However Hiddink has been given some good news, as talisman Andrey Arshavin looks like he’ll be OK to play.

The St Petersburg native picked up an injury almost two weeks ago and was sorely missed against Lichtenstein at the weekend.

Russia’s head coach says Arshavin should be fit, but was less optimistic about Yury Zhirkov’s participation.

“Arshavin did everything he had to do. Yury Zhirkov was a little bit with a brake on. So I expect the latter not to be fit in time. But I don’t have many complaints about Arshavin,” Guus Hiddink said.

Russia and Wales have already met in their qualification group, with the Russians perhaps a bit fortunate to come away with all three points, following a 2-1 win in Moscow.

Guus Hiddink’s side were less than convincing at the weekend against Lichtenstein, but Wales’ manager, John Toshack, expects a much better performance from the visitors on Wednesday evening.

“I think when you are 3-0 up at halftime maybe a bit of complaisance steps up in the second half, particularly, when you have another match on Wednesday… So I think you can understand them taking the foot of the pedal a little bit,” John Toshack, Wales head coach, said.

Russia’s defensive pairing of Sergey Iganshevich and Vasilly Berezutsky aren’t the quickest defenders in the world, which Wales may look to exploit.

Their captain, Craig Bellamy wasn’t giving any of his team’s secrets away, but was full of praise for the Russians.

“Not really going to tell you what we’re going to try and do, but we’re playing against a very, very good football nation,” Bellamy told Russian journalists. “You guys should be proud of your team at the moment. An outstanding team; outstanding players. For us it’s a great game to play because the football you guys have played over the last few years has been really exciting.”

With the exception of Yury Zhirkov, Guus Hiddink has almost a full-strength squad to choose from, though he will have to do without midfielder Igor Denisov, who’ll miss the match through suspension.