Wales want youngsters to tap into Wayne Hennessey’s ‘frightening’ experience

Wales want Wayne Hennessey on board in a coaching capacity to inspire their next generation of goalkeepers.

Hennessey, whose 109-cap total is only bettered by Gareth Bale in the Wales men’s game, has been approached to link up with the Dragons’ Under-21 set-up this summer.

The 38-year-old signed a Nottingham Forest deal in January until the end of the season.

Reached out

“I’ve already reached out to Wayne,” said Wales U21 boss Matty Jones after naming his squad for this month’s friendly double-header against Andorra and Sweden in Valencia.

“There was a change in our staffing group with Boaz (Myhill) as Tony Mowbray came in at West Brom and wanted him to be part of the senior team there.

“We’ve asked Wayne whether he would be interested and we’ll see whether that’s too early or not.

“But the experience he’s got is absolutely frightening in what he could offer our young keepers within the system.

“I would love to tap into Wayne and bring him in like I’ve done with Gareth (Bale) and Aaron (Ramsey).

“These players know how to make it at the top level of football and we’ve got to share that learning.”

Achilles injury

Hennessey has been on the Forest bench in recent weeks after recovering from a serious Achilles injury.

Wales boss Craig Bellamy named Danny Ward, Karl Darlow and Adam Davies on Wednesday as his three goalkeepers for their first World Cup qualifying campaign squad.

Bellamy rotated Ward and Darlow during a successful Nations League campaign in the autumn, with each goalkeeper playing three times.

“We will see how this week goes but I’ve quite enjoyed moving them,” said Bellamy.

“I always see it like I move (outfield) players. It’s a position that doesn’t help that they are not particularly playing as much as what we would like.

“But we can’t always have it our way. We do understand it’s been that case for a while. We’re OK and I’m quite comfortable with it.”

Wales begin World Cup qualification against Kazakhstan in Cardiff on March 22 and play North Macedonia away three days later.