Bittersweet for Bluebirds
IT’S always great to see players from Wales’s senior football clubs called up for international duty and Craig Bellamy has included seven in his 25-man squad for the latest World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan on September 4.
Three from newly-promoted Wrexham (Kieffer Moore, Danny Ward and Nathan Broadhead), two from fellow EFL Championship side Swansea City (Ben Cabango and Liam Cullen) and two from League One leaders Cardiff City (Dylan Lawlor and Ronan Kpakio), keeping home fans happy no doubt.
But there may also be some head-scratching going on at Cardiff City Stadium with the omission of Bluebirds vice-captain Rubin Colwill, who has been a revelation in the opening weeks of the campaign, albeit in the third tier of English football.
The uncapped duo Lawlor, who signed a contract extension with Cardiff only this week, and Kpakio are among the City Academy starlets to have made the grade this season, catching Bellamy’s eye with a string of performances beyond their years.
But Colwill, who has grown considerably in stature as well as chipping in with some sensational goals, must count himself very unlucky not to have made the cut on this occasion.
The good news continues for upwardly-mobile Wrexham, however, despite a slightly sticky start to life in the Championship, with the inclusion of their three summer signings, meaning that the north Wales club is represented at the highest level for the first time in over a decade.
Wales will head to the Group J fixture at the Astana Arena on Thursday, September 4 (kick-off 3pm) bidding for a win which can lift them to top spot in the table, before taking on Canada in a friendly on September 9 at the Swansea.com Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).
WALES SQUAD: Karl DARLOW (Leeds United), Adam DAVIES (Sheffield United), Danny WARD (Wrexham), Ben CABANGO (Swansea City), Jay DASILVA (Coventry City), Ben DAVIES (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan KPAKIO (Cardiff City), Dylan LAWLOR (Cardiff City), Chris MEPHAM (Bournemouth), Joe RODON (Leeds United), Neco WILLIAMS (Nottingham Forest), Kai ANDREWS (Coventry City), David BROOKS (Bournemouth), Charlie CREW (Doncaster Rovers – On loan from Leeds United), Jordan JAMES (Stade Rennais), Josh SHEEHAN (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba THOMAS (Stoke City), Harry WILSON (Fulham), Nathan BROADHEAD (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark HARRIS (Oxford United), Lewis KOUMAS (Birmingham City – On loan from Liverpool), Daniel JAMES (Leeds United), Brennan JOHNSON (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer MOORE (Wrexham).