Bradley sweating on Wales call-up

Saturday 24th October 2009, 10:49AM BST.

Mark Bradley/WalsallMark Bradley insists he is sweating on another Wales call-up after admitting he was lucky to get his last one.

The Saddlers midfielder was selected for the injury-ravaged Welsh squad ahead of their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win in Liechtenstein last week but failed to get off the bench.

And, with the likes of Craig Bellamy and Aaron Ramsey likely to return for the friendly with Scotland on November 14, Bradley expects to be recalled for under-21 duty in Bosnia four days later.

“There are a lot of quality players to come back in so it will be hard to keep my place. There were a lot of injuries so I was lucky to get into the squad,” he said.

“There are a lot of good players playing for Wales at the moment and they can put a good team out. There are a lot of under-21 players coming through and players in the squad who can still play for the under-21s.”

The 21-year-old is now hopeful his form for the Saddlers will see him picked on merit when boss John Toshack selects his next squad.

He said: “If I can keep playing for Walsall and go away with the under-21s, if selected, to Bosnia I can keep in his thoughts.

“Brian Flynn (under-21 boss) will tell him how I get on for the under-21s and others will say how I’ve been doing for Walsall.”

The Red Dragons came under fire for the nature of their performance in Vaduz and Bradley revealed he has put his own views across to Toshack. He said: “He had a few chats with me and asked how I thought the game went. I was honest with him and said it wasn’t the best but going to places like that is always hard. Russia only beat them 1-0 and it was all about the result, so it was positive.”

But Bradley admits he would not swap his experience after making the step up to the senior squad for the first time.

He said: “It was good, I wasn’t expecting to fit in as well as I did but they made me feel welcome. I was relaxed in training. I would have been relaxed if I got on and was unfortunate not to in the end. Hopefully I’ll get more chances.”

Meanwhile, the Saddlers All-Stars will take on a Supporters’ XI at Rushall Olympic’s Dales Lane ground tomorrow (1pm).

Chris Marsh and Mark Rees are just two of the former players who should feature. Tickets cost £2 and money raised goes to Walsall Hospice.



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