Chris Coleman: 'Joe Allen is crucial to Wales'

Wales coach Chris Coleman believes that Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen is a "crucial" member of the team, along with Gareth Bale.

Bale and Aaron Ramsey may usually get the headlines where Wales is concerned, but Coleman has given a special mention to Allen.

The 25-year-old midfielder put in an impressive performance in Wales's 3-0 win over Israel, which put Coleman's side top of Group B in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

"Joe is a great player," The Express quotes Coleman as saying. "He was magnificent. He's so important to the way we want to play, stopping attacks, linking our defensive play, linking to forwards.

"He's so intelligent, incredibly brave in possession, his awareness is amazing. He knows where to be and when to be there. We speak about Gareth and Rambo because they're great players, but Joe and the job he does for us is crucial."

Wales will play again on June 12 when they take on Belgium in a Euro 2016 qualifier.