Craig Bellamy’s first Nations League campaign in charge of Wales has been hit hard before a ball is even kicked. Three key names are out. The timing could hardly be worse.
Harry Wilson, Nathan Broadhead and Karl Darlow have all withdrawn from the squad, stripping Wales of their most inventive attacker, an in-form forward option and their first-choice goalkeeper in one brutal sweep.
Wilson, the creative heartbeat of the side in recent windows and now at Leeds, had been a major doubt with a quad problem. The hope was that he might yet make it. That hope has gone. Broadhead, the Wrexham forward whose sharp movement and finishing had given Bellamy another live threat in the final third, misses out too with a thigh issue.
If those two blows hurt, the third one cuts just as deep.
Darlow, fresh from making his Manchester United debut in the EFL Cup last week and taking his place on the bench for their Premier League draw with Fulham on Sunday, has also pulled out. Bellamy loses the goalkeeper he had clearly earmarked as his No. 1 for this Nations League A campaign, just as the fixtures begin to pile up.
The response has been swift, if enforced. Leicester City’s David Cornell has been drafted in, the veteran keeper finally handed a route into the senior set-up. He is joined by Huddersfield Town forward Joe Taylor and Reading midfielder Charlie Savage. All three are uncapped. All three now find themselves thrown into a high-level international campaign with little warning and no easing-in period.
This is not a gentle introduction. Far from it.
Upcoming Matches
Wales open their Nations League A schedule against Portugal in Lisbon on Thursday, a daunting assignment even at full strength. After that comes Denmark in Copenhagen next Sunday, another heavyweight test against a battle-hardened side.
Then the focus turns home. Norway visit Cardiff on Thursday, 1 October, before Denmark make the return trip to the Welsh capital three days later. Four games, top-tier opposition, and a squad suddenly reshaped by injury and opportunity.
For Bellamy, it is an early examination of depth, nerve and adaptability. For Cornell, Taylor and Savage, it is the kind of chance careers can pivot on.
