West Brom: Isaac Price hardly covers himself in glory for Northern Ireland despite ambitious effort vs Wales
West Bromwich Albion ace Isaac Price started as Northern Ireland faced Wales on Tuesday.
The home nations played out a 1-1 draw at the Cardiff City Stadium in a friendly that neither side really wanted to play.
Both lost in the semi-final of their World Cup qualifiers and were forced to play a meaningless match for their second game of the March international break.
Michael O’Neill came under scrutiny for starting the Baggies man in the Welsh capital, with a meeting against his Blackburn Rovers side coming up.
Price didn’t do much in the draw against Wales as he now looks set to return to The Hawthorns for the Championship run-in.
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How did West Brom ace Isaac Price perform vs Wales?
It wasn’t a great look when the attacking midfielder was once again given the nod to start despite there being no point in Tuesday’s friendly.
Considering the manager’s ties to Blackburn, throwing someone in who has already played 42 times this season seemed unfair.
| Competition | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Championship | 39 | 7 | 2 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| League Cup | 1 | 0 | 1 |
It didn’t mean anything in the end as the 22-year-old was afforded just half of action against Craig Bellamy’s side.
In that time, he could only maintain a 63 per cent pass accuracy while failing to create a single chance for his teammates.
He missed one big chance, didn’t complete a cross and found himself bullied out of three of his four attempted duels on the night.
Price hasn’t been great recently for West Brom or Northern Ireland, but his long-range effort against Wales could help change perceptions.
Price nearly scored a wondergoal for Northern Ireland
It wasn’t the greatest showcase from the Albion man, but things were nearly so different in Cardiff.
With 36 minutes on the clock, the ball fell to Price just inside the Wales half and for whatever reason, he had a goal on his mind.
The Baggies star took aim from a long way out and looked to catch out Wales and Leeds United keeper Karl Darlow.
The shot stopper got back and pulled off a great save, leaving the Northern Irishman to think what could have been.
That is the sort of talent that The Hawthorns wants to see more regularly and could be so important across the second half of the campaign.
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