WALES manager Chris Coleman has revealed that he will stand down after guiding his team through the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and, hopefully, on to the tournament in Russia.

The Wales boss, who took over from the late Gary Speed in 2011, is a national hero after leading the country to a first major tournament in 58 years and masterminding a remarkable run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Coleman signed a new contract that runs until the summer of 2018 before the team left for France but he has never hidden his desire to return to club management on the continent and he will aim to do just that after the next campaign.

“I have signed a good contract and I am looking forward to the campaign,” he said, insisting he will not be tempted away by offers on the table this summer.

“I am sure this will be my last campaign whether we qualify or not.

“That will be six or seven years in the job which is a long time. So I think this will be my last hit at it so I will give it my best shot but I would not consider going anywhere else. I want to see this through.”

Wales start the road to Russia in Moldova in September and Coleman says his players will have to deal with a new level of expectation and a difference in how opponents approach games against them.

But he’s determined to ensure that the squad’s magic month in France is not a one-off.

“When we get back it’s going to be a quick turnaround,” he said. “August will go and we’ll be into it again.

“The biggest challenge for us is that we will be a scalp now in this campaign because of what we’ve just done.

“Teams will play differently against us and rather than us being the underdogs, which we’re very good at, we’ll be expected to win.

“We’ve not been used to breaking teams down. We’ve been used to hitting teams on the counter-attack because they’ve attacked us because they expect to get something from us.

“We may have to look at how we approach it slightly differently in terms of what the opposition are going to do to us.

“A lot of teams will defend deep against us because they’ll recognise where our strengths are. We’ve got to do things a little bit differently.”

And Coleman says his side need to hit the ground running in qualifying to keep the feel-good factor going.

“People will look at the group and they will fancy Wales,” he added.

“But going to places like Moldova and Georgia is never easy, it is going to be hard.

“The first five games are massive, huge, everything is on it. After the first five games we have to be there or thereabouts to keep progressing, it is huge for us.”