Demetriou on international duty with Cyprus...
SADDLERS right-back, Jason Demetriou, played the full 90 minutes of Cyprus’ narrow 1-0 home defeat to Belgium in European Championship qualifying.The spirited Cypriots produced a battling performance to restrict a star-studded Belgium side - currently second in the FIFA World Rankings – to few clear-cut chances.
But their stubborn resistance was broken with four minutes remaining, when Chelsea forward, Eden Hazard, stroked home from Dries Mertens’ cut-back.
Hazard - the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2014/15 - may feature against Demetriou again when Walsall host Chelsea in the Capital One Cup third round later this month.
Defeat for Cyprus leaves them in fifth position in Group B, with nine points from eight matches.
Their automatic qualification hopes are now over, although they still have a chance of making the play-offs – but only if they win their final two games (against Israel and Bosnia-Herzegovina).
Wales are top of Group B (18 points), with Belgium second (17), Israel third (13) and Bosnia-Herzegovina fourth (11). Andorra are bottom (0).
Demetriou will be available for the Saddlers’ home match with Doncaster this weekend.