Wales boss Rob Page offers fitness update on Swansea City’s Joe Allen ahead of World Cup opener v USA | OneFootball

Wales boss Rob Page has suggested that Swansea City midfielder Joe Allen will not feature in his side’s World Cup opener versus the United States.

The 32-year-old has not featured for Swansea in the Championship since September, struggling with a hamstring injury.

Despite this, he was included in the 26 man Wales squad for Qatar 2022.

It seems, though, that he will not be ready for Wales’ opener versus the United States tomorrow evening.

“He is probably not going to make it, to be completely honest.” Page told the media, via the Daily Mail.

“We said from the start we were going to give every possible chance but he’s not going to make it. We could have pushed him but if he breaks down then he is out of the tournament.

“Risk over reward. We’re not going to push him to the point of losing him.”

This update comes despite recent comments by Allen sounding hopeful he could feature in tomorrow’s match.

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“I’m hoping to be fit for the first game. There isn’t much time, but this is an important week for me,” he said recently.

“It’s improving, thankfully. I’m doing everything I can to get myself fit for the World Cup.

“I really want to prove my fitness. We’ll have to see how this week goes, but I feel confident and comfortable that it won’t be too much of a problem.”

The verdict

It always felt a long shot to be fit for this first game given he has not featured for Swansea for so long, but this is still obviously really disappointing news for Wales.

Joe Allen was included in the squad in the hope he would be fit for this opener, but it appears it will not be the case.

It makes sense not to push him and risk him losing out on the entire tournament, though.

Instead, Wales can try and get him fit to play a role in the other group games and from their perspective, hopefully beyond, where his experience could really come in handy for this side.e