NEWPORT’S Chris Gunter insists Wales have demonstrated the steel and determination needed to qualify for Euro 2016 this week, writes Andrew Penman.

Gunter and teammates had to dig deep to seal a 2-1 win over Cyprus on Monday after Andy King’s red card made for a nervy night at the Cardiff City Stadium.

After a 0-0 draw at home to Bosnia-Herzegivina last Friday, the win means Chris Coleman’s men top Group B on seven points ahead of next month’s trip to face favourites Belgium in Brussels.

And Gunter, a relative veteran of the side with more than 50 caps aged just 25, believes Wales have shown they mean business in this campaign.

“It’s been a good couple of days,” said the Reading defender. “After Friday we said we needed to get the three points.

“It didn’t go the way we expected in the second half but it’s a massive three points for us.

“After the sending off I thought we showed a side to our game that we’re going to need if we’re going to qualify from this group.

“There is a belief, a massive belief,” he added. “There was before the group started but it’s important to back that up with results.

“We took a little bit of criticism after the Andorra game but we came back this week and put out two displays that we can be proud of and the fans can be proud of.

“We’re all at a good age now and we’ve all got experience and there is a different feeling around the group and around the whole campaign so far.

“We’re delighted that we’ve got a good start and we’ve been able to build a bit of momentum and we want to keep that going now.”

Star man Gareth Bale was the target of some heavy tackles from the visitors on Monday and Gunter appealed for consistency from the officials.

“I was running back so I didn’t see the tackle for the red card,” he said.

“International football is different from club football; some stuff gets pulled up that wouldn’t on a normal Saturday and other stuff is let go.

“But it has to be fair and if they’re giving us red cards and yellow cards then it has to be the same for them.

“I’m sure Gareth expects a bit of that kind of treatment but to his credit he gets on with it.”