Cymru boss Craig Bellamy has promised his side will “go all out” in tonight’s World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The men in red go into the fixture knowing that, if they manage to get past the visitors, their reward will be a home tie against the winner of Italy or Northern Ireland.

There are bound to be nerves heading into a decisive game for Welsh football tonight as Cymru attempt to take one step closer to back-to-back World Cup qualifications, but they were well hidden as a calm Ethan Ampadu and Craig Bellamy faced the media.

Ampadu experienced the historic moment Wales qualified for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, as well as the heartbreak of finishing bottom of Group B and crashing out of the tournament.

Now, four years later, the established Leeds captain takes on the role of captain for his country for the third time following the absence of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies.

Ampadu said: “It’s a big honour to be captain and represent your country in that way, but it’s definitely something that’s not on my mind at all. I know that it’s going to take everyone: players, staff, and the crowd.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game. We’re calm about it, we’re excited about it, and we’ve prepared as best we can going into this game. We know what to do. It’s about going out and executing it now.

“We have prepared fully for every occasion. You can’t go into a game like this being unprepared. No matter the situation that’s going to come our way, we’re going to be fully prepared for it.”

Craig Bellamy, who was focused on the most important game of his managerial career, felt content with the amount of preparation his team has built for the game at Cardiff City Stadium tonight.

Bellamy said: “You always feel a lot calmer as it goes along; the more you tick things off, the more you reassure yourself.

“Imagine if you were going into an exam and you haven’t actually put the work in, and you’re expecting good results to happen.

“As a group, we’ve gone through everything we need to with the players. They have been top, and they’re used to this as well.

“We’re experienced enough to read the game… to react to what we need to during the game.

“The key for us always is to dominate the tempo of the game. If we need to speed it up, we’ll speed it up; if we need to slow it down, we’ll slow it down and be patient, that’s always key.”

Bellamy not only carries with him the responsibility of the success of Welsh football but also the impact of what that success does for his nation.

He continued: “We’ll be a massive asset to this World Cup: our players, our fans, and our coaching staff.

“To me, it will mean everything because it allows us to keep going at the speed we want to go at.

“When the women qualified for the Euros, do you know what that does for us?

“The S4C coverage was incredible, showing schools celebrating girls getting into the women’s game. I was so proud. I loved it.

“When it gives you that pride, it was like ‘wow, so many young players, so many girls, they’re going to be involved in the game from this’.

“We want 100mph football [tonight]. It might not be perfect, but nothing’s ever perfect anyway.

“It’s going to be exciting… that’s what I love about our game, that’s what I love about this group of players.

“You know that we’re coming tomorrow… if you really watch football and you watch us, what do you think is happening tomorrow? We’re going all out.”

Should Wales fail to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, their consolation will be a friendly at home to the losers of the aforementioned Italy and Northern Ireland fixture.

Kick-off at Cardiff City Stadium tonight is at 7:45pm. Be sure to follow Sportin Wales for all the build-up and live updates.

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