Brooks call-up is purely for football reasons – Coleman
CHRIS Coleman is adamant his decision to cap Liverpool’s teen sensation Ben Woodburn was nothing to do with his English eligibility – and says it will be the same for new boy David Brooks.
The chances of the Three Lions getting their claws into Wales youth star Woodburn were categorically ended earlier this month when the 17-year-old made his senior bow against Austria, scoring the superb goal that kept Welsh World Cup hopes alive.
There had been earlier approaches from the English FA for Chester schoolboy Woodburn to withdraw from the Welsh set-up, with Ethan Ampadu – who made his Chelsea debut last week – also having received similar attention.
And the pair have been joined in the latest Wales squad by Sheffield United starlet Brooks, the youngster having been named the Toulon Tournament’s best player while with England’s Under-20s less than four months ago.
Brooks has been dubbed one of the most exciting young prospects outside the Premier League, with Coleman insisting the 20-year-old – whose mother hails from Llangollen – has earned his call-up into the 23-man party to face Georgia and the Republic of Ireland in two decisive World Cup qualifiers starting next week.
But Coleman – who admits he has increased expectation around Woodburn after handing him such a dramatic debut against Austria – has insisted any selection in the side will have nothing to do with getting them tied to Wales.
Young dual-qualified players are able to switch international allegiance until they are capped in a competitive game at senior level, but Coleman declared: “I don’t feel obliged to cap David – and I won’t do that to anybody unless it suits the first team.
“If I need to put a player on the pitch because we need to change it tactically or injury, we will play someone.
“I won’t play anybody – definitely not a campaign game – unless I need to change tactically, not just to cap him so he belongs to us. I’ll never do that, it’s not the right thing to do.
“Commitment is what it is, they’re either in for the long run or not at all and that’s why they’re in the squad.”
Still, if Coleman does turn to either Amapdu or Brooks in the games in Tbilisi or Cardiff, he would dream of an impact such as the one made by Woodburn, though the former defender did accept that his use of him in the last round of qualifiers has now changed the expectation of his involvement.
Coleman joked that his selection of Brooks was “to take some of the pressure off Ben” but later added: “I think people will look at it and there is an expectation on Ben now, unfortunately. That is maybe the downside of it because he has burst on the scene and done great – but he is still a kid.
“I don’t feel under pressure to start him, but there will be an expectation he plays a part – but that all depends on what I feel is best on the night against Georgia.”
Coleman says his focus is simply on the first task in Tbilisi, welcoming Joe Ledley’s return to club football after signing – and scroing on his debut – for Derby, while ruing the injury absence of James Collins and Jazz Richards. Wigan midfielder Lee Evans and Adam Davies miss out while Preston goalkeeper Chris Maxwell joins the squad.
And there is little fear over Gareth Bale’s fitness, Wales sources unaware of any concerns despite reports the Real Madrid ace had been sent for scans over a calf problem. Bale was withdrawn in the late stages of Real’s Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund, in which Bale had scored, but it was described at the time as cramp. Real released an injury update yesterday which made no mention of a problem with Bale, only that he had trained in the gym with Cristiano Ronaldo away from the rest of Zinedine Zidane’s squad.