CRAIG Bellamy has sent out a rallying cry to his Welsh peers following their disappointing 1-0 defeat against Serbia and Montenegro here in Belgrade on Wednesday night.

The Newcastle United hot shot insisted Mark Hughes' men were unlucky as they were sunk by debutant Dragan Mladenovic's solitary 72nd minute goal.

The reverse was Wales' first of the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign but they still lead Group Nine from Italy by two points.

And 24-year-old firebrand Bellamy maintains it's not doom and gloom in the Welsh camp.

"Everyone is down," he said. "But I'm sure it's not the first time anyone in our camp has ever lost a game so we must react positively in our next game in Italy in just over two weeks time."

A Wales win in the Red Star Stadium would have broken a record. The national team have never won six competitive matches in a row.

"We've got to realise how far we've come in the last two years," Bellamy said, remembering Wales' 12-match win-less run when Hughes took over as permanent Wales boss in February 2000.

"We're still in a great position, we've got a lot of points on the board, top of Group Nine and our destiny is in our own hands -let's go for it."

He added: "We deserved to get something out of Wednes-day night's game. To come to a place like this and have the chances we did we should have got a draw.

"A lot of players did well but the forwards, including myself, could have done a lot more.

"The defence played very well, all credit to them. They kept two of European football's top strikers - Mateja Kezman and Darko Kovacevic - quiet."

And Manchester United hero Ryan Giggs added: "It was a disappointing result but we must make sure we bounce back. We are still in a strong position but hopefully we'll perform better next time."

Boss Hughes, meanwhile, insists the Football Association will file a complaint to UEFA about racial abuse from Wednesday night's crowd aimed at Wales trio Danny Gabbidon, Nathan Blake and Robert Earnshaw.