The Wales captain, Craig Bellamy, has been ruled out of their Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland next month, reports The Guardian. Bellamy, currently on-loan at Cardiff City from Manchester City, has been sidelined for three weeks with a knee problem that has hampered him throughout his career.

Bryan Flynn, in caretaker charge of the national side, confirmed that Bellamy would miss the forthcoming qualifiers. "Craig will be unavailable for the two matches next week," Flynn told BBC Sport Wales. "I had a really long, conversation with the Cardiff manager Dave Jones just over 10 days ago… and we made the decision that Craig will not be available due to his fitness.

"He has an ongoing knee problem and hasn't played for the last five games. It's a big disappointment for me as caretaker manager. I wanted Craig in the team but these things happen."