Leeds United star's pride as Wembley wait set to come to an end with England clash

One Leeds United star looks set to bring an end to an agonisingly long wait to walk out at Wembley when he represents his country in a friendly against England on Thursday night.

It has been a positive season for Karl Darlow after the former Newcastle United goalkeeper took full advantage of an injury suffered by summer signing Lucas Perri by producing a number of solid displays over the last month. After stepping in for Illan Meslier for the final month of the successful battle for the Championship title, Darlow made his first Premier League appearance for the Whites in an agonisingly late defeat at Fulham last month.

He produced an eye-catching performance in the 3-1 win at Wolves as Daniel Farke’s men claimed a first away win of the season and kept his place in Perri’s absence for the home double-header with Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur. Darlow’s season will hit a new high on Thursday night when he looks set to earn his ninth senior cap for Wales when Craig Bellamy’s side face England at Wembley.

For Darlow, that means a chance to feature at the ‘Home of Football’ for the first time in his career after missing out on three previous occasions. The 34-year-old was still a promising young stopper when an administrative error prevented him from featuring for Newport County in their FA Trophy final defeat against York City in 2012 and Darlow was on loan at Hull City when parent club Newcastle United suffered a goalkeeper crisis ahead of their Carabao Cup loss to Manchester United two years ago.

Perhaps even more frustratingly, the Northampton-born keeper remained on the bench for Leeds when they suffered a 1-0 defeat in the Championship play-off final against Southampton in May 2024 - but Darlow is relishing the opportunity to finally play at Wembley later this week and described facing England under the famous arch as ‘a proud moment’.

Motivated

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Thursday’s game, the Whites keeper said: "As a kid, Premier League football and international football are things you want to tick off in your career. It got to this stage where I had the conversation with the manager on Zoom that it was something that really got me going and really motivated to say, 'Right, I'm going to come into this and be 100 per cent'.

“It's something that I want my kids to look up to and be proud of that I've played international football. I know it took a long time to get here but the fact is my kids are going to look back and say 'My dad played for Wales' and that's a proud moment. They haven't got any Welsh in them but they are in red Welsh shirts constantly and know all the songs. All the family will be there. It's a proud moment and I'm going to give everything for this country to make sure that we come up with a positive result on Thursday."

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