Russell Martin admits Swansea City missed some "red flags" regarding Joe Allen's injury situation.
The midfielder has not featured since sustaining a hamstring injury during the Swans' 3-0 triumph over Hull City on September 17 but has been included in Wales' 26-man World Cup squad. It remains to be seen whether or not he will be available to feature in his country's tournament opener against the United States of America on November 21.
During his squad announcement at Tylorstown Welfare Hall, Wales boss Rob Page stated that Allen's current situation could have been avoided.
READ MORE: Wales World Cup squad in full as Joe Allen and Ben Cabango included
"He wanted to come into it fully fit. It could have been avoided. That's the life of a footballer," said Page. "He's working every day with our medical team an we'll assess him again on Sunday, but he's definitely travelling with us.
"It's frustrating but I'm not going to go into detail about that. Swansea, Russell will say what he wants about that. I just want to be positive now and move forward. I can't affect what's happened in the past. All I know is that he's now with a medical team that will make sure everything's done possible to get him on that pitch."
And Martin has stated that Swansea, as a club, must learn from their mistakes after Allen's recent struggles after discovering that the injury was much worse than initially feared.
"The injury couldn't have been avoided," said Martin. “The length of his injury, there's been mistakes, definitely. With any of these things you have to seek external expertise and yeah there were a few mistakes along the way.
“Joe's desperation to try and get fit for Swansea first and foremost and not worry about the World Cup meant that we missed a few red flags early on. It meant he tried to come back and got re-injured. He tried to come back. So there's loads we can do better as a club.
“In the first instance there were mistakes externally which shouldn’t have happened. So collectively, I can’t sit here and lie to you, it wasn't good enough. I've been so angry about it for Joe. I have been really disappointed about it for Joe.
“But we can sit here and be angry or we can do our very best and help Joe get ready, which is what we have done since then. I'm pretty sure in a situation like that again, it won't pan out in the same way. There needs to be learning from everyone and hopefully that will be the case.
"There's been a big turnover in terms of staff in the medical department, the analysis department, so we need to make sure we're on top of that, we have really strict protocols and processes. I think that will be the thing that comes out of this.
“It's been big learning for everyone. There is not one person to blame, we have to take responsibility as a club, which I think everyone has done, and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It's about understanding the person that's injured as well and their mentality, not just objective markers. Hopefully we won’t be in that situation again. If we are aware I am pretty sure we will be better prepared for it.”
Meanwhile, Allen's Swansea team-mate Ben Cabango will be on the plane to Qatar, although there was no place in the squad for Ollie Cooper. The attacker has excelled with the Swans this term and has hit a rich vein of form since becoming a prominent figure under the current coaching staff.
And Martin believes Cooper could have done no more to have earned himself a place in the Wales squad. "I'm really gutted for Ollie. Really disappointed," he added.
"If I was the Wales manager he'd be going. If you look at the squad, does he deserve to go on merit and performance, without naming any individuals, over any other players in the squad, then yeah, I would say so.
"I'm not the Wales manager. There'll be loads of Wales fans who breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not Wales manager. Are there 20,000 people who come here and watch him every week that agree he should be in the squad? Yes.
"The fact he's got himself so close, he should be immensely proud of because he's come from nowhere to being considered on standby. You understand, Rob Page has gone for loyalty, I've been there and you can understand that.
"I'm not sure Ollie could have done much more than he has done to be involved. He might be needed at some point, there could be injuries and he'll be ready. If not he needs to use it as fuel to make sure it never happens again and that he's in the squad for many years to come."
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Olivier Ntcham has been included in Cameroon's squad for the global showpiece, with the Indomitable Lions facing Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil in the group stages.
Swansea come up against Huddersfield Town in their final game before the international break on Saturday. The Swans have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to west Yorkshire.
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