Nottingham Forest have 11 first-teamers on international duty this month.
Nuno Espirito Santo will be without most of his key performers in training for the next 10 days, or so, with Neco Williams the first player in action this afternoon.
Wales faced Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier at Astana Arena, and Williams started the clash as a right-back.
The Nottingham Forest star played the full 90 minutes and helped Craig Bellamy’s side to a crucial 1-0 victory, moving them top of Group J.
Here is how Wales supporters reacted to Williams’ display.
Wales fans react to Neco Williams’ display vs Kazakhstan
Despite winning away in Kazakhstan and keeping a clean sheet, Wales supporters were quite critical of Williams’ performance.
“Neco Williams runs and works hard ! Has zero quality,” @T_R_W1991 posted.
@AbramDeGuzman added: “That’s poor from Neco Williams who plays regularly in the Premier League.”
@MarkVickery4 said: “Ridiculous amount of space Kenzhebek left side to cut inside, Williams not tenacious enough, Wales ball watching on times.”
“What was Nico Williams playing at? Wales were under the cosh already without gifting them errors,” @deminimismusic explained.
Neco Williams stats
Despite a nervy moment defensively, Williams actually had a solid game, and that’s evinced by his Sofascore statistics.
- 90 minutes
- 78 touches
- 89% pass completion
- 5 duels won
- 3 tackles
- 3 clearances
- 2 successful dribbles
In fact, one Wales fan reckons it was one of his best performances in a Wales shirt, so perhaps some of the criticism was harsh.
Anyhow, Wales got the job done and are back in action against Canada next week at the Swansea City Stadium.
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