Luton defender wins his first Wales cap in over two years during Gibraltar thrashing
Luton defender Tom Lockyer won his first Wales cap in over two years when coming on during the 4-0 friendly victory over Gibraltar in Wrexham last night.
The 28-year-old had won 14 caps previously, but despite being in a number of squads, had last actually got on to the field in September 2021, playing 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw against Finland.
Having had to pull out of Rob Page’s last squad due to injury, Lockyer was on the bench on Wednesday night, seeing a much-changed Wales side romp into a 4-0 interval lead with Kieffer Moore netting twice, Ben Davies and Nathan Broadhead also on target.
The Town skipper was then introduced at the break for a first home international since November 2020 when he faced the USA in Cardiff, as the hosts looked to score again, Tom Bradshaw inches away from turning in Josh Sheehan’s cross.
Dan James rattled the woodwork, but there were no further goals, although the result did see Wales secure back-to-back victories for the first time since November 2021.
Speaking afterwards, Page said: “The results were not great in June, but it’s how you bounce back and we did that in September with class (winning 2-0 in Latvia).
“The environment is brilliant. We won’t get carried away beating Gibraltar, but I see work in progress.
“My challenge to them was to be clinical and we were. We have to put it all together on Sunday.
“We picked a team here knowing what we’ll face on Sunday.
“From the first minute on camp we knew the team we’d pick here and we know the team on Sunday. We are ready and can’t wait for Sunday’s game.”
Wales are in Euro 2024 qualifying action this weekend as they host Group D leaders Croatia at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday at 7.45pm.
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