Swansea City's Ben Davies shocked over Wales call-up
BEN Davies admits he is feeling overwhelmed as his big Swansea City break was followed by an international call-up.
Chris Coleman has added Davies to his Wales squad for their opening World Cup qualifier against Belgium in Cardiff on Friday after Swansea colleague Neil Taylor was ruled out for the rest of the season.
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Ben Davies
Davies also replaced Taylor 20 minutes into Swansea’s draw with Sunderland last weekend when the former Wrexham man suffered an horrific ankle injury.
His Swansea debut had come only seven days earlier when he arrived from the bench late on in the win over West Ham.
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And his first start for the club followed in the Capital One Cup a week ago.
“I turned up for pre-season hoping to push my way into Michael Laudrup’s plans, but to do as well as I have is a bit overwhelming.” said Davies.
“My parents are keeping me level-headed and I’m not getting ahead of myself. I’ve got a long way to go in my career and a lot of work ahead of me.
“It’s all been a bit of a shock, but I’ve got to take it in my stride and keep going. I don’t think I’m anywhere near the Wales first team at the moment.
“My aim is to keep working hard, to break into the under-21 squad and hopefully get a run in that team.”
Davies is yet to feature for Wales Under-21s, let alone the senior side. The 19-year-old had played just six minutes of top-flight football before Saturday, but he was thrust into the heat of battle after Taylor was stretchered off.
Neath-product Davies was asked to mark the Black Cats’ new £10 million signing Adam Johnson, and he did a sound job on the England man.
“It was a good test for me to come on for that amount of time when the game was still competitive,” he said.
“I came on against West Ham when we were cruising.
“It was a totally different test on Saturday and I thought I did okay.
“I kept things simple on the ball and got through the game.
“There were a few butterflies before I came on, especially coming up against an expensive new signing like Adam Johnson.
“I got an early tackle on him and that settled me down. I felt I did okay.”
Davies signed a new two-year deal this summer, having penned his first professional contract 12 months earlier.
The former Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera pupil has been with Swansea since the age of eight and worked his way through the centre of excellence system.
Though Davies impressed against Sunderland, Swansea are searching for an unattached left-back who can provide more experienced cover.
But if no-one arrives before Michael Laudrup takes his side to Aston Villa on September 15, Davies could again be asked to deputise.
“At the moment everyone’s thoughts are with Neil,” added the Wales Under-19 cap.
“We hope he has a speedy recovery because it’s a nasty injury.
“I was just hoping to be involved with the squad this season, so to play two Premier League games out of the first three is unbelievable.
“Now there’s an opportunity for me to test myself against the best.”
Comments
by bennyhill4
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 12:16PM
“leighrichards. Toshack picked 16 & 17 year olds in meaningless friendlies not a world cup qualifying campaign”
by bennyhill4
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 7:55PM
“philostrator, obviously coleman cant think of anyone to put in there either, what does that say about his lack of awareness”
by leighrichards
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 4:09PM
“if the player is playing for a side currently lying second in the english premiership he's certainly good enough to play for wales....the old adage 'if you are good enough you are old enough' always applies....and certainly does again in this case....toshack incidentally had no compunction about picking players who were 16 and 17....ben davies is a veteran in comparison at 19......chris coleman has been brave and made the right choice..... delighted for ben davies....what a week he is having.....”
by Philosoraptor
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 2:37PM
“jwelshman, the fact you didn't name anyone speaks massively of your lack of awareness of anyone else to put in there before Davies.”
by jwelshman
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 2:20PM
“It does not say much about Coleman's management team if all they can come up is with is a an inexperienced nineteen year old who has not played 90 minutes of top level football. Surely there is another player elligible for Wales with more experience. Not even Toshack in his darkest days would have made such an illogical selection. One day he maybe better than Taylor but Coleman is asking too much and risks Wales staying at home yet again.”
by bennyhill4
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 10:48AM
“This is a decision i really dont understand,the lad has'nt even played for the u21's' yet.Lets not put too much pressure on him so soon after making his first team debut. He should have been allowed to get some international experience with the 21's first.Remember what happened to walcott when they took him to the world cup? set his international career back by 2 years. Just shows to me how limited the welsh team is at the moment”
by Jagermeister
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 8:56AM
“Well done on your call up, go and knock them dead :)”