CHRIS WISE Robert Earnshaw had another afternoon to forget as Wales crashed to an embarrassing home defeat against Slovakia in their latest Euro 2008 qualifier.
CHRIS WISE
Robert Earnshaw had another afternoon to forget as Wales crashed to an embarrassing home defeat against Slovakia in their latest Euro 2008 qualifier.
Norwich City's leading goal-scorer was hoping to bounce back from the previous weekend's dire home defeat against Burnley - which spelt the end of Nigel Worthington's managerial reign - with a positive run-out at international level.
But he failed to make any real impact at the Millennium Stadium and was hauled off at half-time as manager John Toshack opted for a tactical switch, with Cardiff's Paul Parry coming on to add more height to Wales' diminutive strike-force.
The hosts were losing 3-1 when Earnshaw was substituted, and ended up being beaten 5-1, so the switch didn't exactly work wonders.
City colleague Carl Robinson played the full 90 minutes in a holding midfield role, and was one of Wales' better players on a miserable afternoon.
Robinson is likely to feature again in Wednesday's home clash with Cyprus, but Earnshaw might struggle to get a start - and that would at least leave him fresh for the first game of the post-Worthington era at QPR on Saturday.
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