Ryan Giggs has made two changes to his Wales team to face Bulgaria in Cardiff today, with David Brooks and Matt Smith coming into the side. The Wales boss has opted to rest Jonny Williams and Dylan Levitt from the team that won 1-0 in Finland on Thursday, with Bournemouth star Brooks making his first appearance since he played away against Hungary in June 2019. Brooks, who missed most of last season through surgery, has linked back up with Wales for the first time in 15 months after recovering from an ankle injury, which ruled him out of the opening Nations league fixture.

Kieffer Moore insists Wales have got the winning habit after his goal made it three wins on the bounce for Wales and an unbeaten run of seven matches. The Cardiff City new boy scored the only goal as Wales got their Nations League campaign off to a flying start with a 1-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. It was achieved without Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and David Brooks – and with Gareth Bale playing for only one half – but with a youthful exuberance that 28-year-old Moore is happy to use as the wind beneath his wings.

Gareth Bale will be fit for Wales’ Nations League game with Bulgaria on Sunday after Ryan Giggs admitted his half-time withdrawal in the 1-0 win over Finland was planned. Wales captain Bale lasted only 45 minutes on his first start since February after finding himself out of favour at Real Madrid amid a worsening relationship with manager Zinedine Zidane. But Wales boss Giggs said his talisman’s early exit was “no problem” and that he had been substituted with Bulgaria’s visit to the Cardiff City Stadium in mind.

With Wales set to face Finland in the Nations League opener on Thursday, former striker John Hartson tells Steffan Thomas how the exciting current crop of youngsters can exceed the achievements of those who have gone before them. John Hartson insists Wales have a golden generation of youngsters to rival the likes of Gareth Bale […]

Ryan Giggs insists he will have no concerns if he gives rookie defenders Neco Williams and Ben Cabango their Wales debuts this week. The pair are being lined-up for first starts for their country in Wales’ Nations League opener against Finland in Helsinki on Thursday. Williams, 19, has made the breakthrough at Liverpool this year, while Cabango was a mainstay for Swansea City during their surge into the Championship play-offs this summer.

Ryan Giggs admits he will put the noses of some big name managers out of joint this season – all so Wales can sniff out more success at the Euro finals next summer. Giggs has recognised that club and international managers are bound to upset each other during a congested fixture list like no other. The new Premier League campaign – which starts on September 12 – will be five weeks shorter than a standard season after the late end to 2019-20 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ryan Giggs has admitted he has no idea if Wales’ game against Finland next week – scheduled to take place in Helsinki – will actually go ahead in the Finnish capital. The Wales manager, who has named his squad for the Nations League opener, is still planning on Wales travelling to the city, even though the game may not be played there because of Finnish coronavirus quarantine rules. The game is only nine days away and no venue has yet been confirmed by UEFA, with the apparently growing possibility that it could be moved to a neutral country.

Aaron Ramsey has been offered a route towards more regular starts in Italy after Juventus appointed Andrea Pirlo as their manager following the sacking of Maurizio Sarri. Former Italy and Juve midfielder Pirlo is a stated admirer of Ramsey and the expectation is that the Wales international will now move from being a peripheral influence in Turin to a central performer. Since moving to Italy from Arsenal a year ago, Ramsey has been among Juve’s substitutes more often than he has begun games and has rarely been given an extended run of starts.

Jonny Williams is hoping his one-year contract extension with Charlton Athletic can trigger more glory at the delayed European Championship finals next summer. The Wales midfielder – who was Chris Coleman’s occasional joker in the pack for the national team four years ago – has opted to extend his time with his current club. The 26-year-old was unable to stop Charlton going straight back down from the Sky Bet Championship last month – a year after he helped the Addicks into the second tier with promotion via the League One play-offs.

Multi-talented Lewis Binns believes believes Merthyr Town will flourish in the Southern League Premier Division during the 2020-21 season.  The former Cardiff City and Newport County youth midfielder is among 15 senior players who have committed to the Martyrs and said: “The manager has signed a few young players who have been at professional clubs and they will be quick and technically extremely good.  “We’ll have a good mix of experience and youth and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do and how we can develop as a squad.

Cardiff City have paid tribute to their former Wales defender Keith Pontin, who has died aged 64. Pontin, who made his Bluebirds debut on the opening day of the 1976-77 season and won two senior caps for his country in 1980, was diagnosed with dementia when he was 59. Cardiff posted on Twitter on Sunday afternoon: “It’s with great sadness that the club has learned of the passing of former Bluebird, Keith Pontin.

When will crowds be able to return to watch sport in Wales? From the evidence so far it doesn’t seem as if that will be anytime soon. There’s a lot of noise but Twm Owen wonders whether much thought has been given to the issue. The prospect of fans returning to the stands in Wales […]