Wales 2-3 Netherlands

Wales were dealt a setback in their preparations for Euro 2016 as they were beaten 3-2 by the Netherlands in an entertaining friendly.

Bas Dost headed the Dutch in front before Wales equalised as Joe Ledley struck on the rebound after Jasper Cillessen saved Joe Allen's penalty.

Arjen Robben's incisive run and shot restored Netherlands' lead but Emyr Huws' firm header made it 2-2.

Dutch captain Robben had the final say as his cool finish sealed victory.

Relive Wales v Netherlands as it happened.

Joe Ledley had missed some of Wales' Euro 2016 qualifying campaign through injury but he was back for Bosnia-Herzegovina

Wales had lost all seven of their previous meetings with the Netherlands, conceding 21 goals and scoring just three.

And although they suffered another loss against the Oranje, an experimental Wales team produced a creditable display against a Dutch side wounded by their failure to qualify for Euro 2016.

Wales without Bale and Ramsey

Wales were without their talismen Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey for the first time since a 2-0 friendly defeat to the same opposition in June 2014.

With Hal Robson-Kanu and David Cotterill also missing, manager Chris Coleman made five changes from October's final Euro 2016 qualifying win against Andorra as he selected a new-look side that included a first start for Leicester forward Tom Lawrence.

Tom Lawrence was among the players looking to make strong impression in the hope of Euro 2016 inclusion

The 21-year-old Blackburn loanee started brightly, leading Wales' attack energetically and forcing Cillessen into an early save.

This game was essentially an audition for the likes of Lawrence and midfielder Jonny Williams to secure their squad places for next summer and, although the Dutch starved Wales of possession for long periods, the pair provided convincing cases for their inclusion.

Dutch rebuilding

Reeling from their failure to qualify for Euro 2016, the Netherlands had earmarked this game as the start of a new era.

One of the casualties of manager Danny Blind's rebuilding process was record goalscorer Robin van Persie, who was left out of the squad.

Striker Bas Dost (left) joined Wolfsburg in 2012 and has scored 34 goals in 51 appearances

His replacement Dost vindicated Blind's decision after half an hour, finding space at the back post to head in from Daryl Janmaat's cross despite the sprawling efforts of Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

The Netherlands took control of the game at this point, but Wales equalised moments before half-time.

With the Dutch unable to clear a Welsh corner, Ben Davies' volley struck the arm of Terence Kongolo and referee Benoit Bastien pointed to the spot.

Allen's penalty was pushed away by Cillessen, but only as far as Ledley, who calmly side-footed the ball into the far corner.

How Wales are shaping up for Euro 2016

With the draw for Euro 2016 taking place on 12 December, Wales have already been to France to inspect potential training bases as preparations gather pace.

The match against the Netherlands was an opportunity for Coleman to experiment with his squad and see how his side could cope without their leading players.

They showed resolve to come from behind twice against Netherlands, who took the lead for a second time with a trademark dribble and finish from the increasingly influential Robben.

It was 22-year-old Emyr Huws' first goal for Wales

Substitute midfielder Huws is another hoping to cement his place in Wales' squad for Euro 2016, and he enhanced his prospects with a fine header to make it 2-2 with 20 minutes left.

But it was Robben who had the final word, the Bayern Munich winger skipping through the Welsh defence before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

Man of the match - Arjen Robben

The Netherlands captain was a thorn in the Welsh side, running at defenders at pace and scoring two fine goals.

Reaction

Wales manager Chris Coleman: "It was a good exercise, they are a good team who have been criticised a lot (after failing to qualify for Euro 2016) but they are still have top-quality players.

"We knew it would be tough and we always want to win, but we got a lot of other things out of the game.

"We were competitive. We used our full number of six subs and were still competitive.

"We scored two goals without Bale and Ramsey, which is a big thing when you look at who was getting the goals for us in the qualification campaign.

Netherlands manager Danny Blind: "We played a good game, we played as a team but we had some problems in the first period.

"In the second half we should have scored four or five but the goals we conceded were a concern.

"It was a hard job to motivate them after we missed out on the Euros but the team were focused and put a lot of energy in the game.

"We play Germany on Tuesday and France and England in March, the big countries."