Group 9: Hughes looking forward

Savage and Bellamy out 
Hughes's men top Group 9 after wins over Finland and Italy - but their preparations for this game have been badly disrupted by injuries. Of the squad that beat the Azzurri last month, five are missing. Birmingham City FC midfield player Robbie Savage pulled out with a groin problem on Sunday, while Newcastle United FC stopped striker Craig Bellamy making the 6,000-mile round trip to Baku.

No four-day rule
The absences of Nathan Blake, Jason Koumas, Mark Pembridge and Gareth Taylor also left Hughes counting the cost of FIFA's refusal to apply the four-day rule for calling up players to this fixture. "I wanted to invoke the rule because I knew there was a danger of people getting injured," Hughes said, "and that has obviously happened now."

Rising temperatures
Despite the club-versus-country arguments, Wales are clear favourites to beat Azerbaijan, who have won just three of 51 senior internationals. As well as their hosts, however, the visitors must also combat the heat which has reached the 23-degree mark this week. Ironically, soaring temperatures had been Hughes's reason for bringing the tie forward from a proposed date next summer to November - and a week scheduled for international friendlies.

Hughes offers insight
"I didn't want a match in June because of the heat and the fact it would have been the end of our domestic season," Hughes said. "We played in June during our World Cup qualifiers and it had a definite impact." Hughes's attention to detail also applies to an Azeri team beaten by Italy and Finland in their first two qualifiers. "We have had them watched on two occasions," he said. His intention is to give his players "an insight into their opponents", remembering "how difficult it could be to see an opponent for the first time at kick-off".

Abdullayev in charge
However, if things have not exactly gone to plan for Hughes, he should spare a thought for his Azeri counterpart, Asker Abdullayev, the former national Under-21 coach who replaced Vagif Sadygov in a caretaker capacity last month. The new man misses defenders Emin and Kamal Guliyev through suspension, while the Russia-based Emin Agayev and Dmitri Kramarenko are unavailable - the former through injury, the latter as the goalkeeper is involved in a Premier-Liga title play-off with PFC CSKA Moskva.

Injury and suspension
Nadyr Nabiyev is another absentee, so Abdullayev has called up midfield players Arif Asadov and Namig Hasanov as well as winger Elshan Gambarov. "The last thing we needed is problems with players," Abdullayev said. "We have five out either through suspension or injury." The problems affecting Azeri football run deeper than that, however.

Domestic crisis
The domestic first division has been put on hold since ten top-flight clubs withdrew from the league in the middle of last season. Meanwhile, the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) only agreed a fee for the rent of the match venue, the Tofik Bahramov stadium, on Monday.

'We can beat them'
Still, Abdullayev is determined to rise above a difficult situation as Azerbaijan seek to end a winless run of five games. "We have watched Wales and know they are stronger, but we can beat them," he said. "We are the home team and just need a bit of luck." Hughes, who is likely to draft in defenders Mark Delaney and Danny Gabbidon and midfielders Carl Robinson and Paul Evans, is not so sure. "It is probably not going to help their cause and may well have an impact."