Midfielder Andy King hopeful of return to Wales fold under Ryan Giggs

by Callum Ellis

LEICESTER City loanee Andy King says he is hopeful of returning to the Wales fold under Ryan Giggs.  

King, who has amassed 50 caps for Wales, has not featured for his country since a 1-0 friendly defeat against Albania in November 2018.

The midfielder helped Wales on their way to Euro 2016 glory four years ago, featuring in three of their five games on their route to the semi-finals in France.

But King has found minutes difficult to come by under Brendan Rogers and joined Huddersfield Town on loan in January.

And he is hopeful that his switch to the Championship can earn him a recall from Giggs.

Speaking ahead of the Terriers’ trip to face his former loan club Swansea City this weekend, King said: “The last year has been hard for me and I missed a lot of the qualifying campaign so I know I’m playing catch-up, but I back my own ability.

“I have over 50 caps and have played for the manager but he always says you have to play regularly to get into the squad. If I can get some minutes at Swansea that’s maybe one Ryan Giggs will be watching.

“But for me it’s about trying to help Huddersfield and hopefully anything that might happen will come off the back of that.”

The 31-year-old has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons and his move to the Terriers is his fourth loan spell in the last two years.

King spent the first half of the current campaign in the Scottish Premiership under Steven Gerrard at Rangers.

And he admitted it’s been a tough period.

“You have to take it in your stride,” he said.

“I didn’t have a move in my first 12 years of my career but I’ve had three in the last 18 months, but that’s football.

“You train because you want to play and get that buzz on a Saturday or whenever you’re playing. It’s been hard but I love playing football and that’s why I’ve been happy to move around.

“I’m enjoying it here, training has been really good, and I’ve been fortunate to get some minutes under my belt and now the focus is on helping the team move up the table.”

But King faces some stern competition for a place in Giggs’ squad, with the former Manchester United winger putting his trust in youth.

Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu – who earned rave reviews for his performance during RB Leipzig’s 1-0 win against Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday – has impressed on the international stage.

While fellow central midfielders Joe Morrell, Matt Smith and Will Vaulks have all been handed opportunities by Giggs.