Euro 2016: Adam Lallana warns England not to be naive by thinking Gareth Bales is the only Wales danger man
'Don't question our passion' says Liverpool ace as Three Lions target maximum points in Lens on Thursday
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ADAM LALLANA says England cannot be naïve in thinking Gareth Bale is the only Wales star who could wreck their Euro 2016 dreams.
England face their local rivals in Lens on Thursday knowing defeat would leave a huge dent in their hopes of making the knock-out stages in France.
But Lallana insists the Three Lions are more than up to the challenge - and despite claims from the Welsh camp maintains England’s passion should not be questioned.
The Liverpool star said: “Listen, Gareth is a great player but Wales have got a lot of talented players in their team so it’s not just him we have to focus on.
“He’s a good friend of mine, a very good player, we all know that.
“But Joe Allen is a top player, he got man of the match the other day. Aaron Ramsey another one.
“We can’t be naïve and only focus on Gareth, that’s definitely not the right thing to do.
“You have to respect Wales, their strengths but then look at their weaknesses.
“We feel if we play as well as we did the other night we have a great chance of winning any game we play.”
Lallana’s former Southampton teammate Bale turned up the pressure last week by claiming Wales had more passion for their country than England players did.
But the midfielder refused to be drawn into a slanging match, and insisted Roy Hodgson’s squad know exactly what this game means.
He added: “We know ourselves our feelings on the game, how much we need to get up for the match.
“We don’t need any motivation from anyone, we can do that ourselves. We stick together, we fight for each other.
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“Everyone says they want to gain the English scalp – but I don’t think that is just Wales, that is any other country who plays England.
“They up their game and want to beat us. That makes us that bit more hungry to do well and win the match.
“There’s not been much talk, it’s just a big game – a pivotal game in the group stages, we know we need a result and we are confident we can get that.
“We don’t need anyone else to tell us how big this game is, we are just going to focus on ourselves, our footballing ability and how we are going to win the game.
“And we are very confident of doing that.”
