Footballers Aaron Ramsey and Ashley Williams say the Millennium Stadium pitch played a part 起了某種作用 in Wales' defeat by England on Saturday.

Ramsey said: "It's no excuse, but the pitch didn't help as well. It was a bit dry on the surface and we couldn't get any pace in our attacks."

Williams added: "The pitch didn't help."

Ramsey, who led his side for the first time, admitted Wales lacked consistency during the 2-0 Euro 2012 qualifier loss.

The Arsenal star was making his first Wales appearance since recovering from a serious leg injury.

He said: "Obviously we had a slow start and it was a mountain to climb from there… It was very disappointing."

Recognising that a strong team relies on its supporters, Ramsey praised their fans for being "fantastic" and "outstanding".

Swansea defender Williams said: "I think against a team like that [England] you can't give away sloppy goals 由于糟糕的防御而讓對方進球… I think that's what we did - two sloppy goals at the start. We didn't start very well, they did start well."

Defender Chris Gunter said: "As the manager's [Gary Speed] been saying all week, even though this game is massive and we all desperately wanted to win the game and give something back to the fans, there's a bigger picture 大局/總體… This was just a first small block in a long road 一條長路上的第一個小障礙 under the new manager."

He remarked to reporters that a full stadium makes a big difference to the squad's morale.

"It is a long road. It was never about the three points in terms of qualifying, it was about the three points of pride and for the fans and for us to gain confidence," he said, "We need to build towards 朝著某個目標去努力 the next campaign and that's all we can do."