Page to hold Hennessey talks as Wales goalkeeper injured

Only Gareth Bale (111) has won more than Wayne Hennessey's tally of 109 caps for Wales' men's side

Wales manager Robert Page will sit down with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to discuss the future of the international centurion.

Hennessey, 37, has been released by Nottingham Forest but is having to deal with a serious Achilles injury as he ponders his immediate future.

The 109 times capped keeper has not been included in Page’s squad for the friendlies with Gibraltar on June 6 and Slovakia three days later.

Page said: “Wayne's left the club and will be looking at what the future holds for him.

“It's a significant injury, it's not a quick fix. It is not going to be a month turnaround.

"We are looking at months not weeks for a senior player like that.”

Hennessey did not feature at all for Premier League side Forest in the past season. His only outing for Wales was as a half time substitute against Gibraltar, at the Stok Racecourse, last October.

Page intends to speak with the Welsh veteran ahead of the squad camp in Portugal next week.

The Wales boss said: “I'll have a conversation with him at the right time.

"I think the world of Wayne, everybody knows that, I have had him in every squad. I will have a conversation in the next few days before we go on camp and see where his head's at.

“He can't find a club if he's injured at this moment in time. So I think his focus will be on getting himself fit, getting himself in a position so that if he wants to continue playing he can do so."

Hennessey’s absence underlines the problem Wales have had with the goalkeeping berth for some time.

Leicester City’s Danny Ward has his been the regular starter but did not feature in the Foxes’ Championship title-winning season.

Five times capped Adam Davies, 31, made only one Carabao Cup appearance for Premier League bottom club Sheffield United.

Wolves stopper Tom King - along with Davies and Ward included in the squad for the June friendlies - has not played a first team game since featuring for Northampton in a League Two encounter at Harrogate in February 2023.

Page admits the goalkeeping situation is a real difficulty and says the Football Association of Wales are set to move to appoint a full time specialist coach for this position.

He said: “We have never had a goalkeeper who is playing consistently, that is something we will address and have a look at.

“When I took over the Under-21s six or seven years ago, I wanted a full time goalkeeping coach to help develop and go and find these young goalkeepers. That is something we are looking into.”

Asked if the appointment could happen before the Nations League campaign begins in September, Page said: “Potentially, as an association we are looking to do that.

“It is such a specialised position. I will have an opinion on goalkeepers of course, but I am not going to be disrespectful to tell a goalkeeper what to do and what hand to dive with.

“I have an understanding of goalkeepers because I played for long enough but I don’t have a detailed understanding and when I listen to Tony Roberts (Wales goalkeeper coach) it’s a specialised position.

“But as an association moving forward we need that. Within the next few weeks I am sure we will move forward with it again.”