England-Wales a ‘game between brothers,’ says Hodgson

“It’s not England vs. Gareth Bale”, Rooney said, “it’s England vs. Wales”.

Wales forward Gareth Bale has suggested that his side have more national pride than their English counterparts, a line which was dismissed by England manager Roy Hodgson in his pre-match news conference.

England also boast Dele Alli, Adam Lallana, and Wayne Rooney, but the Baggies defender reckons the most threatening player on the pitch will be in red.

“There was a lot of hype around the Scotland game, like there is around this one, but this is more special”, said Hodgson.

All the road signs into the town of around 2,000 residents have been changed to Bale, at least until Wales are knocked out.

The Wales boss said: “If you are saying that, I wouldn’t argue”.

“I believe we can grow into the tournament”.

“If you win your first game in the group you are in a strong position and we did that”.

“Every time they go into a tournament there’s expectation”.

Arrived at the team hotel, will depart for training at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis shortly. We have to be focused and calm.

“It’s obvious Wales are under less pressure because, normally, if you win a game with three teams qualifying from the group, you’re basically qualified”, said Hodgson.

“You’ve got to get over it. England did it. They conceded against Russian Federation in the last minute and they showed good courage to come back in the second game, so we’ve got to do the same thing”.

“He is obviously very passionate about his country, so he buys into what we want to do”.

In terms of selection, Hodgson faces a decision over whether to retain an XI that looked dominant for large periods against Russian Federation but was too profligate up front.

But, despite his heroics against Wales, Sturridge is unsure if he has done enough to earn a starting berth on Monday.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity from the gaffer”.