Chris Coleman was explaining the change in mentality, pointing out how there was a time when his Wales players would have folded against Austria on Thursday night, when he came up with an analogy that painted a picture of the sort of obstacles that this team has got used to overcoming.
“Any success I have had has not happened overnight, the journey has never felt like me sitting in the back of a limousine sipping champagne, it has always been more like riding up a hill on a pushbike and the chain has come off,” the Wales manager said. “It is that hard, it is so difficult and that is why a lot of people do not get to where they want to get to.
“Our boys, myself and the staff, we work really hard when we are together. We all face pressure and we know what we are capable of and they are prepared to do whatever it takes. It is those disappointments that bring you through. That is what hardens us to the situation we are in now.”
That situation involves taking on Georgia at home in a World Cup qualifier without two of their most creative players. Already missing Aaron Ramsey through injury, Wales must also do without Joe Allen, who is the heartbeat of the team, after Coleman confirmed that the midfielder has a hamstring problem after limping off in the 2-2 draw in Vienna.
“It’s a shame for us, good for Georgia,” Coleman said. “With the problem Joe’s got, you could play him or train him and it could go any minute. We’ve had a scan and something showed up, so you have to be very careful with it. It’s a shame as well with no Aaron.”
One comfort for Wales is that they have been here before. In the third match of their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign they faced Cyprus at home in the same position – without Allen and Ramsey for what was seen as a must-win game and with four points on the board. Wales managed to chisel out a 2-1 victory on that occasion, just about hanging on at the end after playing much of the second half with 10 men.
Georgia threatens to be another tight affair. Ranked 137th in the world, they have lost by the odd goal against Austria and the Republic of Ireland in their Group D games, suggesting that Wales will need to be patient and, given the absence of Ramsey and Allen, prepared to grind out a result.
“We may have to try and get what we need in a different way and that’s the challenge,” said Coleman, who seems likely to bring in Dave Edwards, the Wolves midfielder, for Allen. “A lot of things were said when we came back from [Euro 2016] about us taking it to the next level.
“Our style of play – I don’t know what people expected of us, whether we were going to turn into Barcelona in the space of six weeks. We played Austria and we were very strong from set-plays, we caused them a lot of problems. From our perspective it’s all about getting the job done.”
Gareth Bale’s long throw led to one of the goals in Vienna – a tactic that may well be used again against Georgia – and the Real Madrid forward stressed the importance of making sure that the draw in Austria does not go to waste. “That could be a crucial point come the end of the campaign,” he said. “But we can’t afford to slip up against anybody. We will be gunning for three points [against Georgia]. We want to use the last campaign as a stepping stone again.”
Wales do not have happy memories of facing Georgia. They have lost all three of the previous encounters and Coleman ruefully recalled a thumping in 1994, a game that has gone down as the nadir of his Wales career. “I remember getting hammered away from home, it was 5-0,” he said. “At home we lost 1-0, Vinnie Jones got sent off and Georgi Kinkladze scored from distance. They were dark days.
“The away game was my lowest moment in a Wales shirt. But under-estimating the opposition was more of a problem for my generation; it is not a problem for this group of players.”
