WALES boss Chris Coleman admitted a sense of deflation among his players after Israel pooped the party at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The 0-0 draw could have been so much more for Wales, who dominated throughout a tense encounter at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Newport’s Simon Church thought he’d made himself a hero at the end only for his goal to be ruled out for offside, while the Israeli goalkeeper made several fine saves to keep Wales at bay, the visitors not managing a single shot on goal until the final quarter of the contest.

However, Coleman admitted it was mixed feelings, after another stellar week for his charges.

“It’s both an anti-climax and a good point,” he said.

“The expectation was there we could get over the line, the supporters were incredible.

“It was never going to be easy, Israel are usually exciting, but they came for a point, to not get beaten.

“We needed to score early, in that first 20 minutes we were right on top and when you don’t score, it can come back to haunt you.

“We had all the possession and chances and had a blatant handball, it had to be a penalty.

“I’d have bitten your hand off for four points from the two games, Cyprus away is notoriously difficult.

“The expectation was that we would win, but now have to wait longer.

“In the past we’d have lost, we’d have got too frustrated. That’s the difference, this group is more tactically aware.

“A point is important, the next stage for us is learning to cope with these teams who come to frustrate, we aren’t used to it and it’s a big compliment to us.

“There is a shade of disappointment, but I couldn’t ask for any more from the players.”

Coleman isn’t expecting Cyprus to do Wales a favour tonight by holding Belgium, a result that would confirm Welsh qualification.

“We’ve always taken care of our own business, we don’t expect Cyprus to do us any favours, it’ll be a tough game for them,” he said.

“We don’t mind though, if they want to do us a favour, we’ll take it.

“If they do us a favour great, if they don’t they don’t.

“It’s a shame for the supporters we didn’t do it by beating Israel, but it is coming for us.

“We played Israel away after they won their first three, we really stopped them in our tracks and from then we’ve gone from strength to strength.

“You do what you’ve got to do to get a result, we don’t criticise Israel for that.

“Four points, two games, not the end of the world.”

Coleman had no doubts Wales should have had a penalty.

“It was a penalty all day long; we should have had one in Cyprus as well. I won’t complain too much, but it’s a blatant handball,” he said.

“I don’t know what the officials behind the goal are doing to be honest, when they have the best decision; they’ve got to make the call. How many times do you see that? I’ve never seen it, other than the penalty against us in Andorra!

“I can’t remember too many times they’ve had an impact on the game.”

Coleman felt his players gave all they had after a gruelling week.

“The team showed good maturity, it’s easy in the last ten minutes to get a bit stupid, but that doesn’t mean you’ll score a goal,” he said.

“We had to keep our discipline and our shape, our pitch geography was good, I wasn’t worried about them scoring.

“I was more worried about where we would get a chance from.

“It wasn’t the party today everyone wanted, but it is four vital points.

“Gareth Bale is shattered; he took some clumps in Cyprus as well.

“We’ve lost all our holding midfielders, had to adapt and I was pleased, the boys had to do a lot of running and hung on in there well.

“We trust the players, I trust the medical staff, we pick our strongest team and trust the people involved.”

Coleman admits his players were a little flat, having wanted to get the party started, but he was proud of how much respect Israel showed by playing so defensively.

“The players were a little bit disappointed, you could sense it on their faces, we all wanted to do it and make the Welsh public happy,” he said.

“They are a bit frustrated, but if we do the same again, it’s over. We only need one point now.

“But the players expected to win today, that says a lot.”

“I couldn’t have imagined Israel coming here and parking the bus (before the game), it shows huge respect to Wales.

“We got a mention yesterday it might be 5-3-2 and playing deep and we’ve earned that respect by winning in Israel.

“But good tactics, it got Israel a point.”

Coleman knew instantly that Simon Church’s late winner wouldn’t stand.

“I didn’t want to look at the linesman for Simon Church’s effort, I knew he’d have his flag up, so just gave myself a few seconds to enjoy it,” he joked.

Israel boss Eli Guttman wasn’t having the Welsh penalty claims, but did hail them “a wonderful side.”

“It was not a penalty, in my opinion. The fans shout, but if you are such a good team, don’t shout just for penalties. I didn’t think it was a handball, not at all,” he told the Welsh media in one of his few answers in English.

“I cannot speak on Israel’s chances, there is only two games left. Everything depended on this game.

“Wales are strong enough to (help Israel by) getting a point in Bosnia and then we have to do our job.”

“Did Israel deserve a point? Yes. Wales is a wonderful team with a good coach and a system that works for them.

“I didn’t see any advantage from these Premier League players and one of the best in the world. We surrounded the Welsh players when they attacked.”