IF WALES’ Euro 2016 fairytale rumbles on with yet another stunning giant-killing act tonight, then you might just hear an almighty roar emanating from one house in Swindon.

Former Town defender and Wales international Paul Bodin will be alongside his nearest and dearest to watch Chris Coleman’s men lock horns with Portugal in Lyon, with a place in Sunday’s final at the Stade de France at stake.

Like so many, Bodin, who is currently the assistant manager of Wales’ U21 side, has been captivated by the Dragons’ march to the semi-finals of their first major tournament for 58 years.

“Everybody is looking at Wales as a bit of an inspiration because of their teamwork and the work ethic that they’ve got, and that’s unbelievable,” said Bodin, who was capped 23 times by Wales.

“‘Together, Stronger’ has been the motto for Wales and you can see how strong the team spirit is with the way that they’re always celebrating with all the staff and the substitutes.

“They’ve almost instilled a club mentality amongst the squad and that’s something that’s been created over a period of time.

“At the start, people thought that it was going to be the (Gareth) Bale show, and he did score a few goals early on, but it’s been about so much more than that – just look at the left-back (Neil Taylor), who hadn’t scored for six years and then goes and pops up with a goal against Russia.

“Geraint Williams, who is the manager with the U21s – I still work with him – did some scouting earlier in the tournament and I’ve spoken to him a bit but I’ve had so many texts from people that I’ve played with about how Wales are doing.

“John Gorman (former Swindon manager) has been away on holiday but he’s sent me messages and seems even more excited than I am.

“I’ll get together with all of the family, like we have been doing. We’ve got the flags up in the room and the grandchildren have been holding the dragons, which has been nice.

“If things do go well, I think the scenes in Cardiff will be unbelievable and it will be the same in a house in Swindon too.”

Bodin’s international career became defined by his heart-breaking penalty miss against Romania in 1993, which could have sent Wales to the 1994 World Cup.

At that time, Coleman had already made his international debut as a player and his Dragons’ show-stopping exploits at Euro 2016 may offer Bodin at least some a small dose of comfort.

He added: “Unfortunately, my penalty is something that’s part of the history of Welsh football but there’s nothing I can do about that.

“People remember it but I think they’ll also remember how we qualified for this tournament and just how well we played there.”