Wales boss Craig Bellamy has insisted his side are better than what they showed during their narrow 1-0 World Cup qualifier victory against Kazakhstan which saw them move top of Group J.
There are 83 places that separate these two sides in the FIFA world rankings, but Bellamy's side were made to work for the win after a strong response from the hosts at the Astana Arena following Kieffer Moore's opener.
"Hard work. Really hard work," the Wales boss said to BBC Sport after the game. "It is a difficult place to come. You could see why.
"They are in the middle of their season, it's not an excuse, it's the reality. We had to dig in. You have to dig in for qualifiers. They have that [mentality]. But there is more.
"I knew it would be really hard but we are a better team than what we showed consistently today."
Kazakhstan goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov had done well to keep out Josh Cullen's initial header from a dangerous Harry Wilson delivery on the right but could do nothing about the rebound from Moore, who is in fine scoring form after already netting four goals in five games at club level with Wrexham.
Despite falling behind, the hosts only grew in confidence as time went on.
Galymzhan Kenhebek led the charge, seeing two efforts spin just wide of the post either side of the interval and one long-range shot tipped onto the crossbar by Karl Darlow.
Late drama in Wales' last outing against Belgium handed Bellamy his first defeat in the role and it almost snatched victory away from the visitors here when Serikzan Muzhikov's free-kick rattled the woodwork again with the last kick of the game.
Wales now sit two points clear of North Macedonia in Group J after holding on in this fixture, but will be level on points with third-placed Belgium if Rudi Garcia's side win both of their games in hand.
They face bottom-of-the-table Liechtenstein on Thursday evening.
Wilson: Really tough game for us, we had to win ugly
Wales forward Harry Wilson speaking to BBC Sport:
"Valuable three points. Really tough game. We started well and controlled the game but they showed on more than one occasion that they are a dangerous team.
"Second half they pressed a lot higher and we found it difficult.
"We showed we can win games by playing well but also by being a bit ugly."
Davies: It wasn't our best performance
Wales captain Ben Davies speaking to BBC Sport:
"That was our target [to win], the most important was to win the game. It wasn't our best performance.
"This is European qualifying. If you want to get to a World Cup, you have to play tough games. We worked hard out there and had to defend at times."
On facing Belgium in their next World Cup qualifier on October 13: "It is obviously the biggest game we have going forward now. As far as I'm concerned, it's job done tonight."
What next for Wales?
Wales will host Canada at the Swansea.com Stadium on September 9 in a friendly before the international break comes to an end.
The next time Bellamy will have his squad in action will arrive on October 9 and October 13, when they face England and Belgium, respectively.
