Branislav Ivanovic ready to pile more misery on Wales

Serbia international Branislav Ivanovic is confident of bagging a victory over Wales in their World Cup qualifier against Wales on Sunday.


Chris Coleman's side will be without the services of Gareth Bale through suspension, and this could provide Serbia the edge over their European counterparts.

Wales have not visited Serbia since their 6-1 humbling back in 2012, but Ivanovic believes that the UK nation have had a turning point since the result five years ago. Gareth Bale was hugely influential towards Wales' Euro 2016 campaign where they reached the semi-final stage, but Ivanovic insists that Wales are more than capable of performing without the Real Madrid attacker.

He said, via The Mirror: We know the Wales team is good.They don't have Gareth Bale but no team has only one player. Wales are a dangerous team who have played together for a long period. But for us this game is one of the most important games in the last couple of years."

A number of Serbian-based players have plyed their trade in the English Premier League including Ivanovic for Chelsea, and the 33-year-old believes that the experience could come in handy as they tackle one of the potentially dark horses in their qualifying stage, he added: "Our players grew up in England and we improved all of us a lot.This is helpful for us and of course we are now stronger and in a great moment."

Serbia are currently four points adrift of Wales in their qualifying group, and a victory over the weekend would bring them ever closer to World Cup qualification, should the Republic of Ireland drop points in their game. Since their split from Montenegro, the country has managed a group stage finish during the 2010 World Cup, and they will be hoping to improve on this result next year owing to the vast array of talents in their squad.