Coleman feeling Wales pressure

Chris Coleman knows the heat is on as Wales struggle under his leadership, but is confident of taking points off Scotland.

Coleman took over from the late Gary Speed in January and acknowledges the manner in which he gained the position was less than ideal.

After a 6-1 humbling to Serbia last month, former Fulham and Coventry manager Coleman believes Wales can turn their fortunes around, starting against Scotland on Friday.

“I’m more relaxed in this camp than I was in others because now I’m doing things I want to do,” he told reporters.

“I’ve been a manager for 10 years but never an international manager and this job is new territory for me. I’ve been under pressure before as a manager and come through it.

“You can try someone else’s jacket on but if it doesn’t fit, you can’t keep wearing it. It’s never too late to change things.”

Coleman initially attempted to keep Speed’s pre-match preparations in place but has now decided to implement his own plans, starting with Ashley Williams replacing Aaron Ramsey as the national captain.

“The changes we’ve made are subtle changes, mainly. When you have 10 days in a camp, it’s quite intense,” he said.

“You eat together three times a day, watch videos of your own performance and the opposition, assess personal performances and then have training sessions.

“I’ve just reshuffled all of that. It’s tough because a lot of the things being done were good things but they were someone else’s.”

With two defeats from their opening two qualifiers, Wales find themselves bottom of Group A and Coleman admits he has been feeling the pressure – but will not use it as an excuse for poor results.

“Speaking honestly, yes, I have felt inhibited,” he said.

“I’ve never been in this situation before and never again expect to be. I’m also mindful of making excuses.

“We’ve played five games, we’ve lost and I’m the manager, which is where the buck stops. Now I’m changing things, with a game on Friday where we need a reaction from the players and a result.

“They are all tough games and they are even tougher when you have lost two and been hammered, letting in six.

“I can handle the pressure and I believe the players are good enough. If we get it right, there’s no reason why we can’t get three points.”