Aaron Ramsey left out of Wales squad

Local TV

Wales boss Craig Bellamy has named his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Kazakhstan and a friendly in Swansea against Canada. Captain Aaron Ramsey has been left out, despite making his debut for Mexican side Pumas UNAM last week.

Transcript

00:00The club football season is well underway, but now we've got the first international break coming up,

00:06with Wales facing two matches in September.

00:08We travel all the way to Kazakhstan for a World Cup qualifier in Astana,

00:12before a friendly against Canada in Swansea.

00:15Gaffer Craig Bellamy has announced his squad with a few notable names left off the team sheet.

00:20In my memory, I can't remember a boss leaving a healthy Aaron Ramsey out of the squad,

00:24but the man now applying his trade out in Mexico is set to miss out.

00:28He hasn't played enough football over a period.

00:32It would be not fair to call him, travel all the distance, time difference,

00:39then travel again to Kazakhstan, time difference, and expect him to play any type of part.

00:47After being out for so long, with the injury, especially with the hamstring,

00:53it just wouldn't be responsible from us to be able to do that or expect anything from it.

01:04Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu is also out through injury,

01:07and Bellers has said that it's a big miss for the side.

01:10Wales has a decent depth in the squad generally, but at Ethan Ampadu's position,

01:13the boss says that we'll struggle to replace him.

01:15It's an area, we have one or two areas that we don't have depth, which we need to.

01:22If you want to be an international team, you need to have depth.

01:24So we need to be producers, like, okay, we can't produce them,

01:27but we need to have an eye on who's the next one in that area, who's this one.

01:34And it really has to be a full process into that, because when we lose someone like Ethan,

01:41of course, not just with his quality, the numbers that come underneath it need to be there as well.

01:46To be a strong nation, to be qualifying, to be having an effect in tournaments, you need that.

01:51Kazakhstan is about as far as you're ever going to travel for a European match.

01:55They're geographically technically considered in Asia, but play in UEFA,

01:59so the team will have a mighty trip out close to the Chinese border next week.

02:02And despite the difficult logistics, Craig Bellamy says that he's relishing the chance.

02:07Every nation is the same. We know this. There is no excuses.

02:12You want to qualify for a major tournament. This is a difficult trip, so it should be.

02:18And then if we get the result we're looking for, then it gives us a good opportunity to keep progressing.

02:26But at the same time, we knew this trip was coming, being prepared for this.

02:33Now, if this would have been this time last year, my first game, then it's a really difficult one,

02:39because we play Thursday, training, maybe we might get one and a half training sessions leading into this.

02:46Every game can be a difficult one, especially in international football.

02:50So the manager says he wants to see his players step up and stare the tough fixtures in the face.

02:54Because if the trip out to Kazakhstan proves too much, then we can kiss the World Cup next year. Goodbye.

02:59Goodbye.

03:01So good bye.

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