Wales' Nations League relegation a price worth paying for World Cup: Page

Wales manager Rob Page said relegation from the top tier of the Nations League on Sunday is softened by the prospect of looking forward to his country's first World Cup since 1958 in two months' time.

A 1-0 defeat to Poland in Cardiff condemned Page's men to finishing bottom of a group also containing Belgium and the Netherlands.

Wales' four Nations League games in June were split either side of a vital World Cup qualifying playoff against Ukraine, which forced Page to rest a number of key players for their 2-1 defeat in Poland to start the group.

Despite the disappointment of dropping down a division, the Wales boss was happy to pay that price for having made it to Qatar.

"If you had said to me at the start of June that we would qualify for the World Cup and have it go down to one game to win to stay in League A, I would have taken that," said Page. "The playoff final against Ukraine did have an impact on our games either side of it."

Page's most pressing concern is recovering some of his best players in time for their opening game of the World Cup against the United States on 21 November.

Aaron Ramsey, Ben Davies and Joe Allen missed both the defeats, to Poland and to Belgium, on Thursday, due to injury.

"For us to compete at the top, top level we're going to need every player fit and available and playing well," added Page. "That's nothing against the rest of the squad - they're brilliant, to a man - but we need our best players on the pitch."

Gareth Bale was recalled to the starting line-up and lasted the full 96 minutes in a boost for Wales as his fitness is managed in the lead up to Qatar.

But for once, Bale could not provide the spark for the hosts as they fell to just a second defeat in 22 games at the Cardiff City