Gabs Takes Positives To Poland

DEFENDER Danny Gabbidon remains upbeat despite Wales' 1-0 defeat to England at the Millennium Stadium.

Danny was part of a trio of Hammers, which also included Carl Fletcher and James Collins, to play against England. The 26-year-old won rave reviews for his performance and was unlucky to see Joe Cole's shot deflect off his body for the game's only goal.

Winning his 21st senior cap in the game Danny has enough international experience to know that a narrow defeat to a side of England's quality bodes well for the Welsh, who face Poland on Wednesday.

"Even though we lost there are positives that we have taken from the game," explained the former Cardiff City player. "We played a lot better than we did against them at Old Trafford and proved something, to ourselves as well as the fans, that we have the ability to compete and do well against teams at this level.

"We were fairly pleased with our performance. We played well, were a threat going forward and put a lot of heart into the game.

"Now we have to take the confidence from the England game and apply it against Poland on Wednesday. It was a decent performance on Saturday and we've got to do the same again.

"We know that we have the ability in the team to compete on our day, but the main thing at international level is to show consistency. There is no point taking England to the wire only to slack off against the Poles. We've got to make sure that doesn't happen.

"We have set our standard with the performance against England. Wales have shown that we can compete with a world class team and we must carry that on. If we play like we did against England then we've got a great chance of getting something in Warsaw."

Danny was desperately disappointed to lose to a deflected goal against England, and admitted that the vital touch off his body made the difference, taking the ball away from goalkeeper Danny Coyne.

"I was gutted about the goal," he confessed. "Beckham played a really good ball into the corner, Wright-Phillips worked in the cross and Joe Cole has come onto it.

"He didn't hit it at all well but as I came out to try and block the shot it deflected off me and into the other corner. It was really disappointing to lose to a goal like that because Danny Coyne probably would have got to the first effort. The deflection made the difference and that was disappointing.

"But to go so close against a team like England gives us a lot of encouragement. We felt that we could have beaten England on Saturday and we'll go into the Poland game with confidence that we can win."