Leeds United's Karl Darlow appears to have seized one opportunity with both hands just in time for another to potentially present itself.

Accepting the call from Wales, at the second time of asking, has opened the door to international football for the 34-year-old and made him a number one, despite playing second fiddle at his club.

Since arriving at Leeds in the summer of 2024 as part of Leeds' bid to give Illan Meslier some genuine competition, Darlow has played two league games. Both of those came last season. This season he has played senior football three times at club level, filling in between the sticks for much-changed teams in cup games. For Wales this season he has made five appearances - two of which were World Cup qualifiers - giving supporters of his national team more of an authority on his ability, form and confidence levels than those who have seen him in his 'day job.' Circumstance has been favourable for the man Wales boss Craig Bellamy now appears to regard as his first-choice.

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The Wales goalkeeping picture

"Wales certainly haven't got a lot of options at the minute," said Phil Blanche, a sports reporter for the Press Association tasked with covering Wales home and away. "We've got goalkeepers, but none of them are playing first team football. Danny Ward is well out of the picture at Leicester City, he came in for a couple of games just before Christmas and had an absolute nightmare, their fans can't stand him [Foxes fans booed the keeper during the defeat by Wolves].

"Adam Davies has been on the bench at Sheffield United, Tom King is down the pecking order at Wolves and the veteran Wayne Hennessy has had a bad injury and is on a short-term deal at Forest but he's not played any football for them. So we haven't got anyone playing first team football. But Wales fans see Darlow as a bit of a coup. Bellamy got him on board and gave him and Ward three games each in the Nations League. I think you'd have to say Darlow is his number one because he played the two World Cup qualifiers, so he's the man in possession of the jersey now."

It certainly helps the Leeds man's attempt to bed in at international level that his arrival has coincided with an unbeaten run and the bright start to a new managerial reign. Darlow has enjoyed a pair of wins against Montenegro, a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan and draws with Türkiye and North Macedonia. He's conceded three goals in five and even if he hasn't been peppered in some of those outings, he has impressed.

"Probably didn't have too much to do against Kazakhstan and in Macedonia he didn't have a lot to do in the first half but I suppose it's a sign of a good goalkeeper, pulled off a really important save with the game at 0-0," said Blanche. "He obviously got beat for the Macedonian goal but he's a little bit unlucky - bad mistake [Joe Allen's pass being picked off], got left in a one-on-one and got a bit of a leg on it, but it ended up in the net. Darlow in his five games now for Wales has been pretty solid and I think even before Bellamy picked him for the last two games, people were sort of saying Darlow is the better bet, he should be on number one."

What Leeds have in reserve

There have been similar calls from Leeds supporters at times this season but perhaps never more vociferously than in the past few days after Meslier dropped a routine catch to gift Swansea City a goal at Elland Road. The Frenchman performed well up until that point, saving a penalty and making a couple of smart stops, but his involvement in the second Swans' goal also came under scrutiny.

"He's very experienced, he's been around at Newcastle and Forest," said Blanche. "I don't know what the feeling is up there [in Leeds], but I think a lot of Wales fans see Meslier making mistakes here and there and think well why isn't Darlow being given a chance? I know he's not playing first team football, but it's not as if he's a rookie. He's played in the Premier League, he's got a bit of stature about him and he's very confident in his own ability when he speaks about what he's bringing to the Wales team."

A change in what has been the natural order for Farke at Leeds would come as somewhat of a surprise now. He stuck with Meslier after high profile errors in big games against Sunderand and Hull City and refused to add to the Frenchman's misery with criticism of Saturday's performance. Farke's thus-far unwavering trust in his number one has led to questions about what it is that he hasn't seen from Darlow in training or on the few occasions the veteran has played for the Whites. Even when it appeared as if a chance would inevitably arise after previous costly errors for Meslier, the door to the first team has not opened for Darlow and so if it does not on this occasion then it likely never will. But if the time has finally come for Farke to switch things up, he at least has an alternative with recent reason for confidence.