Wales boss Robert Page would rather not play South Korea friendly with focus on Euro 2024 qualifier
ROBERT PAGE admits he would rather not play South Korea in a friendly tonight with his Wales job on the line.
The under-fire Dragons boss has watched his failing side win just one of their last 12 internationals.
Page knows Wales must-win their Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia on Monday to keep their qualification dreams alive and ease the mounting pressure on him.
Page, whose side have to play under Uefa rules, conceded: “We have to take the friendly.
“I’d rather not play it, being completely honest with you. The most important game is Monday.
“It’s all about the points and it would be foolish of me to risk playing the lads for 90, 95 or 100 minutes and jeopardise any chance we’ve got in Latvia.
“I’ve already got a plan in place, we’re having to manage players, what minutes they’ve played this season, who needs more minutes than others.
“There will be plenty of substitutions made at half-time and some at the hour mark.
“We’ll be trying to get those players off the pitch unscathed and getting them ready for Monday.”
Wales captain Aaron Ramsey is set to be rested with Spurs’ new £47.5million forward Brennan Johnson likely to start on the bench.
Wales fans have slammed chief executive Noel Mooney for the ticket prices for the friendly.
SunSport exclusively revealed just 7,000 tickets have been sold last week.
And the 33,280-capacity Cardiff City Stadium could have its lowest attendance for a Wales match in four years.
Despite the poor results and performances, Mooney and the FAW decided to charge £25 for adult tickets which also sparked the no-show.
It is understood Irishman Mooney recently tried to increase ticket prices further for upcoming qualifying matches.
But at a Cymru fans’ meeting rejected the proposal which has been delayed until 2024.
And angry online Dragons supporters have vented their fury at Mooney, who has given his public support to Page amid fans calling for him to be sacked, for his ticket price policy.
One said: “Mooney’s continued failure to actually make decisions beyond his empty hyperbole + the failure to sack Rob Page post World Cup, starting to become evident. We’re in free fall.”
Another read: “Fans voting with their feet. Think again before you start raising ridiculous prices in future @NoelMooney13.”
A third said: “£25 + booking fees for a friendly in the current circumstances @NoelMooney13 You’re having a laugh.”
A fourth fan added: ” Reduce ticket prices @NoelMooney13. You’re alienating even the die hard Welsh fans. Ridiculous pricing.”
Wales’ hardcore support would like to see more games played around the country in Swansea and Wrexham.
The friendly next month against Gibraltar will be played at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.
Skipper Ramsey said: “We know how important the fans are for us.
“They have been instrumental over the years and hopefully we can get behind each other to get over the line.”
ends