Craig Bellamy: Wales boss wants to stay in ‘best job in the world’

Following Thursday’s defeat, Wales will not contest Tuesday’s play-off final against Italy but will instead host Northern Ireland – who lost to the Azzurri in the other semi-final – in a friendly at Cardiff City Stadium.

Wales will be without midfielders Jordan James and Rubin Colwill, who have returned to Leicester City and Cardiff City respectively to have injuries assessed.

Leeds United winger Daniel James is also a fitness doubt, while Northern Ireland have been hit by the withdrawals of Ali McCann, Ruairi McConville, Paddy McNair and Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Given the teams’ respective defeats on Thursday, their friendly encounter has been met with apathy on both sides.

Bellamy, however, wants his team to put their World Cup heartache to one side on Tuesday and give a good account of themselves against opponents 35 places below them in the world rankings.

“It has really hurt. I have to be honest, it’s hurt more than I anticipated,” the former Wales captain added.

“When you see them [Wales players] hurting so much, that hurts more. Seeing their disappointment really shook me.

“If it’s going to hurt for a couple of days, then let it hurt, and then we move forward.

“Learn from the past and then, moving forward, look at motivation. We’ve got a lot to look forward to, and we’ve got to start looking forward now because the simple fact is we have a game tomorrow night.”