On Monday evening, Ben Davies and his Welsh counterparts were in action at home to Montenegro in the nations league. Brennan Johnson was suspended for this game, having picked up a yellow card in the 2-2 draw away to Iceland on Friday evening. Pretty good news, especially considering he had been withdrawn at half-time of that game as a precaution.
Despite playing as a central defender in a back four of late for his country, manager Craig Bellamy played Davies as a left-back for this one, with Ben Cabango of Swansea City partnering former Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Rodon in the middle of the Wales backline.
It was to be a good night at the office, as Davies’ side completely dominated the game, picking up a 1-0 victory for their efforts, thanks to a first half penalty from Harry Wilson, in one of the more one sided 1-0 wins you are likely to see.
As for Davies himself, it was an assuming but solid and dependable performance from the 31-year old, in a fairly typical Davies performance. The Spurs defender recorded; one clearance, two tackles, 87 touches of the ball, 62/71 passes completed, 3/5 ground duels won, and one foul drawn over the 90 minutes as he once again captained his country. That too, and a clean sheet to go with it. Not a bad night.
This result leaves Wales in second place in their group, two points below Turkey who scored a couple of late goals to secure a win at Iceland. As it stands, Bellamy’s side would currently play a play-off against a team that finish third in a group in league A of the nations league, with the winner of that tie being part of league A for the next iteration of the nations league.
Davies’ international break is now over, and he will return to North London in preparation for the weekends game.