Last month, Wales managed to qualify for their first major tournament since 1958 by grabbing a place in the finals at next summer's European Championships in France.

Chris Coleman's side will host the Netherlands in a friendly at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Friday, which will be the Dutch team's first international match since failing to qualify for Euro 2016.

Wales

The Dragons have finally come down from the ceiling after securing their place in the finals of next summer's tournament and improving their FIFA world ranking.

Coleman and his team rose to eighth in the list a couple of months ago, but they are now in 15th place as they prepare to head into an international match in better form than their Dutch counterparts.

Wales rounded off their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Andorra, but they had already reached the finals three days previous.

Coleman's men suffered a 2-0 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but they still managed to qualify thanks to other results in the group going in their favour.

Gareth Bale played a pivotal role in Wales's success as the world's most expensive footballer scored seven of the team's 11 goals in the entire qualifying campaign.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, Bale will not be involved in this week's friendly as he continues building his fitness at club Real Madrid after recovering from an injury.

Coleman would probably have wanted the £85m man to be available for selection, but with an El Clasico against Barcelona coming up, it appears as though Madrid have put their foot down.

Wales head into this fixture in good form as they have lost just once in six games in 2015, drawing one and winning four.

Recent form: WWWDLW

Netherlands

Since Louis van Gaal left his position as Netherlands coach to join Manchester United at the end of last year's World Cup, results have plummeted for the Dutch side.

Danny Blind replaced Van Gaal's successor Guus Hiddink in July, but he has failed to inspire confidence having been unable to guide the team into the finals of Euro 2016.

Under Hiddink, the Oranje had won three, lost two and drawn one of their qualifiers, but it was a worse run under Blind as the team could muster just one victory in their remaining four matches in the campaign.

Holland lost to Iceland, Turkey and the Czech Republic, which ultimately resulted in their failure to reach the finals, but it is also the form of certain players that have come under the microscope.

Robin van Persie has struggled to maintain his goalscoring prowess since moving to Fenerbahce from Manchester United in the summer, which in turn has affected his international form.

One current United player has also come under heat from Blind, who recently suggested that Memphis Depay was not a 'team player'.

The team will not be preparing for next summer's Euros when they take on Wales, but they will be playing for pride and perhaps Blind's job.

Recent form: LWLLWL

Team News

As mentioned, Wales will not have Bale at their disposal when they take on the Netherlands as the forward is still recovering from an injury ahead of the upcoming El Clasico in Spain.

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey is also absent from the squad as he is suffering with a hamstring injury that he picked up while playing for the Gunners.

Arguably Wales's two best players are out of action, but it gives others like Sam Vokes and Andy King to show what they are capable of.

Swansea City defender Ashley Williams is expected to captain the side, while Chris Gunter, James Chester and Ben Davies could line up alongside him at the back.

Bournemouth midfielder Shaun MacDonald was called into the squad on Monday as a replacement for David Cotterill, who was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

For the visiting side, there are question marks over whether Blind will select Depay after he initially planned to leave the United winger out of the squad altogether.

The positive for Holland is that Arjen Robben is back in contention after spending a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an injury, while Daley Blind could be used in midfield, despite being handed a defensive role at Old Trafford.

Wales possible starting lineup:
Hennessey; Gunter, A Williams, Chester, B Davies; Vaughan, J Williams, King; Lawrence, Church, Vokes

Netherlands possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Tete, Bruma, Van Dijk, Riedewald; Wijnaldum, Blind, Sneijder; Robben, Huntelaar, Depay

Head To Head

These two sides do not have a rich head-to-head history as they have only met seven times overall, but their last match was as recent June 2014.

The Dutch side managed to secure a 2-0 win in a World Cup warm-up friendly in Amsterdam with goals from Robben and Jeremain Lens.

The statistics are not great reading for Wales as they have not managed to grab a single win or draw in the times that these two nations have played one another.

The Netherlands have a 100% record over the Welsh, winning five of the games on home turf and two away, scoring 21 goals compared to just three from their opponents.

We say: Wales 1-2 Netherlands

The Netherlands may be in a crisis, but they still have enough quality among their ranks to get a result against Wales on Friday. With Bale and Ramsey not included in the squad, the Dragons have lost their most effective players, which automatically puts them at a disadvantage. The Dutch team will have a point to prove following a string of disappointing results, while this particular fixture will have little importance to Wales