Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:36 am
Allen latest as Ampadu discusses card concerns
Joe Allen trained alone during Wales' first open session in Qatar.
The midfielder has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for two months and is facing a race against time to be fit for his country's World Cup opener against the United States of America on Monday.
Every member of Rob Page's 26-man squad - along with Birmingham City's Jordan James and Swansea City's Ollie Cooper who are both on standby - trained in the session at the Al Sadd Sports Club facility.
However, having started out with his team-mates, midfielder Allen went through a range of drills - which included fitness and ball work - on his own with medical chief Sean Connelly during the session. Despite the concern, Allen has been training for several weeks with Swansea, although he has been on an individual programme as he carefully managed his workload.
Prior to being put through his paces, Ethan Ampadu admitted he is more than capable of slotting into a midfield role should Allen be unavailable.
“Every player will be prepared to play anywhere," said the Chelsea man, who is currently on loan with Spezia. “If anyone is given the opportunity they need to play as well as they can."
Ampadu was sent off in Wales' Euro 2020 group stage loss to Italy last year, the first of three red cards he received in the space of a year for club and country.
And while admitting his dismissal in Rome left him devastated, Ampadu stated that he will never be able to take the aggression out of his game.
“I feel I am adapting well," he said. “Last year I built some good momentum and have carried it on, especially going into these games.
“Cards-wise, I picked up a few - maybe some were deserved and some weren’t deserved. I don’t think I can take that aggression out of my game, it is just trying to be a bit more clever with it.
“If the refs like to give more yellow cards out there, I have to find ways of not picking them up which sometimes late in the game you can’t be as aggressive as you like. It is dealing with that and adapting."