The skipper was believed to be close to making Page’s latest Wales squad

Wales boss Rob Page has confirmed captain Aaron Ramsey has suffered a setback in his bid to return from injury, despite “pushing and pushing” to be fit for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers with Armenia and Turkey. However, he insists the Cardiff City midfielder still has a part to play within his latest squad.

Ramsey missed the last international camp due to a knee injury, and has been sidelined since the South Wales derby win over Swansea City back in September. You can get more Wales football news with our ‘Don’t Take Me Home’ newsletter here.

With Wales two wins away from a third consecutive European Championships berth, there was some hope the 32-year-old would possibly be in contention for this latest squad. However, the midfielder is now set to sit out once again.

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“I don’t know timescales, but all I know is that he’s out of our camp. That’s disappointing. I found out on Friday last week. As we all know Aaron was pushing and pushing to be part of this camp.

“Unfortunately it’s come a little too soon for him. He’s had a setback. He got up to about 90 per cent. If you’d seen him on the grass, straight lines, everything was fine.

“But there was something stopping him from going to that last step. So it’s not great for us, but it gives others an opportunity.

“He’ll be a part of it [the squad]. I had that conversation with him last camp. He knew he wasn’t going to play any minutes in regards to the changing room, but to have Aaron Ramsey around the lads is definitely beneficial.”

There had been some suggestion Ramsey might be poised to go under the knife in a bid to resolve the issue, but Page says he’s not sure whether any such surgery is currently on the agenda.

“I don’t know,” he added. “I couldn’t give you a medical opinion on it. You’d have to speak to the medical team with regards to that. All I want to know is whether my players are fit. If not, brutal as it may sound, I have to move on.

“It’s frustrating for him because he got so close, but there’s obviously a reason as to why he can’t get to that next step, but that’s for the medical team to sort.”

Ben Davies is once again set to take the captaincy in Ramsey’s absence, and one player who might be looking towards the more senior heads in the squad is uncapped Niall Huggins. The 22-year-old has been in fine form for Sunderland and has received his first senior call-up after previously making four appearances for the under-21s.

“I really like Niall,” Page added. “I have done for a while. He’s athletic. He’s playing with a young team. I like how they play. Full of energy. He can play both sides for us. How we play I think he suits us. He fits in with how we want to play really well.”

Preparations for the last camp took place amid a backdrop of noise, with FAW chief executive Noel Mooney criticised for comments regarding Page’s future. Mooney has since met with Page to hold what many will consider clear-the-air talks, and Page himself insists he considers the matter closed, adding that the pair are set to meet again later today.

“It was a conversation all three of us needed,” he said when quizzed on his meetings with Mooney. “I’m not going to go into details of what was said. It needed to be had. It needed to be done and only positives will come from it. I’m due to meet him after the press conference today.

“We’ll have a coffee and a chat. Things were said and that was it. We all move forward in the same direction. Full focus is now on the football. I don’t want to spend any more time thinking about it. We’re all on the same page. We all know what we’ve got to do. It would be disrespectful from me now to the players keep going on about it.”