Connor Roberts revels in roller coaster Wales rise

When Connor Roberts lines up for Wales against Spain at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Thursday, there will be a part of him wondering what he is doing there and how he got there.

Because every now and then, as the conversation on his impressive development for club and country continues, the Swansea City defender breaks off to shake his head and smile.

It is not for show. There is a video clip saved in the 23-year-old's phone that he has watched a fair few times since his competitive debut against the Republic of Ireland last month, a 4-1 Nations League win.

It shows Roberts receiving the ball from Gareth Bale, before expertly controlling and firing home with his supposed wrong foot. Roberts admits he needs the commentator's assurance that it is actually him scoring his first goal for Wales.

Connor Roberts scored his first Wales goal in the 4-1 Nations League win over the Republic of Ireland

False modesty? Not for someone who less than a year ago was questioning whether he was good enough for the Championship, League One even.

"Twelve months ago, I wouldn't be here talking to you because I hadn't achieved anything and it was playing on my mind," Roberts admits.

"It was getting to me that maybe it wasn't meant to be, maybe I wasn't good enough. I've come a long way."

His current standing seemed a distant destination when he was being sent out on loan from Swansea, quickly to be frozen out at Bristol Rovers and Middlesbrough and forgotten back home.

Roberts played five games in six months at Rovers after joining them in August 2016 and just four at Middlesbrough over a similar period the following season.

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A product of the Swansea academy since the age of nine, the knockbacks and lack of opportunity - both on loan and at the Liberty - had made him doubt himself.

"I wasn't cutting it," he admits. "I don't think it's fair to say I wasn't good enough, it was more I didn't get given a chance.

"But I still always wondered if the Championship was too good for me, was League One too good for me even, because I never got the chance to see.

"There were some dark times. There were people who didn't want to know me when I was a nobody at Middlesbrough. I was just another one of those boys who doesn't quite cut it."

A Curt recall

The story goes that Swansea's then loan manager, Alan Curtis, had watched Roberts in a rare cup outing for Boro, and when Swans manager at the time Carlos Carvalhal was in need of right-back cover, suggested he turned to Roberts.

Eye-catching appearances in the Premier League followed, as did a quickly earned cult status among Swansea fans in the ultimately unsuccessful battle to stay in the top flight.

It is something that has only been cemented following relegation, with Roberts in the vanguard of new boss Graham Potter's stylish and fresh-faced re-energising of the side. The Neath-born youngster is, after all, one of their own.

Cue another smile and shake of the head.

"I'm not the best player at Swansea, not by a long, long way, but I'll give everything for the club I love and my country and hopefully it can be good enough," is how Roberts humbly puts it.

"I think a lot fans see that. I think you could ask a few and they'd say 'he isn't actually that good, he just gives his all and doesn't stop running' and that's all fans ask for. You don't want to be sat in the crowd and think 'he's not even trying'."

Swansea assistant coach and club legend Alan Curtis made his senior playing debut for the Welsh side in 1972

It is true that relentless work-rate and driven determination - perhaps born from his struggles - are hallmarks of his game appreciated by supporters and managers alike.

But Roberts' performances are more than that of a simple trier. His self-deprecation ignores his attack-minded athleticism and confident ability on the ball, all leading to that competitive bow against the Republic that suggests there is more to come from him under Wales manager Ryan Giggs.

"It's mad," he says at the thought. "I was in a low place coming back from Middlesbrough where nothing seemed to be going for me, now I'm being picked by Ryan Giggs and scoring a goal for my country in front of a full house.

"It's hard to describe how I feel - I've got the goal on my phone and I still watch it back and have to say 'that actually happened to me' when it says 'Gareth Bale to Connor Roberts...' it's actually me!"

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The dream to play for Wales was always there, especially at the 74,500-capacity national stadium, but Roberts initially imagined it with a ball in his hands rather than at his feet.

"I was a rugby boy," he admits. "Around here where I'm from, the Dulais Valley, the Neath Valley, it's rugby. The whole family is rugby and in primary school I didn't really like football. I played for West Wales and I thought that was it, I'm going to be a rugby player.

"I was rugby mad and my dad said 'one day, son, you're going to play for Wales' - little did he know it would be football!"

The move into secondary school and the sight of others growing quicker than him - "They were massive and would just run all over me" - prompted the switch that both Swansea and Wales are glad of.

"I'm not the best player at Swansea, not by a long, long way, but I'll give everything... that's all fans ask for"

But the four-cap Roberts adds: "It doesn't stop now. I'm happy to pat myself on the back because there were plenty who doubted me - including myself - but I hope to play for Wales many times; it might not happen but if it does I have to be even better.

"I've set a standard for myself now and I have to keep it up. A footballer's career is very short and I have to make the most of it, and I can only do that if I keep it up.

"The crop of players we have and that are coming through with Wales is very positive but we have to give fans more to cheer about after the Euros. That's gone, it was amazing and I loved watching it on TV, but there has to be more."

And for all the disbelief about how he got here, there is no doubts Roberts believes it is possible.