Wales U21s will have 'underdog mentality' says Jones

Matty Jones says Wales Under-21s need to "overachieve" once again as they attempt to go one step further in their bid to reach a first major finals.

Wales missed out on both automatic qualification and the play-offs for this summer's Uefa European Championship finals after an agonising defeat against the Czech Republic in their final fixture.

But following the draw for the 2027 qualifying tournament, the former Wales midfielder is ready to go again despite a challenging group.

Wales will face Denmark, Belgium, Austria, and Belarus in a campaign that kicks off in March.

"I think we have to manage our own expectations, we have to manage the emotion around that as well," said Jones, who has been Wales' U21 boss since September 2022.

"When we're driving an underdog mentality, it doesn't mean we just go gun-ho and show attitude and application."

"The expectation is always to overachieve, and that's what we did in the last campaign, and that's what I'll be setting out to achieve this time round."

Jones, who won 13 caps for the senior side before his career was ended by injury, saw several key players unavailable during the last campaign after being drafted into the full squad.

The 44-year-old says the emotional challenge of developing players and then having to pass them on to senior teams is one of the more difficult aspects of youth football.

"The most difficult thing is you invest two years of your time and drive values and culture, creating an unbelievable environment driven by players and staff, and then to be able to hand them over," Jones said.

"We must understand it, and the understanding that I've had for many years now working in this field is that journey will come to an end for you.

"That relationship with that player – you have to let them go."

Jones expects further promising talent to move on in the near future.

Youngsters such as Cardiff City's Cian Ashford and Leeds United's Charlie Crew - currently on loan at Doncaster Rovers - are among those to have already caught Wales manager's Craig Bellamy's eye.

"They always are [in contention], of course they are. I wouldn't put anything past Craig [Bellamy] either with the conversations we have," said Jones.

"He's actually speaking about players a lot younger than that as well. It's exciting to hear Bellers speak the way he speaks, and rightly so.

Jones says he will be bolstered this campaign by an Football Association of Wales attempt to grow Wales' player pool.

As a result of the increased focus on dual nationality, Wales now has a wider selection of talent to choose from, both from players born in Wales and those who have lived or been schooled in the country.

"The pool of players we can select from is getting wider and wider, so why wouldn't you be excited?" Jones said.

"We are discussing players now who are no longer living in Wales, born in Wales, or schooled in Wales, so that dual eligibility piece we've worked really hard on over the last couple of years is coming to fruition.

"It just generates more competition, so it makes it healthier for us when we come into camp. A lot of our squad selection is now based upon performance as opposed to reputation or bias."