Pundit Dean Saunders has suggested that Fulham winger Harry Wilson was brought off too early by Wales manager Rob Page against Armenia at the weekend.
Saunders was speaking on TalkSPORT (20/11 6:15am) ahead of a crucial match for the Welsh when it comes to their chances of qualifying for Euro 2024.
There are plenty of Fulham players who will be heading to Germany next summer.
Although the likes of Harrison Reed and Tosin Adarabioyo haven’t broken into the England squad yet, they’ve still got plenty of time.
However, the likes of Joao Palhinha, Marek Rodak, Timothy Castagne and Sasa Lukic will all be on their way to another major tournament next year.
The final evening of qualifiers takes place tonight with a few team’s futures still hanging in the balance.
One of those teams is Wales and Harry Wilson will be hoping he can help Rob Page’s side secure an unlikely qualification.
Dean Saunders has criticised his manager for bringing him off when Wales needed a goal against Armenia on Saturday.
Instead, they played out a 1-1 draw and qualification is now no longer in their hands.
Saunders disagrees with Wales manager Page over Wilson
Speaking about their disappointing draw in Yerevan, Saunders said: “We had Dan James and Brennan Johnson on the bench who were available which must have been tempting to put on the pitch as they’re that quick.
“He decided not to, we go a goal down after five minutes from a great finish but sloppy defending from a corner, didn’t clear properly.
“I would have personally and it’s easy to say it after the event, but I did say it at the time, I wouldn’t have brought Harry Wilson off and I wouldn’t have brought David Brooks off because on the pitch at the time we’ve hardly got anyone who’s proven at scoring goals at the highest level.
“We finished the game without a proven goal scorer in any position on the pitch, so I’m not surprised we never scored.”
The £12m winger has a fantastic record at international level having made his debut as a teenager.
Page has a big decision to make tonight as to whether to start Wilson for Wales once again.
They need to beat Turkey tonight and hope that Saturday’s opponents Armenia do them a favour and beat Croatia to progress, otherwise they’ll be heading into the play-offs in March.
Marco Silva will want him to play but return home fully fit ahead of Monday’s clash with Wolves.
Fulham need to find a way to start scoring consistent goals and even though they’ve been linked with strikers ahead of the January window, they can’t wait that long to find a solution.
Wilson is capable of finding the back of the net but hasn’t done it on a regular basis for Fulham in the Premier League.
For the Whites to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle, someone needs to step up as quickly as possible.