Ethan Ampadu rues yellow card that rules him out of Wales’ crunch WC qualifier

Ethan Ampadu insisted he should not have received the yellow card that rules him out of Wales’ crunch World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia.

Wales must win their final fixture in Cardiff on Tuesday to secure a home semi-final in the March play-offs.

But Ampadu and fellow midfielder Jordan James will be suspended for the North Macedonia tie after picking up their second bookings of the competition in Saturday’s 1-0 victory in Liechtenstein.

Ampadu captained Wales in the absence of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies in Vaduz, but the Leeds midfielder’s night had a sour ending four minutes from time when cautioned for a foul on Liechtenstein substitute Severin Schlegel.

“I am gutted. If it was a challenge that was a bit reckless or silly I would be frustrated with myself,” Ampadu told BBC Wales.

“It’s annoying because I don’t think it was a yellow. I don’t think I touched the guy and I won the ball.

“To miss the opportunity to represent your country is always hard and I’m really disappointed with that.”

Wales needed to win by a six-goal margin to wipe out North Macedonia’s superior goal difference before their Cardiff clash.

There was never any chance of that happening, but James’ second-half close-range strike ensured Wales drew level on 13 points with second-placed North Macedonia.

Belgium have yet to nail down top spot in Group J after drawing 1-1 in Kazakhstan on Saturday.

But that should be a formality with Belgium’s final game at home to Liechtenstein, who are still waiting for their first point and first goal in qualification.

Dominant

Amapdu said: “Our focus before the game was we were expecting to be the team who were dominant with the ball.

“You’d like to score more goals but we got the win. It’s not a lack of desire, it was just we didn’t score the goals.

“We had to be patient. We had a lot of the ball and a lot of chances.”

Wales boss Craig Bellamy is facing a midfield dilemma on Tuesday with both Ampadu and James ruled out, although Harry Wilson is available after suspension.

Bolton’s Josh Sheehan is likely to start at the base of the midfield.

James marked his 25th cap with his first Wales goal and said: “I’ve been waiting for it but I have been in sort of goalscoring form (for Leicester), which is nice.

“I work on getting in the box and in the right spaces and I was able to do that.

“It’s disappointing to get booked. You don’t think about it on the pitch, you just play the match. They were on the counter-attack and I had to stop it.

“I think we have enough in the squad to win it on Tuesday. I am disappointed, but I’ll be supporting the lads from the sidelines.”