Ashley Williams: Captain says he will not retire from Wales duty

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Ashley Williams says he will not quit Wales

International friendly: France v Wales

Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis Date: Friday, 10 November Kick-off: 20:00 GMT

Coverage: Live on BBC One Wales, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary

Wales captain Ashley Williams has no intention of retiring from international football despite his side's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Centre-back James Collins retired from Wales duty earlier this month.

But Williams, 33, says he plans to lead his country for future campaigns.

"It was devastating [not qualifying] but I'm enjoying the camp and, as long as it stays like that, I'm willing to give my services," he said.

"As hard as it was to take, I'm here now and I can't wait to be involved and, as long as it stays like that, I can't see anything changing any time soon."

Williams will win his 76th cap for Wales when he leads them for Friday's friendly match against France in Paris.

Manager Chris Coleman has described how the former Swansea player was "broken" by Wales' failure to qualify for the World Cup, sealed by October's defeat against the Republic of Ireland in Cardiff.

He backed Williams to recover from that setback and from the recent dip in form he has endured at Everton.

Now he is back with his Wales team-mates, Williams is looking forward to testing himself against a French team including attacking talent such as Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann and Paris St-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, the second most expensive player of all time.

"It's exciting," Williams said. "Some of these players I've never played against before - some of the best in the world - and that's what you want, to see where you're at personally and as a team.

"We've played some of the best already and we've dealt with them well and this is another challenge for us. If we play as well as we can individually and as a team by imposing ourselves on them, then I'm sure we'll be OK."

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