WALES have suffered a double injury blow on the eve of their 2022 World Cup qualifier with Belgium after Ben Davies and Tom Lockyer pulled out through injury.
The Dragons travel to Leuven for the opening Group E clash on Wednesday night.
But caretaker boss Robert Page, stepping in for the absent Ryan Giggs following his arrest last November, will be without experienced Tottenham defender Davies and Lockyer of Luton.
The official Wales Twitter account tweeted: “Ben Davies and Tom Lockyer have both withdrawn from the squad due to injury.”
The nature of the injuries have not been revealed as yet.
The news is a major blow for Wales, particularly the loss of 58-cap Davies, who would have started against the Red Devils, ranked No1 team in the world.
Davies and Lockyer will also miss Saturday’s home friendly against Mexico as well as the qualifier versus the Czech Republic in Cardiff next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Gareth Bale has confirmed he is returning to Real Madrid next season.
The Wales captain, 31, has struggled to reach his best form during his season-long loan at Tottenham.
And Bale admitted for the first time the plan is for him to return to the Spanish giants after Euro 2020 this summer.
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When asked about his future plans, Bale said: “It’s no distraction for me coming into the Euros.
“The main reason I came to Spurs this year was I wanted to play football first and foremost, but coming into the Euros I wanted to be match fit.
“The original plan was only to do a season at Spurs, then after the Euros, I’ll still have a year left at Real Madrid and my plan is to go back. That’s as far as I’ve planned to be honest.”
Bale has made 25 appearances during his second spell with Spurs, scoring ten goals.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
