Savage in race against time

Last updated : 09 October 2003 By Brian Cartlidge

Savage has hardly trained since Blues' 2-0 Premiership win against Portsmouth on September 27th and was forced to sit out the 3-0 defeat against Manchester Utd at Old Trafford on Saturday with an Achilles injury.

"Robbie will not train again today (Tuesday), we will look at him on Wednesday, but we are quite confident," said Wales boss Mark Hughes.

To finish top of group nine Wales need to win on Saturday and hope that Azerbaijan can hold Italy to a draw in Reggio Calabria, so they will probably be heading for a place in the play-offs.