CHRIS Mepham believes the experience gained by the remaining members of Wales's Euro 2016 squad "can help us a lot" as he prepares for a first taste of international tournament football.

The Cherries centre-back could feature when Wales face Switzerland in their Group A opener on Saturday afternoon in Baku.

Wales shocked the world of football five years ago, topping their group before progressing all the way through to the semi-finals of the Euros, eventually losing to Portugal.

Mepham, 23, is part of a young 26-man Wales group for this upcoming tournament. But some players do still survive from that memorable run to the semis in 2016, including the likes of Ben Davies, Chris Gunter, Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale.

"There's lads like myself who haven't played in a major tournament before and it's a fairly inexperienced team," Mepham told Sky Sports.

"So I think it's the balance of wanting to go and win the game (against Switzerland), but also not overcommitting and things like that.

"I think that's where the older lads will be a massive help. Lads that have been there before, been there and done it against bigger teams, obviously being the underdogs in the tournament.

"I think their information and their experience they can pass on to us is massive. I think it can help us a lot."

After facing Switzerland, Wales will play Turkey before heading to Rome to round off their group campaign against Italy.

The top two will progress to the last 16, along with the four best performing third-placed sides across the six groups.