Bristol Rovers star snubbed for international duty - free to play against Shrewsbury

The in-form Gas striker is not amongst the 24 names that Rob Page has listed.
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Bristol Rovers will have talisman Aaron Collins at their disposal next week after he was not called up to the Welsh national team for their EURO 2024 qualifiers later this month.

Rob Page has not named the 25-year-old in his squad, despite his exceptional form, which ranks him as one of the most productive players across the Premier League and Football League. Wales have qualifiers against Croatia on March 25, and Lativa on March 28, and a call-up for his country would have made Collins unavailable for the next week.

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The Gas have a League One fixture against Shrewsbury Town on March 25, the same day as Wales’ qualifying campaign starts, and Collins had he been called up would have been out of action for more than a week. He will be available for the trip to the New Meadow next week, but there is no scheduled fixture for Rovers on Saturday, April 1 because of Plymouth Argyle’s EFL Trophy final with Bolton Wanderers.

Collins is in the form of his life and has 15 goals and 11 assists this season, and is second to Peterborough United’s Jonson Clarke-Harris in the race for the Golden Boot, whilst he leads the assists chart. He misses out this time however to the likes of Luke Harris, who has made three substitute appearances for Fulham in the Premier League.

There is representation from the third tier in the form of Ipswich Town’s Nathan Broadhead, who joined the Tractor Boys from Wigan Athletic in the January transfer window. The 24-year-old has four goals and two assists for his new club, in addition to the five he scored in the Championship for the Lactics before his move. He will be joined by his club teammate Wes Burns who has three caps for his country as well as Portsmouth’s Joe Morrell who both came through the Bristol City academy.

Former Rovers captain Tom Lockyer, who promised his former club a shirt from the World Cup, despite not playing a fixture, is included in a squad, that does not feature Gareth Bale after his retirement. Chris Gunter, Jonny Williams and Joe Allen also called time on their international careers.

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Wales squad to face Croatia (March 25) and Latvia (March 28)

Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey, Danny Ward and Adam Davies.

Defenders: Ben Davies, Neco Williams, Ben Cabango, Tom Lockyer, Joe Rodon, Chris Mepham, Ethan Ampadu, Connor Roberts.

Midfielders: Sorba Thomas, Jordan James, Nathan Broadhead, Wes Burns, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Morrell and Harry Wilson.

Forwards: Dan James, Kieffer Moore, Luke Harris, Brennan Johnson, Ollie Cooper and Tom Bradshaw.

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