Aston Villa defender Mark Delaney could be in line for a surprise recall to the Wales team to face Northern Ireland on Saturday, despite him not playing a Premiership game so far this season. The 29-year-old has missed the first five weeks of the campaign, after undergoing minor knee surgery, but Wales manager John Toshack allowed the Villa right back to play for his club in a reserve game against Lancaster yesterday to help him gain some much-needed match fitness. With senior defenders Danny Gabbidon and Robert Page both ruled out of the trip to Windsor Park, Delaney's experience could prove crucial alongside youngsters James Collins and Danny Collins. Givemefootball's Mark Shail gets the World Cup lowdown.
Q:HOW IS YOUR GENERAL FITNESS AT THE MOMENT?
A:It feels pretty good, I played in a reserve game yesterday and the knee felt fine so now I'm looking forward to meeting up with the rest of the Welsh squad. It was my third reserve game and my fitness has improved with every match.
Q:WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH THE KNEE?
A:At first we couldn't find out what it was – I just kept getting a sharp pain in my knee, which got gradually worse. I rested it for a couple of weeks, but things didn't improve so I then went in for an operation and they found some cartilage damage that needed to be repaired. It's frustrating because if we've had known what the problem was straight away I could have gone in for the surgery much earlier, but at least I'm back now.
Q:AND IT NOW LOOKS LIKE YOUR FIRST SENIOR GAME OF THE SEASON COULD BE IN A WORLD CUP QUALIFIER?
A:It could be, we'll just have to wait and see what the manager decides to do. At the moment I just have to take things game by game and if I'm asked to play I'll do my best for the side.
Q:HOW DO YOU THINK WELSH FOOTBALL IS PROGRESSING UNDER JOHN TOSHACK?
A:He was always going to have a difficult task on his hands because so many senior players retired from international football when Mark Hughes left the job. But he's now looking to the future and trying to give the youngsters some valuable experience at international level. It may be the next European Championship, or the following World Cup qualification campaign, that you see the best of these players but things are looking promising.
Q:YOU MUST HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED TO HAVE MISSED OUT ON THE ENGLAND GAME AT THE MILLENNIUM STADIUM?
A:Yes, I was frustrated not to be involved in that one. It was a massive game and a massive occasion for Welsh football, but it's one of things, it was out of my hands. Hopefully there will be some big games in the future that I will be involved in.
Q:ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF VILLA'S START TO THE SEASON?
A:Obviously it's not been the start we were looking and I know the players and the manager are looking for an improvement in results over the next few weeks. We were hoping to be in amongst teams like Charlton, Spurs and Newcastle, challenging for a European place, but there's still some 30 games to go and a lot of points to play for. We signed a number of new players in the summer and it may have taken a bit longer for us to gel than expected, but I'm sure the quality will come through – I've got no doubts about that.
