Football Rovers boss frustrated with Wales over Lockyer call up
BRISTOL Rovers manager Graham Coughlan admitted he was ‘frustrated’ to see Tom Lockyer called-up for Wales only for his captain to not be selected in either of their matchday squads.
Centre-back Lockyer, has five international caps after making his debut against Panama in 2017, and was named in Ryan Giggs’ Welsh squad to prepare for Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday and then Slovakia on Sunday.
That ruled him out of Rovers’ 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, which saw 20-year-old Alfie Kilgour make his full debut in place of Lockyer, putting in an impressive performance. However, the Gas club captain was not included in either of Wales’ matchday squads, much to the annoyance of his club manager.
Coughlan, who went to Cardiff City Stadium to watch the Euro 2020 qualifier, added: “Losing any player is frustrating, but losing one of your international players and your skipper is really frustrating.
“He is the club captain, he is probably one of the better centre halves in the division. He is a big favourite of ours and we speak highly of him. I actually went over and watched Wales yesterday in the hope I would see Locks playing, myself and Joe Dunne went over to the Wales game, but he wasn’t on the teamsheet, he wasn’t in the squad and he turned up here this morning.”
Coughlan confirmed the defender is not suffering with any injuries and it appears Giggs simply opted to go with other players for these two games. Lockyer last played for Wales in November 2018 during the 1-0 defeat to Albania.
Attention now switches to his availability to face Doncaster tonight with the 24-year-old set to be included for the trip to the Keepmoat Stadium. FIFA rules state players can return to action for their clubs 24 hours after the final whistle of an international game they were called up for. That time frame extends to 48 hours when it is an international against a country in a different confederation, but that is not the case here.
Coughlan added: “Locks has come back, the internationals have finished and I’ll have to assess him and have a look and see where he is at. Whether we can get the clearance for him to play, there’s some red tape, it might be unlikely, but we’re trying to get the clearance.”
Meanwhile, Doncaster Rovers will be without influential midfielder Herbie Kane for tonight’s game against Bristol Rovers.
Kane, on loan from Liverpool, has been in sensational form for Grant McCann’s side this season. He started his career at the Gas’ fierce rivals Bristol City and could not resist taunting the Gas on social media following Doncaster’s 4-0 win at the Memorial Stadium in December. However, he is set to miss Tuesday night - and potentially the rest of the season - due to a groin injury. Manager McCann confirmed the news, and also ruled out fellow midfielder Ben Whiteman for the next three to four weeks.
“Herbie will be out for about six weeks, Ben will be three to four weeks.” Doncaster were without the duo for Saturday’s 4-0 hammering against Luton Town