Wales goes with youth against Azerbaijan

Without anywhere else to turn Wales manager John Toshack will dip further into his U21 pool of talent as his side faces Azerbaijan on Saturday. To call Wales “plagued with injuries” is a modest understatement as they are without skipper Craig Bellamy, Gareth Bale, James Collins, Jack Collison, Simon Davies, Ched Evans and Sam Ricketts, thus requiring a number of players jumping the gun into top flight international play.

Nottingham Forest’s elder statesman Robert Earnshaw, at the well preserved ancient age of twenty-eight will lead the youth troop in Baku with young guns Chris Gunter, Joe Ledley and Aaron Ramsey in tow. For Wales this is most certainly a “learning experience” where they learn to compete in the line of fire with management knowing full-well that many players are years off from their prime. While showing fine patience and discipline in the most recent match against Estonia, they need to slowly build their confidence and learn to attack.

For Wales supporters this is an intriguing look at the younger players development Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder David Edwards, Leicester City’s Andy King, Joe Allen of Swansea City and Reading striker Simon Church getting a chance to prove their worth on the international stage.