Savage's repentance stuns Toshack

What are the odds against Robbie Savage admitting one morning that he has been wrong all along and on the very next day Wales beating Germany away? Surely, you would have to be a mad punter, a daft patriot or John Toshack, or probably all three even to ask for a price at the bookmakers.

Or then, perhaps not. Because Savage yesterday issued an apology to Toshack – and many would have taken that to be the most unlikely half of the double. And Savage himself clearly now believes that a team of youngsters inspired by the faith of their manager have everything it takes to pull off one of this World Cup qualifying campaign's biggest surprises tonight in Möenchengladbach.

"I'm man enough to say I was wrong and John is right," said Savage, now finishing off his playing days at Brighton. "He's taking Welsh football in the right direction with the kids and I can see that now. I didn't back then. I sat at home watching the Russian match and those youngsters ran their hearts out and covered every blade of grass.

"I thought: 'Fair play to John, he has got them playing not just like headless chickens but with some style and self-belief'. And that's fantastic. If I met John in the street tomorrow I'd be the first to say, 'John you were right, I had it wrong. Well done'."

If he did, Toshack would probably have to be brought around with smelling salts. Not so long ago the midfielder was busy telling anyone who would listen that the man who had deemed him surplus to requirements was ditching experienced players for youngsters too scared to stand up to him. Just last September, Savage announced: "There's more chance of me flying Concorde to the moon blindfolded than there is of him taking Wales to the South African World Cup."

The chances are, of course, that Toshack's boys will fall short in this campaign, although tonight might be crucial in this regard. Germany are one point ahead of Wales at the top of Group Four and are the obvious favourites to go through automatically. Savage and the rest of the buoyant Dragon support will be praying that their heroes can reprise last November's 0-0 draw in Frankfurt. The Welsh defence stunned the home team in that Euro 2008 qualifier and yesterday Miroslav Klose revealed that, although that final game was largely irrelevant, the slip-up still hurt.

"We relented too easily that night, this time we will be relentless," warned the Bayern Munich striker. "We have been watching videos, analysing Wales and trying to unlock their system."

Michael Ballack might not be there to help them as the Chelsea veteran has not trained for two days because of a persistent calf injury. Without their talisman, the Germans have been preparing for Toshack to redeploy the five-man defence he favours, with West Ham's James Collins set to make his first international start in a year.

Toshack admitted he hopes Saturday's win over Russia may have blunted Germany's edge – "maybe they will think they have the big one out of the way and relax," he said. But then he refused to take much notice of the nonchalance the Germans have shown in already booking flights for a delegation to South Africa later this month to book hotels and training facilities for the finals. "Very German-like," he laughed. "Organised and efficient."

Wales (probable 5-4-1): Hennessey (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Gunter (Tottenham Hotspur), Morgan (Peterborough United), Collins (West Ham United), Nyatanga (Derby County), Bale (Tottenham; Davies (Fulham), Fletcher (Crystal Palace), Robinson (Toronto), Koumas (Wigan Athletic); Bellamy (West Ham).

Group Four

Results: Wales 1 Azerbaijan 0; Liechtenstein 0 Germany 6; Russia 2 Wales 1; Finland 3 Germany 3; Azerbaijan 0 Liechtenstein 0; Finland 1 Azerbaijan 0; Wales 2 Liechtenstein 0; Germany 2 Russia 1.

Wales' remaining fixtures: Today Germany (a); 28 March 2009 Finland (h); 1 Apr Germany (h); 6 June Azerbaijan (a); 9 Sept Russia (h); 10 Oct Finland (a); 14 Oct Liechtenstein (a).

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