Defensive blueprint could see Wales emulate successes of Greece and Italy

Wales are a breath away from securing qualification to Euro 2016 and a win away against Bosnia & Herzegovina will guarantee this.

Much of the hype of their qualifiers has been around the effect that the world’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale, has had. With six goals during their campaign, he has been their talisman. Like what Wayne Rooney is to England, Cristiano Ronaldo to Portugal and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Sweden.

This is a side, though, that is on the upwards trajectory in international football. While in the past, they had Ryan Giggs and John Hartson, even Craig Bellamy, Rob Earnshaw and Simon Davies could be argued at some level to have been pivotal players, however they could never seem to get it right.

Particularly lacking were they in defence, with teams often exposing their frailties. In Lewin Nyatanga and David Gabbidon, they had centre backs who were average at best, but certainly not top international class.

However, now, in Ashley Williams, they have an exceptional defender who would not look out of place playing in the Champions League every week. Rearguard partner James Collins is an experienced campaigner, who has come up against quality year-in year-out in the Premier League, plying his trade for West Ham United.

However, Spurs’ promising left back Ben Davies has been deployed in the middle in recent matches, a move that looks to have been a masterstroke. The 22-year-old’s pace and tenacity in the tackle, perfectly complementing William’s aerial dominance and sense of positioning.

With the technically astute Neil Taylor deployed at left back and 26-year-old Chris Gunter on the other side, Wales have a great symbiosis in defence that has proved to be more than capable. While not world class, Wayne Hennessey has shown that he is a perfectly able goalkeeper and perhaps impressive is the on-field relationship he has with his defenders.

Their much-changed barricade is reinforced with tougher resistance, though seems to embody the collective resilience that now runs through the squad. Aaron Ramsey is another world class player, while fellow midfielders Joe Ledley and Joe Allen are technically polished on the ball.