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Nations League: Montenegro v Wales
Venue: City Stadium, Niksic Date: Monday, 9 September Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app
Wales will look to build on their promising start under Craig Bellamy when they face Montenegro in the Nations League on Monday.
In Bellamy’s first game at home to Turkey on Friday, Wales thrilled with their adventurous, aggressive new playing style even as they were held to a goalless draw by the 10-man Euro 2024 quarter-finalists.
The next test for that bold approach is an away game against a Montenegro side who lost their opening match in Iceland 2-0.
“Different opposition, different threats, different qualities, different weaknesses, so we'll definitely look to adapt,” said Bellamy.
“I watched a lot of Montenegro leading into this, the game against Iceland, and we’re quite clear about what we want to do.
“If we can follow on from Turkey about how we are without the ball, we cannot let that go.
“When I talk about non-negotiables, that's where it is, and then it will allow us to be able to hopefully have a big impact in the game.”
Bellamy’s appointment in July had already revitalised Welsh football even before his tenure had started in earnest, with fans, players and Football Association of Wales staff all intrigued to see how the deep-thinking former captain would fare.
The game against Turkey fanned the flames of that excitement, with Wales unrecognisable from the team that failed to qualify for Euro 2024.
They were equally impressive in possession – tactically fluid and eager to attack at every opportunity – as they were without the ball, pressing their opponents relentlessly.
Bellamy described the performance as “outstanding” but said there was “much more” to come from his side, stating that would be the worst Wales would play under his leadership.
Monday’s game was meant to be played at the Podgorica National Stadium but, because the pitch there was deemed unplayable, the fixture had to be switched to Niksic, 53km away from the Montenegrin capital.
Speaking in Podgorica before travelling to Niksic on Monday, Bellamy was not bothered by the change.
“There are really no excuses. Where does it get you? It's just so what? It's normal. Nothing's supposed to go straightforward,” he said.
“That's what it is. Can we go out there and be the best we can be? That is it.
“I've watched a lot of them [Montenegro], people have been here to have a look at everything. We're aware of where we're going.
“There’s a running track around the pitch, which is a little bit different. Hopefully we'll have ball boys on the side because we could lose 20 to 30 seconds for every throw-in. It does happen.
“We'd really like the game to go quick, quick, quick. But we'll have to wait and see on that. They might want the game to go really quick and we might want to slow it down. It's just adapting. All different challenges, every challenge you learn more about individuals and as a group.”
Bellamy also confirmed he has a fully fit squad to choose from, with striker Kieffer Moore available having sustained a cut to his head after coming on as a substitute during the game against Turkey.
This will be the third time Montenegro have hosted Wales with the Brave Falcons winning the previous two, 2-1 in August 2009 and 1-0 in September 2010.
Wales will meet Montenegro for the first time since September 2011, a 2-1 win at Cardiff City Stadium.
Montenegro have won their past two competitive home internationals and are aiming to win three such games in a row for only the second time, after also doing so in October 2010 when the second of those wins came against Wales.
Wales have won just one of their past nine away matches in all competitions (three draws, five defeats) – the Dragons last recorded just one away win over a 10-game period back in 1991 under Terry Yorath.
Montenegro have lost their past three matches in a row, losing to Belgium, Georgia and Iceland. They have not had a worse run of defeats since losing four consecutively between October 2015 and March 2016.
Wales have gone four consecutive internationals without a goal for the first time since September 2012. They have not had five games in a row without a goal since between March and September 2005.
Having won each of their first three games against home nations (Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland), Montenegro have since failed to win any of their past seven against such opposition (three draws, four defeats), losing each of the past three.
Aaron Ramsey had five shots in his first game under Bellamy against Turkey, more than he managed in any appearance under either Ryan Giggs or Rob Page; it was his most in a Wales game since September 2017 against Moldova (10 under manager Chris Coleman).
