Bale glad Wales were able to 'knick a goal' against Cyprus

Wales winger Gareth Bale spoke of his relief that the side managed to 'knick a goal' and secure a 1-0 victory over Cyprus , putting the Dragons just one win away from Euro 2016. 

On Thursday, Chris Coleman's side climbed ahead of England in the Fifa World Rankings for the first time in their history and, with victory over Israel in Cardiff on Sunday will qualify for their first major tournament since 1958. 

But Bale, who secured Thursday's three points with a thumping header after 82 minutes, suggested that the match against Cyprus was testing, made more difficult by the humid weather conditions. 

"It [the match against Cyprus] was a bit more than tough", the Real Madrid winger told Sky Sports . 

"We knew coming over here, and previous experiences we haven't done well mainly because of the humidity, but we had a game plan, we kept it tight and luckily enough we were able to knick a goal and it puts us in a great position.

"I don't think I've had the best of games tonight but when there's a chance hopefully I can tuck it away and luckily enough I did tonight to give us an important three points."

The 26-year-old Champions League winner has now turned his attention to Sunday's match against Israel, indicating that the Wales squad is together and ready for the challenge ahead.

"We knew the task coming in. There's been a lot of media about it. We know what we have to do," Bale added. 

"We're a strong team, we're together. We know what our capabilities are. We're one unit and we know what we have to do now."