Bellamy: Confident he will face UAE

Stuart Pearce's side were held to a 1-1 draw by their Group A rivals on Thursday after putting in a nervy display at Old Trafford.

Their efforts to make a flying start to their gold medal quest were not helped by some rather questionable challenges from the Senegalese.

Welsh duo Bellamy and Joe Allen were forced to limp out of the action, but the former says he will shake off a few bumps and bruises in time to face the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

"I got caught on the end of probably the worst tackle I faced and it just tweaked my medial ligament a little bit," said the Liverpool forward.

"I should be alright for the UAE match. Now it's all about preparing for that game and making sure we bounce back."

Chelsea full-back Ryan Bertrand was also on display for Team GB and he believes the squad are fortunate to have avoided any serious injuries.

He said: "There were some horrific challenges. I was fearing for my safety.

"I have cuts on my shoulder and I am sure Bellers is feeling down. It was lucky Tayls (Neil Taylor) jumped for one tackle, if he hadn't he could have been really hurt."

While disappointed with some of the officiating and the final scoreline, Team GB enjoyed their first taste of Olympic action.

Bellamy was also happy to have the Old Trafford faithful on his side for once, with club colleague Luis Suarez taking much of the flak during Uruguay's clash with UAE earlier in the day.

"I was expecting what Luis got earlier," said the Welshman. "I was prepared for it but I was grateful Luis was playing first.

"Look, I'm a Liverpool fan and Liverpool is my club but it's always an honour to play at Old Trafford.

"It is a truly remarkable place, so to represent Great Britain here, and to represent my own country, which is Wales, was special."