Ashley Williams has warned Wales fans to expect something ugly when Wales try and grind out the vital Euro 2020 qualifier victory they need in Azerbaijan on Saturday.
The Wales captain knows full well that events in Baku are hardly likely to make easy watching with so much at stake and admits: “I hope I’m wrong, but you can almost guarantee that the Azerbaijan game is not going to be a pretty affair.
“I remember going there many years ago when we won 1-0 with a Dave Edwards goal. It’s a tricky place to get to with a long flight and it wasn’t much fun.
“But that’s the challenge of international football and hopefully we’ve got enough experience in the squad to manage a situation like that. The Hungary game in Cardiff will be incredible if we can win in Azerbaijan.”
The tension is likely to be ramped up by the fact that Wales are without the suspended midfield influencer Joe Allen in Baku and that both Gareth Bale and Daniel James are just one yellow card away from missing the final decisive qualifier at home to Hungary next Tuesday.
Wales beat Azerbaijan 2-1 at home in September, but the hosts appear to be an improving team who have since drawn with group leaders Croatia and were beaten only 1-0 by the Hungarians.
Williams says he will consider his international future at the end of the Euro 2020 campaign.
But he hopes to be part of an exciting chapter in Welsh football before that, with Ryan Giggs’ side needing to win their final two games to keep alive automatic qualification hopes.
Even if they drop points – or Slovakia deny them by winning their final two games, one of which is away to group leaders Croatia – Wales should make the Euro 2020 play-offs in March.
Williams remains Wales’ captain and is his country’s fourth most capped player with 86 appearances.
But he 35-year-old has started only one of Wales’ six Euro 2020 qualifiers, with Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon and Tom Lockyer seemingly above him in the pecking order of central defenders.
Swansea starlet Rodon will miss the decisive qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Hungary after undergoing ankle surgery, while Mepham has not seen first-team action at Bournemouth since September 25.
Williams, released by Everton last summer, began the season without a club, but he joined Bristol City in August and has been an influential figure in their rise into the Sky Bet Championship play-off places.
The Robins have lost only once in Williams’ 10 games and the veteran boosted hopes of a Wales recall in Azerbaijan by shutting out Cardiff in Bristol City’s 1-0 Severnside derby win last Sunday.
“I’m just doing what I’m doing and the main thing for me is that I’m playing at Bristol and playing well,” adds Williams.
“That’s my main focus and then it’s on the gaffer (Ryan Giggs) whatever teams he picks.
“I was disappointed not to play against Slovakia and Croatia (last month), but my form is good. If I feel like I should play then the manager will know that.”
