City Trio to Miss Welsh Friendly

By Chris O'Brien
August 17 2004

Bluebirds trio Daniel Gabbidon, Robert Earnshaw and Paul Parry have pulled out of the Wales squad ahead of the international friendly against Latvia on Wednesday. All three players picked up knocks during Friday's 1-0 Ninian Park defeat at the hands of Plymouth Argyle.

Three Cardiff City players have pulled out of the Wales squad for the upcoming friendly international against Latvia in Riga. Daniel Gabbidon, Robert Earnshaw and Paul Parry will not be available for selection, with the trio said to have picked up knocks during Friday's 1-0 reverse at the hands of Plymouth Argyle.

Nathan Blake, Danny Coyne and John Oster are also out through injuries, but for a change Sparky will have a strong squad to choose from against the side who knocked Turkey out of the European Championships. Centre-half Gabbidon is the only name out of the squad who would be likely to start in a first-choice Wales line-up.

James Collins and Robert Page are the two Cardiff City players left in the squad and will both be hoping to add to their tally of caps on Wednesday evening. Rhys Weston and Martyn Margetson's missed out on a place in Mark Hughes' squad, suggesting they are not in contention for the World Cup qualifiers. The Wales boss will not add to his squad despite the six players pulling-out.

Plymouth were a tough side and it would appear their physical approach to the Championship encounter has taken its toll on the City players. This is likely to be extreme precaution from the Welsh camp however, and you can't help but feel if this game was taking place at the Millennium Stadium then the trio would have declared themselves fit. Gabbidon, Earnshaw and Parry should be able to play against Ipswich Town on Saturday at Portman Road.

About 400 Wales fans have travelled to Eastern Europe for the last friendly match before Wales embark on their World Cup qualifying campaign. Azerbaijan and fellow Brits Northern Ireland are September's matches for the Welsh, as they look to book a place in Germany for the 2006 World Cup Finals. Wales have not qualified for a major tournament since 1958.