CAN we agree to forget all about Sunday’s friendly at the Friends Arena?

The 3-0 defeat to Sweden in Stockholm provided a whole smorgasbord of reasons to worry for Wales ahead of Euro 2016.

Chris Coleman’s men were ineffective in attack, moribund in midfield and woeful at the back and extended their poor run of results to one win in seven games.

That’s hardly the sort of form to inspire huge confidence as Wales prepare for their first major tournament in 58 years.

With the big kick-off against Slovakia in Bordeaux now just four days away the phoney war is over.

The results of the last eight months are inconsequential but the performances, particularly Sunday’s, are more concerning.

Coleman described the defeat as “a slap in the face” and condemned his side’s display as “naïve” and nobody who made the trip or paid £12 to hook up to Premier Sports would disagree with that.

The only real positives were that the visitors picked up no fresh injuries and that key men Joe Ledley, Joe Allen, Hal Robson-Kanu were not involved at all and a certain Gareth Bale featured for only the final 25 minutes.

The nation held its breath as Bale was clattered by the corner flag and Ashley Williams landed awkwardly after heading onto the roof of the Swedish net.

Thankfully both Bale and Williams – talisman at either end of the pitch for Wales – got to their feet and appeared to come through unscathed.

A fully fit and well rested Bale will, of course, make a huge difference from the start against Slovakia and Allen and Robson-Kanu should offer significant upgrades on David Vaughan and Sam Vokes.

It’s a big ask for Ledley to be fit to start on Saturday but his energy will be just what Wales will need for the crunch second match against England in Lens on June 16.

Williams’ below par display at the heart of the Welsh defence – particularly the way he was beaten far too easily by substitute John Guidetti for the third Swedish goal – can probably be put down to rustiness as much as anything.

The Swansea city centre-back has not played since May 1 having been rested by Swans boss Francesco Guidolin and it showed at times on Sunday.

Bale helped Real Madrid win the Champions League on May 28 but most of the rest of the squad had been at least three weeks without significant action.

So perhaps the performance shouldn’t have come as a shock.

Maybe Wales should have played more than one warm-up game.

Maybe they should have played sooner but we have to hope that the cobwebs have been blown away and everyone will be ready when it really matters this coming weekend.

And, while we try to forget Sunday and the players do their best to put it behind them, Coleman and his coaching team will be studying the tapes.

They’ll work out what went wrong against Sweden and how to put it right against Slovakia and when it’s really mattered over the past two years they have more often than not got it spot on.

While the Euros will be a great adventure for the fans and for us in the media, the players and Coleman mean business in France.

They aren’t satisfied with simply qualifying – they want to make a real impact on the tournament and I’m convinced they can do that.

Despite Sunday’s misstep, this promises to be an unforgettable month for Welsh football – history in the making.

Make sure you savour every moment of it.