Chris Coleman is hoping Wales winger Gareth Bale can keep Aleksandar Kolarov quiet following the Serbian's criticisms of British football.
Wales coach expects Bale to keep Serbian defender quiet
Chris Coleman is hoping Wales winger Gareth Bale can keep Aleksandar Kolarov quiet following the Serbian defender's criticisms of British football.
Following Serbia's 0-0 draw away to Scotland on Saturday, Kolarov had claimed that the home nations favoured a long-ball approach.
Serbia next face Wales on Tuesday night and Coleman has taken umbrage at the Manchester City full-back's comments about his side's style of play.
Wales coach Coleman said: "If that's his opinion, that's up to him. How much has he seen of us? Has he watched all our games? Has he been scouting us?
"It will be up to us that we keep Mr Kolarov busy. If Gareth plays on his side he'll have to concentrate hard on his own style of play rather than worrying about us or Scotland or Ireland."
Bale is again likely to be Wales' most potent attacking weapon as they search a first goal in five games, and Coleman expects the Serbs to try every trick in the book to nullify the 23-year-old.
One off
"Baley is a one off. He could probably get into any other national team," said Coleman, ahead of the game, which will be the first time Serbia have played in Novi Sad since 1989.
"They will double-up on him, use different tactics than they normally would to stop him. Belgium tried it - it's clever play when foreign defenders pretend to pull out of challenges but they're still stopping you.
"They've been doing it for years, it's clever and it'll happen here. Gareth knows that, we know that. It's nothing new for him and he's probably used to it.
"I don't think he'll worry about it and I don't because I know if I was playing against him I'd look at him and see if there's a way to calm him down. I can't see Serbia being different."
