PLUS - WALES V SPAIN BIG MATCH PREVIEW:
ASHLEY Williams believes Wales’ current strength in depth is the best it’s ever been during his international career.
The Wales skipper will hope to lead his side out against Spain and Republic of Ireland over the next week, although he has some stiff competition for his place.
Williams played the full 90 minutes in the emphatic 4-1 win over Ireland in Cardiff last month although he did not feature in the 2-0 defeat to Denmark three days later.
The likes of Chris Mepham, James Chester, Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon will all be pushing to start for Wales over the international break.
And Williams thinks the competition for places throughout the Wales squad is the fiercest it’s ever been since he made his international bow against Luxembourg in 2008, adding that he’s happy with his form at club level ahead of the double header.
“I feel good,” said the central defender.
“It’s been a long year, but I’m playing in the team at club level and we’re winning games.
“My last international game was Ireland which was one of my best memories.
“I’m happy, I feel good and looking forward to playing football.
“Throughout the whole team we’ve got a lot of competition now. I think this is the strongest squad that I’ve seen since I’ve been playing for Wales.
“It does give us older ones a bit of a push, you have to be playing well for your club team and when you come here you have to do well which is what it should be like.
“I think in every position, we’ve now got at least one or two players who are ready to go into the starting 11.
“If I look at the last camp, there were probably two 11s that could go out and be as strong as each other. We’ve never really had that. Even when we were going through the Euros, you could probably guess the starting XI for every game really, apart from one or two.”
Among the contenders for a centreback berth is Swansea defender Rodon who earned a call-up to the senior side at the weekend following the withdrawal of Newcastle United’s Paul Dummett due to a hamstring injury.
Williams – who knows Rodon from his time at the Liberty Stadium – admits the 20-year-old has taken no time at all to settle in to the senior setup having originally been included in Rob Page’s Under-21 squad.
Although the Wales captain was not so impressed with Rodon’s singing ability.
“He’s good. I know him myself from Swansea when he was a little bit younger and he’s settled in fine. He’s a really nice kid,” added Williams.
“We made him sing again and he was up for that. He’s a nice kid to be fair. I can’t remember what he sang. It was rubbish anyway.”
Williams’ Stoke teammate Joe Allen feels Welsh football is in the right place to return to the Principality Stadium.
Allen said: “We’ve come a long way since the days when the atmosphere and the performances were questioned.
“I’m sure that’s been behind the decision to play this game there.
“We’ve had great games and great atmospheres at the Cardiff City Stadium in recent years, but we’re looking forward to playing there again.
“For this type of game I’m sure the atmosphere is going to be great.”