Jack Collison has been forced to withdraw from the Wales squad ahead of the clash with Azerbaijan.
Midfielder to miss Azerbaijan trip
Jack Collison has been forced to withdraw from the Wales squad ahead of Saturday's clash with Azerbaijan.
The West Ham midfielder aggravated a knee injury during the friendly victory over Estonia but manager John Toshack had hoped he would recover.
The problem was assessed by Wales' medical team and it was initially decided that he would make the trip to Baku.
However, there has now been a change of plan and the 20-year-old will not travel with the rest of the party, which currently stands at just 19 players.
Football Association of Wales spokesman Ceri Stennett said: "A five-hour-plus flight would certainly not have helped Jack's knee, and it was clear after training that there was no point taking a risk with him."
Wales are already without several of their top players for the World Cup qualifier, with Gareth Bale, Craig Bellamy, James Collins, Simon Davies, Ched Evans and Sam Ricketts all sidelined.
There is another problem as the fixture comes some time after most of Toshack's players stopped training following the end of the English league season.
Toshack added: "Generally I have been very pleased with the placing of our fixtures in this group, but when you have six teams in a meeting all wanting their own way, sometimes you have to accept something that is not what you want.
"Frankly, playing in the first week of June falls into that category, it was the game we were always worried about."
