Nations League: Turkey v Wales
Venue: Kadir Has Stadium, Kayseri Date: Saturday, 16 November Kick-off: 17:00 GMT
Coverage: Live on S4C, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app
Joe Allen says even though Harry Wilson did not establish himself at Liverpool, it was obvious from their time together that Wales’ new talisman would become a “brilliant player”.
Midfielder Wilson, 27, has become the first Welshman since Gareth Bale to score in three successive internationals.
All those goals came during Wales’ Nations League campaign that continues with a crucial encounter against Turkey on Saturday before concluding in Cardiff against Iceland.
“Where Harry is now is where we all expected him to go. I was with him when he was a young kid at Liverpool, and it was clear that he was going to be a brilliant player and have a great career,” said Allen
“He’s getting a lot of plaudits recently that he fully deserves. In truth, he’s been a key player for us for a number of years now. With Fulham, he’s been making a big impact there as well. It’s great to see and hopefully he can ride this wave and take his form into his future with Wales.”
Swansea City veteran Allen, 34, came out of the international retirement he had announced in February 2023 to join Craig Bellamy’s squad, helping Wales beat Montenegro 1-0 and keeping the new boss unbeaten in his first four games in charge.
“It’s been brilliant. The first camp was obviously the big one where it was all quite emotional and a bit of a whirlwind,” said Allen.
“But I’ve had the last month now to digest it all and I’ve been looking forward to being part of this one.”
If Wales beat Turkey away and then Iceland next Tuesday, Wales will win Group B4 and secure promotion to League A.
Allen, who made over 130 Liverpool appearances between 2012 and 2016, is not looking as far ahead as Wales’ 2026 World Cup qualifiers, saying he is “taking each camp as it comes”.
He added: “Craig spoke about how much further we’ve got to go and how many more improvements we can make.
“Everyone’s really looking forward to getting stuck into making that happen. The group have been brilliant at carrying his ideas out, and hopefully these next couple of games we can show that and more.”
