Craig Bellamy could not hide his disappointment after the news broke regarding his attempts to persuade Tottenham defender Ashley Phillips to represent Wales. Phillips, who signed for Spurs from Blackburn Rovers for £2million in August 2023, is yet to feature in a competitive match for the north London outfit.

The 20-year-old spent the latter half of the 2023/24 campaign at Plymouth Argyle before joining Stoke on loan that summer, where he has remained at the bet365 Stadium ever since. With Phillips performing well at the Potters, Bellamy has sought to convince the Salford-born centre-half to commit his international future to Wales.

Phillips featured once for Wales Under 16s before switching to England, where he earned more than 30 caps across various youth levels, from Under 17s through to the Under 21s.

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However, reports surfaced last week revealing that Bellamy had been attempting to persuade Phillips, who qualifies for Wales through his maternal lineage, to play for the nation. The formerManchester City and Liverpool striker ultimately proved unsuccessful, with plans now shelved as Phillips is instead expected to receive an England U21s call-up on Wednesday.

This development means any prospect of Phillips featuring at the World Cup has now been extinguished. Wales named a 26-man squad for the World Cup play-offs later this month, with neither Phillips nor Spurs colleagueBen Davies, who remains sidelined through injury, included.

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When questioned about the Phillips matter, Bellamy told a press conference on Tuesday: "We always look at dual nationalities, it's been so good for us over a number of years. I'm so, so, so disappointed it's got out again.

"It doesn't help us. Trust me. I'm the one who has to ring the coaches up, I'm the one who has to ring Stoke up and apologise.

"It doesn't do us any service at all - so please, if you do find a leak, speak to me first because you give us less chance of being able to get this type of player.

"It's something for down the road, it's not for now, but we're always active on it. We have to be. There are players who have got quality and if they have a chance of playing for Wales so we have to be active. That's for another time hopefully."

He continued: "I know what happened. It wasn't malicious at all, it was done by accident. We all do want to do well. We all want the best Wales team we can."

Wales meet Bosnia and Herzegovina in a qualifying semi-final on Thursday, 26th March before facing either Italy or Northern Ireland at home five days later, with a spot at this summer's World Cup in the United States up for grabs.