The Wales Men’s Football manager, Rob Page, has announced his first Wales squad since the World Cup and named Aaron Ramsey as his captain.
Caerphilly born Ramsey picks up the armband again after being named as Wales’ youngest ever captain under Gary Speed in 2010.
It’s Rob Page’s first selection since the international retirements of squad mainstays Joe Allen, Chris Gunter, Jonny Williams and captain Gareth Bale.
Four uncapped players come into the squad with a new look to the national team ; Birmingham’s Jordan James, Fulham’s Luke Harris, Ipswich’s Nathan Broadhead and Swansea’s Ollie Cooper.
The Millwall striker Tom Bradshaw has also received his first call-up in 5 years after scoring 13 goals in the championship so far this season.
Rob Page says the new look squad doesn’t mean they’re expecting standards to drop.
“It’s the start of something special again for us. Like I said, you know, now we take those experiences into the next campaign to Germany. What more motivation do we need? a great footballing nation and we want to be a part of a tremendous tournament. We believe now that we can qualify for these major tournaments beyond just giving hope and we firmly believe we can do it and accept enough fresh, fresh, young faces coming through, will help us achieve that.”
Nottingham Forest pair Brennan Johnson and Wayne Hennessey also find themselves in Rob Page’s plans against World Cup semi-finalists Croatia later on this month despite some injury concerns.
Notable omissions though include Cardiff’s Rubin Colwill and Mark Harris – the pair haven’t been selected for City since Sabri Lamouchi stepped into the Cardiff job in January.
Another name missing from the 23-man list is Sheffield United’s Rhys Norrington-Davies who’s still recovering from a hamstring injury, meaning Ben Davies is the only recognised left back in the squad.
Wales start their campaign for Euro 2024 later this month as they travel to Split to face Croatia on March 25th before a home game against Latvia three days later.