Wales have been dealt a blow ahead of the Euro 2024 playoffs with it being revealed that Aaron Ramsey will miss out through injury.

On the back of Gareth Bale's retirement, the experienced Ramsey was naturally selected as the legendary forward's successor for the armband.

The 33-year-old has made six appearances for his country since then, most notably scoring in Latvia in September as the Dragons posted a crucial 2-0 victory.

However, a knee injury kept the Cardiff City midfielder out of Wales' closing three qualifiers, with his teammates still collecting five points from three games to keep their hopes of a Euro 2024 spot alive.

© Reuters

With Ramsey having recently returned from a long layoff, the hope had been that he would be in peak condition for the encounter with Finland next month.

Instead, the former Arsenal and Juventus man lasted just two fixtures on his return before not featuring in the last two Cardiff squads due to a tendon issue.

Speaking on Tuesday night, Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut has revealed that Ramsey will not return until after the March international break at the earliest.

As quoted by BBC Sport, Bulut said: "They [medical staff] told me four to six weeks.

"I got a report it was a strain but yesterday I heard it was not a strain on the muscle, it was on the tendon. He will be available maybe the end of March."

© Reuters

He added: "I will support him every way I can. I know how he's feeling. It's not easy for a player to be out for five months, come back, play and get injured from nearly nothing.

"He is also disappointed, I can understand it's injuries upon injuries."

Since returning to his boyhood club last summer, Ramsey has been restricted to just six starts and two substitute outings, scoring three goals during those Championship fixtures.

If Wales are able to overcome Finland in Cardiff on March 21, they will play host to either Poland or Estonia five days later.

Written by
Darren Plant