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  Paramedics treat a Cardiff fan after he fell from the upper-tier of the away fans’ stand during their match against Milwall. Photograph: David Field/Action Images

  A Cardiff City fan who survived a 20ft fall from the upper tier at the New Den during Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Millwall has been described as “very, very lucky”. The 35-year-old supporter was celebrating Chris Burke’s 49th-minute opener when he toppled from the second tier of the away fans’ end.He was treated by medical staff at the ground for about 20 minutes before being taken to hospital. He was initially said to be in a serious but stable condition, but the Metropolitan Police later said he had minor injuries.”His injuries are not life threatening. He is a very, very lucky man,” a force spokesman said. The accident is not being treated as a criminal matter.The Cardiff manager, Dave Jones, said after the game he was concerned only with the fan and not the result. He said: “I couldn’t give two hoots about the result after that. One or two of the players saw it and Craig [Bellamy] said it made him feel physically sick.”We don’t know much about him but all we’ll say is that we as a club send our best wishes for a speedy recovery. We desperately want to do well for our supporters and as a club we have a duty to them. At the moment, we are all just concerned about that guy.”The Millwall manager, Kenny Jackett, also expressed his concern about the fan. “We wish the lad well who fell from the stand. I didn’t see it myself but Neil Harris did and said it wasn’t good,” he saidAll the goals came in a thrilling second half, Liam Trotter with a penalty, Kevin Lisbie and Steve Morison netting for the Lions, with Burke scoring twice and Peter Whittingham once for City.The result keeps Cardiff fourth in the table, four points off the automatic promotion places. “We are still in touch with the top teams and still in touch with the automatic promotion places, so we are still very much in it,” said Jones.”We have got an eight-game season now. I always said if we could be in touch with the top teams at this stage of the season, then we have a great shout. It almost doesn’t matter what has happened before. We’re four points off second and we’ve got a great chance.”Jackett praised the way his side played in the second half. “I thought it was a cracking game, great entertainment and we contributed to a great spectacle. We didn’t play as much as I would have liked in the first half but we changed that around after the break.”We really went for it at times and I was very proud of the players at the end of the game. We are six points off the play-offs and I think we are in a very good position to really make a challenge for them.”It is a good point against one of the best teams in this league and we showed we can compete. The first half was a bit quiet but in the second half we knew the crowd would get behind us and we really lifted our performance, as did Cardiff.”

  (“The Guardian” )

2012 European Championship qualifying Group G – Wales v England
Venue: Millennium Stadium Date: Saturday, 26 March Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage: Full coverage on BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & online, live text commentary online and score updates on BBC Sport website. Live on Sky Sports 1

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Bale quietly confident ahead of England clash

Tottenham star Gareth Bale believes Wales can cause an upset against England in the Euro 2012 qualifier at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Wales are currently bottom of Group G having lost their opening three matches of the campaign.But 21-year-old Bale says that with Gary Speed now manager, Wales can shock Fabio Capello’s side.”We’re quietly confident in the camp that we’ve got enough to pull off an upset,” said Bale.Bale has starred for a Spurs team who have caused upsets against Inter Milan and AC Milan in the Champions League this season.And having declared himself fully fit following a recent six-week spell on the sidelines, he is now hoping to replicate his club form against England in Cardiff.”People might laugh at us but we fully believe that we’ve got some good players here and we’ll be fully prepared and ready to take it to England,” he added.”I’ve had a bit of banter with [Jermain] Defoe and [Michael] Dawson back at the club and it will be a great game on Saturday and I’m hoping Wales will come out on top.”A lot of us haven’t played against England for the full team. It will be a great occasion and one we all want to play in.”I definitely think it will be a great experience for us to play at the highest level and it will stand us in good stead for the future.”Now is the time we need to start delivering and there’s no better game than to beat England.”Bale is back with the Wales squad having missed the 3-0 defeat against the Republic of Ireland in the Nations Cup in February.Wales have also been boosted by the return of Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey, who has not played for his country since the 3-0 friendly win over Scotland in November 2009.”We’re still young, we’re still learning and we’re both improving at our clubs and we want to keep doing that,” said Bale.

With a full crowd there on the weekend it will give us that extra bit of confidence and belief Gareth Bale

“If we do then it will be good for the Welsh team.”But Bale has said that team effort, rather than relying on individuals such as Ramsey and himself, will be the key if Wales are to defeat England on Saturday.”I don’t think any player can carry the whole team and it’s about the team playing well together and not individuals,” said Bale.”As long as we work as a team then I think we can go a long way.”The clash against Fabio Capello’s side will be the first time in six years that Wales have sold out at the Millennium Stadium.England were the opponents on that occasion in September 2005 with Joe Cole scoring the only goal of the game to secure a 1-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier.And Bale is hoping that a full house at the Millennium Stadium can inspire a young Welsh side to victory.”With a full crowd there on the weekend it will give us that extra bit of confidence and belief.”You’ve seen what it used to be like five or six years ago with all the fans there.”I was one of them fans at the time and it was an electric atmosphere. All the fans were with the team.”We want to be going out to that and feeling comfortable with everybody on our side.”Hopefully we can turn the Millennium Stadium into a fortress and if we do that we’ve got a great chance of qualifying, maybe not this campaign, but definitely the next one.”

(BBC Football )