Joe Allen confident Wales will keep Euro 2020 dream alive without him
Joe Allen has backed his Wales team-mates to take a big step towards Euro 2020 qualification without him next month.Allen will miss the crunch clash in Azerbaijan on November 16 after being booked in the 1-1 home draw against Croatia on Sunday.The influential Stoke midfielder was cautioned four minutes from time, and his third yellow card of the competition means he must sit out the penultimate qualifier in Baku.FULL-TIME | 1-1 #WALCRO Here's the Group E standings following today's results. 1-0 1-1 It goes down to the wire in November #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/XED0DO5j17 Wales (@Cymru) October 13, 2019In hindsight Ben (Davies) was around on my cover and it was a tackle I probably didnt need to make, Allen said after Gareth Bales 33rd Wales goal had earned Wales a share of the spoils against the World Cup finalists.It was an instinctive thing and unfortunately when youre on a tightrope of two yellows theres always that risk.Obviously I cant play a part in Azerbaijan, which is hugely disappointing.But Im confident that the lads can take care of business, and hopefully I will be back in the fold for the last one with everything to play for.Gareth Bales first-half strike against Croatia was his 33rd goal for Wales (Nigel French/PA)Wales final group game is at home to Hungary three days after their 6,000-mile round trip to Baku.Ryan Giggs side would definitely leapfrog Hungary, whose victory over Azerbaijan on Sunday moved them into second place,by winning their last two games.If they were to do that, Slovakia would have to win their final two games away in Croatia and at home to Azerbaijan to deny Wales a place at next summers European Championship.Wales cause is helped by the fact that leaders Croatia need a point to secure their qualification when Slovakia visit Rijeka on November 16.REPLAY | 1-1 #WALCRO Hands up who enjoys moments like this! #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/P5jD6GJMZ5 Wales (@Cymru) October 13, 2019Were still well in this race, Allen said.Wed have loved to have come away from this camp with the two wins, but away to Slovakia and home to Croatia are not easy games.To come away from them unbeaten weve given ourselves a chance by winning the last two games.Its no easy feat but weve got the confidence and belief to do it. Weve got every chance now. Wales have been playing catch-up in the group since summer defeats in Croatia and Hungary.But Allen feels progress has been made in holding Slovakia and Croatia to 1-1 draws during the last week.I think the two performances have been a big improvement, he said.You go back to the summer, two difficult away games but we were disappointed to come away with nothing.Unbelievable support! On to the next one #TheRedWall #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/B8RoLY3g22 Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) October 13, 2019We gave ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb and we were in a difficult situation.But weve turned it around a little bit. Theres plenty of work to be done of course, but we wanted to make sure that were going into next month with every chance of qualifying.To come from a goal down against a top team like Croatia is a good result and were hoping its going to play a big part in us qualifying.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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