Craig Bellamy admitted he was "hurting" after Wales' defeat to Denmark in the Nations League, conceding his team were second-best at Parken on Sunday. 

Wales slumped to back-to-back defeats to begin their Group A4 campaign, with Ben Davies' own goal and Gustav Isaksen's second-half finish sealing a 2-0 win for Denmark. 

Rasmus Hojlund had seen a goal ruled out for offside before Denmark took the lead in the 53rd minute when Mikkel Damsgaard's free-kick was turned into the net by Davies. 

And it was another Damsgaard free-kick that led to Denmark's second, with Isaksen's deflected volley looping over Danny Ward, and it could have got even worse for Wales. 

Hojlund saw another goal chalked off after straying into an offside position, though Neco Williams was denied a late consolation for the visitors after the referee blew his whistle early for a foul by Ethan Ampadu in the build-up.

Wales have now failed to win any of their last six matches across all competitions (D3 L3), losing each of their last three. This is their longest run without a victory since a run of nine between June 2022 and March 2023.

Despite the loss, Bellamy remains confident his side will improve by playing against Europe's elite on a consistent basis, with Norway their next match this Thursday.

"I'm really hurting. When you see an athletic team run over you a little bit, but then, will we improve? I think we will," said Bellamy.

"This team will get better, these players will keep improving. There are young ones coming in well after I'm gone.

"For me now it's just focus, two more games to go. How can I help you improve for the next two games, but also how can I improve?

"I'm probably more loving when I'm losing, I'm probably more of a pain in the backside when I'm winning."

Denmark's dominance was backed up by the metrics. They fired off 20 shots, only managing more in the Nations League on two occasions, coming against the Republic of Ireland in November 2019 (26) and Portugal in March last year (23). 

Brian Riemer's side are also now unbeaten in their last eight home matches across all competitions, winning six of those contests (D2). 

Wales were only able to muster an expected goals (xG) total of 0.65 from their 10 attempts, but Sorba Thomas acknowledged there was still plenty of room for improvement. 

"We are down as a team. We felt we were in the game. They had the proper chances, and they took them," Thomas said. 

"We need to be more clinical, we need to start punishing teams when we're on top, that's what they did.

"I would have loved for my shot to go in, maybe the game could have been different. But we had more chances after that and didn't score. We've got to learn from that.

"Thankfully, we've got two games at home still to come. We'll have home advantage, so we need to show a reaction.

"We are just going to get better. We are a small nation, but we've got big hearts and beliefs and, for us, it's about showing that more on the pitch."

Bellamy's main frustration was the way in which his side conceded both goals, with Damsgaard's set-pieces causing the Wales defence all kinds of problems. 

"I said to the players before the game, 'this is going to be tougher than Portugal'," Bellamy added.

"It was a different challenge but a very difficult one. The best team won overall.

"As disappointed as I am with that, the result I probably think was fair."