Wales boss Rob Page insists he won't take any risks with his team selection ahead of Sunday's huge World Cup play-off final on Sunday as he faces a dilemma over skipper Gareth Bale and midfield playmaker Aaron Ramsey.
Page's side take on Poland in Wroclaw in the UEFA Nations League on Wednesday, just days before taking on either Scotland or Ukraine for a place in the World Cup finals in Qatar. Bale and Ramsey will be key components of Page's plans as he plots a route to a first finals since 1958, but the lack of game time for either of them will likely be a concern.
Bale, who watched his Real Madrid team-mates claim a fourteenth Champions League title from the bench in Paris on Saturday, has played just 20 minutes of senior football since netting a brace against Austria, while Ramsey's loan stint at Rangers has been plagued by injuries.
READ MORE : How much Gareth Bale earned during his nine years with Real Madrid
They have each joined up with Wales, Bale arriving in camp after the Real Madrid Euro celebrations were finished. There could well be a temptation to give him and Ramsey some minutes in the legs ahead of such a titanic World Cup clash, but Page has suggested that neither are likely to be heavily involved against the Poles.
"The most important game will be on Sunday," he said when asked about the potential involvement of the duo. "It would be unwise for us to take any risks."
Ramsey is training as normal with the rest of the squad and is fit to play should he be called upon, while Bale linked up with the rest of the camp shortly after picking up a fifth Champions League winners' medal.
Asked specifically about Bale's potential involvement on Wednesday, Page added: "Like I always do with the senior players. We'll have individual plans, of course we will.
"We'll sit down and have a conversation with him. It's about getting him in the best physical and mental condition for Wednesday and then for Sunday.
"He's in good spirits as he always is. He was adamant he'd be meeting the players in Portugal to fly out to Poland and that again speaks volumes about him.
"He wanted to be with the group as soon as possible and what an achievement for him personally, to be a part of that group and that team that's achieved that. It's phenomenal and there aren't many players that can say they've been a part of that.
"So credit to him but he's as humble as ever and he's met up with the group and he's first class straight away."
Out of contract this summer, Bale's arrival in the Welsh camp also comes against the backdrop of increasing uncertainty over his future at club level, with the forward bidding farewell to Real Madrid's fans shortly after the team's heroics in Paris.
Despite an often turbulent relationship with the club's fans and the Spanish media, Bale received a standing ovation from supporters inside the Bernabeu, as the club toasted yet another European success.
For Page, and indeed fans across the nation, it was a fitting end to a trophy-laden albeit sometimes frosty nine-year stint.
"I thought they showed class. And rightly so for what he's achieved for that football club," he added.
"You look back at what he's done, scoring winners in Champions League finals and in the manner in which he's done it. He deserves all the plaudits, absolutely."
Meanwhile, Brennan Johnson hasn't yet travelled to meet up with the rest of the camp following Nottingham Forest's play-off final win at Wembley, but Sorba Thomas, who was on the losing side that day linked up with the squad in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
