GARETH Bale and Aaron Ramsey have got the goals and grabbed the headlines so far at Euro 2016 but one Wales player has captured the hearts of the nation more than any other – little Joe Allen.

The diminutive Liverpool midfielder has been described as ‘The Welsh Pirlo’ in the past but has struggled to make his mark at Anfield.

Allen’s displays in France – including a sublime pass to set up Ramsey for the opening goal against Russia – have struck a chord with Wales fans, however.

They have been serenading their hero from the stands more than ever over the past fortnight.

And earlier this week Twitter was taken over by the Joe Allen Appreciation Day hashtag with supporters paying tribute to him.

And his teammates have been quick to join in the Allen love-in ahead of tomorrow’s second round clash with Northern Ireland in Paris.

“There's always a Joe Allen Appreciation day with us,” said Bale.

“Joe has been amazing. I can't really speak highly enough of him, he's been incredible.

“I think he does the dirty work that maybe goes unnoticed.

“Maybe he doesn't get the headlines outside but for us in the squad we know how vitally important he is.

“He works his socks off every game and I'm sure he'll go on to do incredible things in his career.

“Whenever he plays for Wales and whenever I've seen him play for Liverpool he's been amazing,” he added.

“He plays with his heart, really strong, and always stands up to the task.

“People might look at him and think he's small. But when he's on the pitch he's massive for us.

“I think he deserves more credit than he gets. But as long as keeps performing like that for us, we're all very happy with him.”

Despite the plaudits, Allen looks set to leave Liverpool this summer having failed to convince Jurgen Klopp of his abilities.

His former club Swansea City are hopeful of bringing the 26-year-old back to the Liberty Stadium but Swans defender Neil Taylor says Allen may now cost too much.

“He’s going to cost a lot more now isn’t he, so I don’t know,” said Taylor. “We’d love to have Joey back at Swansea of course. But I think he’s going to have everybody after him if he keeps playing like this.

“If somebody else from another team had played that pass that he did through to Aaron Ramsey, if it was a Spanish player or somebody like that, it would be raved about.

“What we do know here, in-house, is that Joe Allen is a very good football player, and he warrants being at such a big football club like Liverpool.

“His performances are showing that now. We are very happy for him that he is showing it on this stage.”

South Wales Argus: