Leeds United loanee Tyler Roberts has spoken out how hard it was to 'move on' from the disappointment of missing last year's World Cup with Wales after suffering from a calf injury.
The 24-year-old has made 20 senior appearances for his country in the past but missed out on their return back to football's biggest stage, with it being their first World Cup since 1958.
After failing to make an impact at Elland Road over the past few seasons, he was sent on loan to Queens Park Rangers where he's also struggled for game time due to issues with his legs.
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"I had a little ongoing injury in my calf, and tried to give it as long as possible before it started getting to the stage of, 'I want to be playing again'," Roberts told BBC Sport.
"I felt like I was ready to play so I had a talk with the manager, which was Michael Beard at the time, and we decided it'd be ok. It was going fine and then the injury happened again.
"And then from then on, I had the feeling that it'd be off for me [the World Cup] which was really hard at the time because of the shock of it all. But me and Rob Page had a chat just a couple of weeks before the tournament and he said he thinks it's just too tight.
"They spoke to the physios and they decided I wasn't going to be ready in time which was hard to take. It was really tough for me and it's been difficult to move on from, but the best thing is that I've come back and gotten back into the [QPR] team."
However, despite the hardships over the past few months, things look to be on the up for Roberts. He scored both goals in a 2-2 comeback draw for QPR against Reading last week and believes that despite Gareth Bale's retirement from football, Welsh football is still on the rise.
"I think there's a good mix in there, there's some experienced players still there and a lot of younger ones coming through so it's in good hands I'd say.
"We've got a lot of exciting talent so for the next few years hopefully we can step up and continue qualifying for tournaments and competing at the highest level."
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