Matty Jones confident Wales can deal with pressure as Euro 2025 race heats up

Wales Under-21 boss Matty Jones is confident his young players can handle the pressure in the race for Euro 2025 qualification.

Iceland’s 4-2 win over group leaders Denmark on Friday has blown the race for top spot wide open.

Wales are now level on points and matches played with Denmark, while Iceland are two points further back with a game in hand. Czech Republic are three points off the top having played one game less.

‘Hard work’

“A massive thing for us is to eradicate any pressure,” Jones said ahead of Wales’ penultimate group fixture in Iceland on Tuesday.

“At this stage of the campaign the pressure builds, especially where we sit within the table.

“This is the pressure we’ve been striving for. It’s down to all the hard work over the last two years.

“Pressure is privilege, we fully deserve to be here and believe executing our game plan will be enough on Tuesday.”

Jones has lost Cardiff forward Rubin Colwill and Liverpool left-back Owen Beck, currently on loan at Blackburn, from his initial squad due to senior call-ups.

But Leeds midfielder Charlie Crew has travelled to Iceland after being involved with Craig Bellamy’s squad for the Nations League opener against Turkey on Friday.