Ex-Wales international Dave Edwards has described Ryan Giggs’ situation as a ‘nightmare’ for the Dragons – but still has high hopes for the national team.
Edwards, who made 43 appearances for Wales between 2007-2017, has backed his country to perform well in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, undeterred by Giggs’ suspension.
It was announced yesterday that Giggs has agreed with the Football Association of Wales to play no part in Wales’ upcoming games against Belgium (24th March), Mexico (27th March) and Czech Republic (30th March). He remains on bail after being arrested on suspicion of assault in November.
“It’s a bit of a nightmare in terms of uncertainty for Wales being not quite sure what the manager situation is ahead of the Euros.” said Edwards.
Robert Page, who was promoted from the Wales U21 setup just last year, will take over as caretaker manager. Edwards had high praise for the former Premier League defender.
“He (Page) deserves a lot of credit. Since he’s been involved in the senior team setup he’s made a big difference.” he claimed.
“Look at the results before he came in and it was very up and down, we had a few poor performances and he seems to have shored us up. Our defensive record since then has been brilliant.”
Page took charge in November after Giggs was arrested, and led Wales to consecutive wins over Ireland and Finland in the Nations League.
The Dragons will be keen to keep up an impressive run of form in the face of managerial uncertainty, as they go into World Cup 2022 qualifiers unbeaten in 12.
With a strong squad and form behind them, the Dragons have a very real chance of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since Sweden 1958.
“Wales are in a great place. The depth of the squad at the moment is the best I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, and it could be one of the best squads in Welsh history.” said Edwards.
“We’ve got a great chance. The one thing we haven’t been able to do is get to a World Cup so it would be so special.
“They’ll be going into the Belgium game saying ‘let’s not lose this one’ and they can stay in the game like we always do against them. We’ve got enough to win any game of football.”
Belgium, ranked number one in the world, will be looking for revenge against a Wales side that bested them 3-1 to reach the Euro 2016 semi-finals in Lille.
