Robert Page won 41 caps for Wales and coached the Under-21s before taking charge of the senior teamEuro 2024 qualifying - Group D: Latvia v Wales
Venue: Skonto Stadium, Riga Date: Monday, 11 September Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, BBC Sport website and app, plus live text
Highlights: Match of the Day Wales. BBC One Wales from 22:40 BST and later on demand
Wales visit Latvia on Monday in dire need of a win to revive their faltering Euro 2024 qualifying campaign and lift the pressure on manager Robert Page.
Page and his players have faced fierce criticism after winning only one of their past 13 games.
With Wales fourth in Group D, victory against bottom side Latvia in Riga is all-but essential if they are to qualify automatically.
“I can’t let that [pressure] affect me. I can’t think about that,” said Page.
“I’ve got a job to do. I want to qualify for me, as a Welsh supporter myself.
“As the manager, I want to be in this job for the rest of my contract. I really enjoy working with this group of players.
“We are in an industry where you need to win games of football. We are in a period of transition as well.
“I can’t influence what the board or people above do. All I can worry about is winning games of football and giving it my best shot.
“If I do that and it doesn’t work out for me then at least I can walk away with my head held high.”
Latvia v Wales: Can under-fire Rob Page turn his team’s fortunes around?
Page’s future has been in doubt since defeats against Armenia and Turkey in June consigned Wales to fourth place in Group D with four games left to play.
The former Northampton Town and Port Vale boss was a national hero last year when he became the first man to lead Wales to a World Cup since 1958.
But since beating Ukraine in their World Cup play-off final in June 2022, Wales have mustered only one win, a 1-0 home victory over Latvia in March.
As a result, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) has been reviewing Page’s position while a growing number of fans are calling for his dismissal.
“It’s expectations. There is a generation of supporters who have seen Wales qualify for major tournaments,” Page added.
“Losing players makes the job harder, but expectations say that we should be qualifying. It’s not as easy as that.
“We will continue to try and qualify for every tournament.
“The results the other night have gone for us. Until it’s mathematically impossible we will keep going.”
Wales trail group leaders Turkey by six points and are three adrift of second-placed Croatia, who have a game in hand on Page’s side.
With only the top two qualifying automatically, the best Wales can seemingly hope for is a play-off place through their Nations League status.
Latvia, ranked 134th in the world, have lost all four of their games so far and were thrashed 5-0 in Croatia on Friday.
Boss Page praises Wales reaction before ‘big, big game’ in Latvia
Team news
Wales warmed up for this crucial fixture with a goalless friendly draw at home to South Korea on Thursday.
Despite declaring beforehand that he would “rather not play” that game, Page selected a stronger team than expected and it is likely he will opt for a similar line-up against Latvia.
Captain Aaron Ramsey was rested at Cardiff City Stadium and can expect to return in midfield, where Birmingham City’s 19-year-old Jordan James impressed on his first start against South Korea.
Striker Kieffer Moore and midfielder Joe Morrell are suspended for the trip to Riga, while wingers Daniel James and Wes Burns and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey are out injured.
Match facts
- Wales have won both of their games against Lativa, winning 2-0 in a friendly in August 2004 and 1-0 earlier this year in a European Championship qualifier.
- Latvia have lost 11 of their 13 games in all competitions against the British home nations - the other games were victories over Northern Ireland in 1995 (2-1, Euro qualifier) and 2007 (1-0, Euro qualifier).
- Latvia have lost eight of their past nine home European Championship qualifying matches, winning the other 1-0 against Austria in November 2019.
- Wales have won just one of their past seven away European Championship qualifiers (two draws, four defeats), a 2-0 win at Azerbaijan in November 2019, and are winless in both in this campaign.
- Wales have failed to score in each of their previous two internationals; only once under Robert Page have they gone three successive games without scoring, doing so between June and September 2021.
- Latvia have scored in each of their previous seven home internationals (10 goals), with Janis Ikaunieks one of two players to score more than once during that time (2 - also Roberts Uldrikis).
- Should he feature against Latvia, Connor Roberts will be making his 50th international appearance for Wales - under Robert Page, only Joe Rodon and Daniel James (both 31 games) have featured more times for the national team than him (29 games).
- They argue, they bicker, but most of all, they love each other!: Meet The Royle Family on BBC iPlayer now
- What’s life like inside the high-security Maghaberry Prison?: Stephen Nolan goes in to find out
