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Joe Ledley wins fitness battle to be named in Wales' Euro 2016 squad

Ledley has made a rapid recovery from a leg fracture to make the Welsh squad
Ledley has made a rapid recovery from a leg fracture to make the Welsh squad

Chris Coleman has named his 23-man squad for Euro 2016 and it includes midfielder Joe Ledley, who has been deemed able to participate despite suffering a broken leg less than four weeks ago.

The Crystal Palace midfielder fractured his left leg on May 7, but is already back in training with the rest of Coleman's squad ahead of their maiden European Championships tournament. 

Ledley stepped up his fitness during Wales' five-day training camp in Portugal last week and convinced Coleman and his medical staff that he will be fit before the end of the group stages in France.

Coleman had said the 29-year-old had to prove his fitness before the final group game against Russia in Toulouse on June 20 to be included.

"Joe looks very, very good," Coleman said. 

"He trained on the grass in Portugal, albeit with the medical team, but he played a huge part in the campaign and is a big part of this team.

"The work he has put in is incredible and he looks good.

"With the injury he has had he is ahead of his work in his rehab. We will assess him and we will know more in the next week.

"But at the moment I think he has a good chance of playing against Slovakia."

Liverpool's Joe Allen also makes the cut as he recovers from a knee injury that could keep him out of Sunday's warm-up game against Ireland's group rivals Sweden.

Wales will face England, Slovakia and Russia in Group B at the Euros and there were few surprises in a squad containing Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and skipper Ashley Williams.

Paul Dummett and Adam Matthews were omitted as Coleman opted for only seven defenders, and Emyr Huws lost out on a midfield place in a three-way battle to David Vaughan and Dave Edwards.

Bale handed Wales a fitness scare during Real Madrid's Champions League final victory in Milan on Saturday night when he spent the entire period of extra time barely able to move.

But it was no more than a bout of severe cramp and Bale was due to join his team-mates at this evening.

"We watched the game and he looked fantastic," said Coleman.

"He was limping a bit, but he is great physically. It's all positive for us because Gareth will be in a good frame of mind and we're looking forward to having him with us.

"We have to get to Gareth's level as best as we can, we've got some top players like Rambo (Ramsey), Ashley Williams and Joe Allen but we've got good players behind them.

"This is the next challenge for us, for Gareth as well, because what we've done getting there has gone."

Wales squad: Wayne Hennessey, Daniel Ward, Owain Fon Williams; Ben Davies, James Chester, James Collins, Chris Gunter, Ashley Richards, Neil Taylor, Ashley Williams; Joe Allen, David Edwards, Andy King, Joe Ledley, Aaron Ramsey, David Vaughan, Jonathon Williams, George Williams; Gareth Bale, Simon Church, David Cotterill, Hal Robson-Kanu,  Sam Vokes.