Leeds United man survives 'worst' conditions of career and sets sights on 2026 World Cup

Although the stopper has long been a player the Football Association of Wales wanted to bring into squads, Darlow is a latecomer to international football. He made his debut on Monday night against Montenegro at the age of 33, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Ken Leek who earned 15 caps in the 1960s.

Darlow and Wales came away with a 2-1 victory in torrential rain. "Delighted," he said. "I think we showed tonight the togetherness that we all have as a squad and the way we handled the conditions. It's probably the worst conditions I've ever played in, and I think most of the lads are similar and thinking the same thing. So to grind and dig like we did after a tough game at home [0-0 draw with Turkey] only a few days ago, obviously we've travelled out here, and to have the legs to find a way to win the game was just unbelievable."

For the Elland Road stopper, who was brought in last summer to provide competition for Illan Meslier, going away from Wales will have been made a little more comfortable thanks to the heavy Leeds presence in the squad. Though Dan James sat out with an injury, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon and Charlie Crew were all present. And last season's loan signing Connor Roberts also featured.

Winning on his debut at the end of an enjoyable week was exactly what Darlow wanted. "That's massive for me," he said. "I've enjoyed the week, and getting to know the lads, it's been easy to integrate into the squad with how good the lads have been. The manager's been fantastic, and the coaching staff have been fantastic with me. So yeah, I'm proud, and I'm delighted, and I'm glad we got the win.

"I was hoping for a nice little quiet evening. But no, it was obvious from the warm-up how it was going to be. It's always gonna be a tricky night for goalkeeping. So yeah, I'm proud to get through to my debut, but also with my performance as well to help out when I could. And it's just a brilliant start."

New Wales boss Craig Bellamy could scarcely have wished for a better start to his tenure, either, picking up four points from his first two games. Darlow believes the squad have committed themselves to the manager's philosophy. "It's been brilliant," he said. "It's been quite intensive. I think the manager's already touched on it with the amount of meetings that we've done, but that's a way of him getting across his ideas and how he wants to play. And every player and coaching staff member has bought into how he wants to do it. The togetherness was already here in the squad before I came along, but just seems to have galvanized it more with how he wants to play, and lads buying into it. And it was just great to see against Turkey, we played some really good football that night, and then tonight, we showed a different side, where we had to have a bit of grit and determination, and we managed to come out with three points."

Now that he has a first taste of international football, Darlow is setting his sights on further involvement with Wales and the 2026 World Cup. "I want to be in and around it," he said. "Stay in the squad. Keep pushing throughout the training. And it's no secret, we want to qualify for the World Cup, so that's my main aim and that's the main ambition of this squad and of the manager."