Croatia v Wales friendly - injury news

Croatia v Wales friendly
Some might way Wales might as well not show up for this – and a large number of the squad might not be showing up. The Championship play-off final is a day before the match against Croatia. All four teams in the play-offs feature Welsh internationals. Not to mention the many injuries.

Also, at least four players will be involved in the Championship play-off final, depending on which teams go through.

Goalkeepers
Wayne Hennessey (Wolves) - not getting first-team football
Boaz Myhill (Hull) - not getting first-team football
Jason Brown (Blackburn) - not getting first-team football
David Cornell (Swansea) - not getting first-team football
Lewis Price (Brentford loan from Derby) - not getting first-team football
Owain fon Williams (Stockport) - just got relegated to League Two and hasn't had first-team football for 2 weeks

Defenders
Gareth Bale (Spurs) - knee injury
Chris Gunter (Nottm Forest) - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Darcy Blake (Cardiff) - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Adam Matthews (Cardiff) - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Neal Eardley (Blackpool) - either not getting first-team football or unknown injury/recurrence of recent hamstring injury
Sam Ricketts (Bolton) - not getting first-team football
Danny Gabbidon (West Ham) - not getting first-team football
Christian Ribeiro (Bristol C) - not getting first-team football
James Collins (A Villa) - fine :D
Ashley Williams (Swansea) fine :D
Lewin Nyatanga (Bristol C) - :D
Craig Morgan (Peterborough) - fine, been relegated to League One but fine

Midfielders
Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) - broken leg
Jack Collison (West Ham) - knee injury
Brian Stock (Doncaster) - back injury
Joe Allen (Swansea) - shoulder injury
Shaun MacDonald (Yeovil loan from Swansea) - groin injury
Gavin Williams (Yeovil on loan from Bristol C) – ankle injury but managed to play final game of season
Joe Ledley (Cardiff) - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Andy King (Leicesterr - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Dave Edwards (Wolves) - hasn't played for 2 weeks
Owain Tudur Jones (Norwich) - not getting first-team football
Mark Bradley (Walsall, now released) - not getting first-team football
Simon Davies (fine) :D (but might get injured in Europa League final)
David Vaughan (Blackpool) - fine :D
David Cotterill (Swansea) - fine :D
Andrew Crofts (Brighton) - fine, League One but still fine

Forwards
Craig Bellamy (Man City) – ankle injury
Jermaine Easter (MK Dons) - ongoing hamstring problems
Robert Earnshaw (Nottm Forest) - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Simon Church (Reading) - gets fairly regular first-team football but not regular starts
Ched Evans (Sheff Utd) - only played one game in the last few months and wasn't getting regular first-team football before then
Sam Vokes (Wolves) - not getting first-team football

And the players likely to be called up to replace them include:
Danny Coyne (Boro) - not getting first team football/wasn't called up even when he was getting first-team football
Danny Collins (Stoke) - not getting first-team football/manager not speaking to him
Rob Edwards (Blackpool) - could be involved in Championship play-off final
Gareth Roberts (Doncaster) - fine but hasn't been called up for quite a while
David Jones (Wolves) - said no last time he was asked to represent Wales
John Oster (Doncaster) - knee injury
Jazz Richards (Swansea) - injured
Nicky Adams (Leicester) - not getting first-team football/might be in Championship play-off final
Rhys Williams (Boro) - decided to play for Australia instead – and has a pelvic injury anyway
Freddy Eastwood (Coventry) - fine but manager doesn't seem to like him

At this rate they'll have to call me up! Except I'm injured too...

Other than those I’ve mentioned, I would consider calling up Ben Davies from Notts County. He helped them to storm to the League Two title and you’d think he’d be a good League One player, if not an excellent one. Maybe he can even play higher in the League, Boaz Myhill has played for Hull City in all four divisions. And the way things are going, Wales will need good League One players in the squad. Byron Anthony and Ben Swallow have done well for Bristol Rovers lately, Rhoys Wiggins has been excellent for Bournemouth (although again he’s a promoted League Two player), And if Ryan Giggs’ offer is still open I would consider him too.

But maybe Wales can still win. They'll always be the best team in the world to me!