Wales strength in depth increasing, says ex-striker Rob Earnshaw

Bellamy has said he will be praying that his Wales players stay fit ahead of a friendly against England and then a crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium in October.

But Earnshaw believes Wales now have better depth to call upon should injuries strike.

“Craig made eight changes from the Kazakhstan win,” said Earnshaw, who scored 16 goals in 59 games for Wales.

“When you look at the people who came in, people like David Brooks, Mark Harris, Jordan James, I was thinking ‘we’ve got some good young players’.

“Arguably they might even start some [competitive] games as well, so in one sense I think we’ve got a bit of depth now.

“Some of the young players are not quite ready yet, but when I look at the attacking side of it we’ve got some options there, so it’s not so bad.

“Craig has a few dilemmas next month when we play Belgium, because if everyone is fit there will be one or two positions where he’ll take one or two extra days to pick some positions.”