Wales Without Giggs for Slovakia Test

Injured
By Chris O'Brien
October 2 2006

Wales will be without Ryan Giggs for Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia. However, whilst the Manchester United winger will miss the weekend's Millennium Stadium showdown, John Toshack is anxious to welcome back his skipper for the match against Cyprus the following Wednesday.

Wales will be without captain Ryan Giggs for their Euro 2008 qualifying match against Slovakia on Saturday.

The winger picked up a hamstring injury during United's 3-2 Champions League victory over Celtic and remains in the treatment room.

John Toshack is hoping that the 32-year-old will return in time for the following game against Cyprus next Wednesday evening.

"I've a feeling he'll start full-time training 48 hours before the Cyprus game," said the Welsh boss.

"That would probably mean he would miss out, but we'll wait and see."

With Giggs injured, veteran goalkeeper Paul Jones is hoping to take over the captain's armband with the 39-year-old set to celebrate his 50th cap for his country.

Following an unfortunate 2-1 result in the Czech Republic, Welsh supporters will be anxious for their team to secure back-to-back wins in their upcoming matches if early hopes of qualification are to be sustained.

Wales Squad:

Goalkeepers: Paul Jones (QPR), Jason Brown (Blackburn), Lewis Price (Ipswich)
Defenders: Gareth Bale (Southampton), Danny Gabbidon (West Ham), Richard Duffy (Portsmouth), Rob Edwards (Wolves), Lewin Nyatanga (Derby), Ryan Valentine (Wrexham), Craig Morgan (MK Dons)
Midfielders: Mark Jones (Wrexham), Andrew Crofts (Gillingham), Simon Davies (Everton), Carl Fletcher (Crystal Palace), Jason Koumas (West Brom), Carl Robinson (Norwich), Joe Ledley (Cardiff), David Vaughan (Crewe), Paul Parry (Cardiff), Arron Davies (Yeovil)
Strikers: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), David Cotterill (Wigan), Rob Earnshaw (Norwich), Ryan Giggs (Man Utd, capt).