Share

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey misses out on Wales’ World Cup qualifying opener

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Crystal Palace forward Jonathan Williams are both injured for the World Cup opener against Moldova in Cardiff on September 5.

Advertisement

Tottenham Hotspur’s Ben Davies is part of the Wales squad for their World Cup qualifier against Moldova.

Arsene Wenger confirmed before Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Leicester that he did not expect Ramsey to feature again before the global break, and it remains to be seen whether the Arsenal boss will gamble with the midfielder’s fitness against Southampton. A lot has been said about their injury list, they’re doing the same things now as what they’ve always done – they’re not going to change now.

“Vaughany sat down with me when he got back from France and explained he was going to retire”.

“It’s a great league but what I’ve got here is very special and close to my heart”.

“One thing we’ve got surrounding us at the minute – and you can smell it on us – is the players have got an identity”, the Wales manager said. That’s what we’ve got, so there’s no need to mess about with that.

Chris Coleman says Aaron Ramsey’s injury could have been prevented and admits he was surprised to see the midfielder start the season.

‘Obviously only Arsenal can answer that. I think Aaron said himself that he wasn’t expecting to.

Coleman said: “It’s a fantastic signing for Everton”.

‘But he’s still a human being and it’s not like we were knocked out in the group stage.

“For me as a manager, when I’m missing one of my best players, I think anybody would understand my disappointment”.

David Vaughan is also missing from Chris Coleman’s squad for the match at Cardiff City Stadium on Monday, September 5, having announced his retirement from worldwide football.

Coleman, who guided Wales to the European Championship semifinals against the odds, said on Wednesday that “if someone comes and it’s the Premier League, anybody, you kind of look at it sideways”.

Advertisement

“I saw that tackle on him [at Palace], it was a coward’s tackle from behind, and that was annoying”.

Injured Aaron Ramsey not in Chris Coleman's Wales squad