WALES captain Aaron Ramsey hopes he can silence the taunting texts of Arsenal team-mate Thomas Vermaelen when the Dragons face Belgium in Cardiff tomorrow night.

Wales begin their bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup against the heavily-fancied Belgians, who are fresh from a 4-2 win over Holland, at Cardiff City Stadium.

With the visitors including Chelsea's stylish playmaker Eden Hazard, Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele, Everton's Marouane Fellaini and Vermaelen, Wales will go into the game as underdogs.

Midfielder Ramsey revealed that his Gunners' colleague Vermaelen has not been shy in reminding him of the star quality Belgium possess, but hopes he and Wales can put a dent in the defender's confidence.

Ramsey said: "It has been going on for a few months now. We all know the quality they have, a lot of their players have established themselves in the Premier League and started the season well.

"Obviously he has been giving me a bit of banter over the last few weeks, which I won't repeat, but we are looking forward to it and we are confident in our own abilities, we have some very good players in our squad as well.

"We are at home as well, with our home support behind us and hopefully that will help us get off to a good start."

Belgium lie just five places above Wales in the latest Fifa world rankings.