All Gareth Bale needed to get over the crushing defeat to England was a plate of burger and chips and the Real Madrid forward now has his sights set on exacting some modicum of revenge on Monday night for one of Welsh football’s most painful moments against Russia.

Bale and his team-mates were within seconds of taking a valuable point from their meeting with the Three Lions in Lens on Thursday, only for a gutsy and diligent rearguard action to be undone by Daniel Sturridge’s stoppage-time winner.

The look on Welsh faces said it all. Some players sunk to their knees while others buried their heads in their sweat-soaked shirts. The immediate thought was of how big a psychological moment it could prove in their Euro 2016 campaign.

The quick turnaround before heading to Toulouse for their final Group B fixture did not leave much time for moping. Wales still have their fate in their own hands: a win will guarantee them a place in the last 16, while a draw may well prove to be enough. So a day off at the team base in Dinard, Brittany meant the Wales camp could head from their hotel out into the seaside town and for once the nutritionists were not controlling the menu.

"After the game we decided to go out for lunch as a group in Dinard. The staff and players," Bale said. "We had a nice meal out with everybody. It was a chance to get away from the hotel a little bit, a change of scenery. Having burger and chips seems to have helped.

"It was something we definitely needed. We are eating very well at the hotel, but that is quite strict. So it is nice to get a change and it lightens everyone’s mood. I had a nice dessert as well, a crepe with Nutella.”

With spirits revived, Bale will hope to continue his scoring run at the tournament, having found the net in the games against Slovakia and England. His goals have put him in a select band of players to have scored from two set pieces at the same European Championship finals. France’s great Michel Platini and Germany’s Thomas Hässler are the others to have accomplished the feat.

Even so, Bale has yet to hit his electric best in France. He has found himself starved of possession for long periods of the opening two fixtures and Chris Coleman’s challenge will be to ensure the Real Madrid man gets enough ball to wreak havoc against a sluggish Russian defence.

Bale acknowledges there is more to come from him, but will gladly let someone else produce the heroics if it ensures Wales do not make a rapid return home. "I can do better," he said. “We’ve spoken about moving the ball better and if we don’t keep the ball it’s difficult to do what I try to do best. I couldn’t care less if I perform my worst in every single game, the important thing for me is doing the best for my nation.

"It’s about the team and us getting to the next round. Individually, whether you score goals or win awards, it’s irrelevant. I’d take playing rubbish every single game if it meant we could go as far as we can.

"The first goal is to get out of the group and it’s in our hands. We still have the chance to do that. I have no plans to fly home this week."

Playing Russia with qualification on the line brings back some painful memories for Welsh football followers. The Euro 2004 play-off between the two was all set to be the moment Mark Hughes led the Dragons back to the top table of international football.

A goalless draw had been secured in Moscow and an expectant Millennium Stadium was packed to the rafters. However, Vadim Evseev headed in the only goal of the game and the party was ruined.

Bale was among the 72,000 in Cardiff that night and is desperate to avoid a repeat. “I was at the game with my dad and a few of my friends, I was very young,” he said. “I still remember it, but that was the past and this is now. No one’s even thinking of that experience, we want to go in with a fresh mind.

"We want to play like we’ve been doing and hopefully get the win. I have seen only a little bit of them, of Russia, but they’re a very good team. We understand that and they’re in this tournament for a reason. We know their weakness and we know their strengths. We want to go at them.

"The England game is behind us, we have moved on. It is in the past and the challenge is ahead of us."