WEST Ham defender Danny Gabbidon admits he's grateful to have Craig Bellamy on his side rather than against him when Wales' Euro 2008 campaign kicks-off against the Czech Republic on Saturday. Cwmbran-born Gabbidon and Liverpool's new £6m striker Bellamy have been friends for years, through Wales youth and under-21s football. Now they find themselves head to head in the Barclays Premiership as well as team mates for their country and the 27 year-old Hammers centre-back said: "Craig has been on fire this season, he can be our key man." Last Saturday's Anfield clash between Liverpool and West Ham was only the second time the pair have played against each other in their careers. They will now be side by side in Teplice on Saturday. Gabbidon said: "It is good to see how much he has improved in the last 18 months and going to Liverpool will improve him even more. "Their coaching and the whole club can only be of benefit to him. "It will take his game on even more and that can only help Wales with him on form and firing up front. "He has been on fire at the start of the season and that can only be good for Wales. "He is a fit lad, he can run all day and he has that skill to be a good finisher. "He could easily play up front on his own for us the way he plays with that energy. "Thankfully he's on my side at international level." The pair's Anfield clash was watched by Wales boss John Toshack, and he must have been impressed by what he saw. Gabbidon added: "I had only played against Craig once before, and that was the first game of last season when he was nowhere near fit when West Ham started their top-flight campaign against Blackburn. "But it was agood battle on Saturday, he's a great player and I love facing the best because it only improves my game. "It was a good competition between us. I know all about his pace and what he can do to a team, so it will be good to have him at the sharp end for us rather than coming at me." He added: "I had to be wary, I didn't want him to get in behind us. He managed that in the second half because we were chasing the game and taking more chances. "He played really well. "We decided to play offside against him and push up and he was getting caught a lot. "He got abit niggled and Iwas happy with that because he was spending too much time arguing with the linesman." Gabbidon believes Wales can shock a few people as they prepare for their European campaign. He said: "I am looking forward to the real thing now, we have had afew decent friendlies and they have gone okay so we are all determined now to get the group off to a good start. "You have to go into any game believing we can win, we have gelled well and the new lads who have come in have done well in a short space of time." The former Cardiff City star is also relishing the battle against giant Czech Republic striker Jan Koller. He enjoyed something of a dress rehearsal when he came up against Liverpool's Peter Crouch at Anfield last weekend, and admits that the Monaco player represents the biggest threat to Welsh hopes in Teplice. After adisappointing World Cup campaign in Germany, where an injury to Koller hastened their early exit from the tournament, the Czech Republic have lost inspirational midfielder Pavel Nedved to retirement and look set to be without injured pair, Karel Poborsky and Milan Baros. Accordingly, Gabbidon reckons a full-strength Wales can get their campaign off to a positive start. "We're going into the match on the back of several good performances in friendly matches and we are convinced we can get something out of Saturday's game," he said yesterday. "Over the past few months the manager had brought alot of new players into the squad but we have gelled together well and the newcomers have done well for us in a relatively short space of time. "As far as the Czech Republic are concerned, they have lost acouple of decent players, which will help us as well and if we can field our first 11 we'll have avery good side out there. "They are probably going through something of a transition, although they may feel they have a point to prove after crashing out of the World Cup. "But Nedved was a key player for them, so maybe it's agood time for us to be playing them." Asked about a possible duel with Koller, the 27-year-old defender added: "It's going to be tough, no question about that. "He is a big guy and a colossal player for them, so we'll need to play well against him. "But if we can keep things tight at the back, we have the players going forward who can hurt the Czech Republic and that's what we'll be looking to do. "I played against Peter Crouch at the weekend and he's similar to Koller in that both are good in the air and with the ball at their feet. "Koller is perhaps the stronger of the two, but the experience of playing against Crouch will help. "I'm looking forward to the challenge and it should be a good battle on Saturday. Koller is a great player, but I've had some experience now of facing extremely talented players and I think that has improved me as well." The Czech Republic's most recent outing last month saw them go down to a 3-0 defeat against Serbia and the match video will be required viewing at the Welsh team headquarters in Cardiff this week. "The gaffer has already had a quick word with us about that game," said Gabbidon. "Apparently they just crumbled when Nedved went off, so perhaps they will crumble from the start against us. "That's not likely to happen, of course, but what we know for certain is that there are areas of their game where we can hurt them. "We have lost only one of our last seven games so there is a great deal of confidence in the camp. "And it's important that we start this new campaign in a positive fashion, because we failed to that in the last World Cup qualifying programme, which cost us heavily." Wales have lost defender David Partridge due to a family problem, and have called in Wrexham's Ryan Valentine for his first appearance in the senior squad. There is a doubt over Cardiff's Paul Parry, who is nursing a damaged ankle after scoring in the 2-0 win over Birmingham on Saturday. | 
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