Daniel James delighted as young Wales stars break through under Craig Bellamy

Phil Blanche, Press Association

Daniel James praised Wales manager Craig Bellamy for blooding young talent after Liverpool striker Lewis Koumas scored his first international goal.

Koumas salvaged a 1-1 friendly draw against World Cup-bound Ghana in Cardiff on Tuesday night with a stoppage-time header.

The 20-year-old was a second-half substitute alongside teenage Coventry midfielder Kai Andrews and Swansea winger Cameron Congreve, who made his debut after a successful season on loan at Dundee in the William Hill Premiership.

“We finished as a team with less experience but I thought they were top when they came on,” Leeds winger James said.

“It shows the trust the manager has in these young players and we’ve just got to keep pushing to bring them through.

“He sets up in a way that everyone is in a position where they can be themselves.

“He did exactly the same with me. How I can make my game simple and use my strengths? That’s what he does all over the pitch.”

Koumas burst on to the scene with a debut FA Cup goal for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool against Southampton in February 2024.

But Koumas failed to play a single minute under Klopp’s successor Arne Slot and subsequently had Sky Bet Championship loan spells at Stoke, Birmingham and Hull, helping the latter reach the Premier League at the end of the last domestic season.

Koumas made his Wales debut against Gibraltar two summers ago, but he has been used sparingly on the international stage since with only two starts across his 11 appearances.

James said: “Lewis has obviously had limited caps but he’s still a young boy.

“It’s easy to forget that because he’s been on the scene two or three years and he’s got so much more to bring.

“He has that mentality that he wants to push on and do more. You can’t get any better set up here to do that.

“With the experienced boys we have and the way Craig brings everyone in, the detail he brings, it’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Wales meet Romania in a Bucharest friendly on Saturday before their Nations League A campaign against Denmark, Norway and Portugal gets under way in September.

“We spoke in the week about this June camp not having the best results,” said James.

“That’s why it was important to get something out of this game and we’ll take that into Saturday.

“We came up against a team that thoroughly deserves to be going to the World Cup and we showed what we’re capable of.

“We’ve just got to keep pushing because the next campaign is massive and we’ve got to build on what we have now.”