SWINDON TOWN LEGEND PAUL BODIN PREVIEWS WALES' EURO 2016 CAMPAIGN

FROM the moment Wales qualified they captured the imaginations of everyone in the country.

I am delighted for Chris Coleman, who was an ex-teammate of mine at Crystal Palace, and for the whole country.

We are a small country and to qualify for a major tournament is a fantastic achievement.

Obviously, we have a smaller group of players to pick from and there is such a great team spirit, and team spirit can take you a long way.

You obviously need the quality in between and with players like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, two influential players in the qualifiers, Wales have got that.

You can’t get any more influential than Bale, he would be missed in any team in the world but certainly the Wales team.

Thankfully, he looks like he is fully fit after coming through the Champions League final, the second one he has won in three years.

He is an incredible player. The most expensive player in the world and to Wales he is absolutely crucial and as long as he is playing and is fit, then it will be an exciting campaign for us.

I think Joe Ledley is another example, he is a great player on and off the pitch.

Whether he is going to be fit or not, we are not sure. His presence and his team building around the squad is undoubted and that is a key thing for keeping him in the squad.

It is important they get off to a good start against Slovakia. Opening games are always a little bit cagey, the emphasis is usually on not getting beat, but if we could beat Russia, then the England game can go either way.

It is very much like a local derby, I think we have got enough to beat them but they have got some quality players and sometimes perhaps too many for the manager to pick the right blend.

When it comes to looking at the winner, the French on home soil will always be there and the Germans are always strong.

I like the way Spain play, they have good movement and lots of good interchanging.

I would love to see Wales get out of the group and then if you get a bit of luck, you can perhaps get to the semi-finals.

You only have to look at the Premier League to see that you can get an outsider who can go and win a major trophy and maybe there could be a surprise package in this tournament who could emulate what Greece and Denmark have done before them.

It will be tough but I think Leicester have really shown the outside football world that with the right spirit and with the right manager and then a little bit of quality, an outsider can go and win a competitive trophy.

With the Republic and Northern Ireland also qualifying, this tournament has captured the whole of the UK and Ireland and it is going to be an exciting month.