just focused on preparing for the game. Bale is a fantastic player, but Wales have a lot of good players in their team, so it's not England versus Bale. It's England versus Wales and we have to stop a lot of their players.

“It being a tournament game makes it more of a special game for both of us, but there are three points at stake. It is two British teams and it'll be an interesting game. We're looking forward to it and we have prepared. We'll do everything to try and get three points.”

Hodgson will join Sir Walter Winterbottom and Sir Bobby Robson with the unenviable distinction of overseeing six successive tournament games without a victory if England fail to defeat Wales in Lens. But after being impressed by his team’s performance during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Russia in Marseille, Hodgson is ready to stick with his starting XI and take on a Wales team he expects to stick to their usual game-plan of relying heavily on Bale.

“It was a good performance for 92 minutes [against Russia],” Hodgson said. “The last minute took away the result we were desperately hoping for and deserved.

“That's football, things happen, but I was satisfied with the team and I have been satisfied with the performances of the other players in training and those who came on the other night. I'm satisfied with everything that's gone on so far. The only blot on the horizon was the victory being taken away from us in the last minute of the game.

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“But we must now face Wales and I believe they will play as they have for a long time, and very successfully. We don't anticipate any vast changes in their style of play or personnel. We won't be surprised by their line-up or what they try and do when they have the ball or don't. But they know our players, too, so we can't spring surprises.”

England have faced Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, both home and away, over the last three years, but despite the British Isles rivalry generated by those encounters, Hodgson insists that none can compare to facing Wales in France.

“There was a lot of hype around the Scotland game, like there is around this one, but this is more special,” Hodgson said. “Tournament matches are something very special. The others were for bragging rights, against Scotland and Ireland. They were tough games, and good games, but this game is different. It's a tournament and important points are at stake here.”