Luke Williams has urged his Swansea City team to toughen up when they leave the home comforts of their own stadium. The Swans currently sit 11th in the table and whilst most of the attention in Wales has focussed on rivals Cardiff City’s disastrous start to the season, the Swans’ progress has gone under the radar.

Erol Bulut has taken a swipe at his critics by labelling some of their criticism “stupid” and suggested genuine Cardiff City fans would offer support instead of complaints. Bulut may be under huge pressure after his team’s winless start to the season, but if he does go down this weekend, he seems intent on going down fighting.

Aaron Ramsey will miss Wales’ next two Nations League matches – as well as around a dozen games for Cardiff City – after being ruled out with yet another hamstring injury. The Wales captain picked up the injury during his 15-minute cameo appearance at the end of the 2-1 win in Montenegro earlier this month.

Brennan Johnson and his Tottenham teammates earned the praise of manager Ange Postecoglou after the Wales striker struck with a 93rd minute winner to avoid an embarrassing Carabao Cup exit at Coventry City. The Wales striker delivered just a day after his manager had defended him in the wake of social media abuse over recent performances.

Phil Parkinson has warned Birmingham City there is a long way to go after the Tom Brady-backed club won the battle of the League One headline-grabbers against Wrexham. Parkinson’s Dragons remain top of the table, but suffered their first defeat of the season at St. Andrew’s as they went down, 3-1 in the match billed as the “Hollywood derby.”

Luke Williams insists there are positive signs emerging for Swansea City after their second Championship victory of the season moved them up to just outside the top ten. The Swans head coach believes his team’s 1-0 home win over Norwich City was a significant result as it relied on the kind of virtues the side had lacked so far this season.

Cardiff City have offered no explanation for Erol Bulut’s no-show after his team’s defeat at Derby County. The Bluebirds boss swerved the media after his fourth defeat in five Championship matches left his team anchored to the bottom of the table following their worst start to a season in 35 years.

Steve Cooper has claimed he could have done more transfer business at Leicester City if the club’s successful appeal against a Premier League ruling had been announced earlier. Cooper – the only Welsh manager in the top flight – was drawn into the long-running dispute over an alleged spending rule breach when he took charge earlier this summer.

Ollie Cooper went to the last World Cup, but his role was not one that grabbed too many headlines. The Swansea City midfielder was part of the Wales group that journeyed to Qatar almost two years ago, but his duties were as a back-up training partner, rather than an official member of the 26-man squad.

Former Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has claimed he is not feeling any pressure following criticism of Southampton’s performances so far this season. Saints have started with three Premier League losses, having endured something similar when Martin took over at the club last year.

Cardiff City have suffered a significant setback ahead of their trip to Derby County on Saturday, with Aaron Ramsey ruled out due to injury. The midfielder sustained a hamstring injury while on international duty with Wales and will miss the match at Pride Park this weekend.

You don’t need to be a Hollywood scriptwriter to recognise that Wrexham have made a box office start to the season. Five matches played in League One and they sit at the top of the table, unbeaten, and with 13 points taken from a possible 15.

Leeds United goalkeeper Karl Darlow has revealed how a Zoom call with Craig Bellamy finally kick-started his Wales career. Darlow became Wales’ oldest debutant since World War II by lining up against Montenegro just a month shy of his 34th birthday.

Jack Marriott has warned Wrexham’s League One rivals his team intend to keep their foot hard to the floor as they aim to drive themselves into the record books. No club has ever tyre-screeched their way from non-League to the second tier in successive seasons, but Wrexham continue to leave the rest in their exhaust fumes.

Craig Bellamy expressed pride over Wales’ win in Montenegro after facing what he said were the toughest conditions in his career. Torrential rain in Niksic saw the City Stadium pitch cut up from the early stages, with players regularly losing their footing and the ball skidding everywhere on the sodden surface.

Craig Bellamy has paid tribute to the legacy left by Gary Speed by declaring that Welsh football will always carry his identity. Speed, who played alongside Bellamy for Newcastle and Wales and also coached him at international level, took his own life in November 2011 at the age of 42.

Phil Parkinson has insisted it is early days, but there is no denying his Wrexham team have quickly regained the Hollywood-fuelled momentum that carried them to back-to-back promotions. The Wrexham manager smiled broadly, but made calming gestures with his hands after his team moved three points clear at the top of League One, with an emphatic 3-0 derby victory over Shrewsbury at The Racecourse Ground. Parkinson’s side were told by many pundits to temper their expectations in the third tier, given that bigger clubs with larger budgets would be muscling their way to the top.

Wales began the Craig Bellamy era with a 0-0 Nations League draw against 10-man Turkey in Cardiff. New boss Bellamy did not get the victory he would have craved at kick-off but it was a positive performance from Wales against opponents who reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 this summer.

Aaron Ramsey has insisted he never thought about stepping away from international football after the setback of failing to qualify for Euro 2024. Instead, the Wales captain has confirmed he aims to keep playing until the 2026 World Cup.

Craig Bellamy has always talked a good game, which is why as a player he was just as watchable off the field as on it. It’s no surprise, then, that in the lead-in to his first match as Wales manager, the former striker has proved entertaining as well as illuminating.