Danny Ward last played a league game in 2017 and Joe Morrell got five Luton starts last season but they outshone Wales’ stars
At the Baku Olympic Stadium on Saturday a giant oval of sunlight shone on rows of empty seats but it was players who spent much of last season in the shade who ensured Wales stay alive, rallying to secure what could prove a priceless point. After the promise of Aaron Ramsey making his first competitive start for his country in eight months and Gareth Bale arriving in Azerbaijan in peak condition, it was the unlikely lads who hoisted Wales out of a hole.
None more so than Danny Ward, the goalkeeper who has played second fiddle to Kasper Schmeichel at Leicester for the past three seasons. His last league appearance came for Huddersfield more than four years ago and that day he proved the hero, too, saving from Jordan Obita in a penalty shootout to help win promotion in the Championship play-off final.
