Wales boss Rob Page insists Aaron Ramsey’s surprise selection for Euro 2024 play-off duty is not a risk.

Skipper Ramsey has not started a match for six months after suffering a knee injury.

The 84-times capped midfielder returned for Cardiff in February but made only two substitute appearances – playing a combined total of 72 minutes – before picking up a calf complaint.

Cardiff manager Erol Blut initially ruled Ramsey out of the play-offs, but the 33-year-old could now feature for his country.

“It’s not been ideal for Aaron, he’s had a few setbacks,” Page said after naming Ramsey in a 28-man squad for the play-off semi-final with Finland in Cardiff on March 21 and a potential home final against Estonia or Poland five days later.

“Sometimes injuries change from the first instance. They can change overnight, there can be a difference in diagnosis.

“If there’s a chance of having him involved in the squad I’m going to take it and name him.

“The last two camps we’ve had him in and around the squad, even though he’s not been able to play a part. To have someone of his stature in and around the players is beneficial for us.

“Irrespective of what happens at the weekend (when Cardiff play Swansea in the South Wales derby), he’s on the grass this week.

“His rehab back to full fitness has gone to plan and we’ll have eyes on him every day.

“If he has the potential to give us some minutes off the bench we will use him. He still has a lot to offer.”

Former captain Gareth Bale went into the 2022 World Cup with fitness issues hanging over him and struggled to make the impact in Qatar that had been expected of him.

But Page insists Ramsey’s inclusion is not a gamble as Wales attempt to qualify for a third successive European Championship and a fourth major tournament in five.

“We’ll get him on camp and assess him,” Page said.

“We’ve already had conversations with him. Our medical team are based in Hensol where Cardiff train, that’s the luxury we’ve had of being in the same vicinity.”

On the risk of rushing Ramsey back to playing, Page added: “Times have changed. We’re not where we were two or three years ago.

“You look at the quality of players we’ve got. The strength in depth we’ve got.

“When you now look at the other names in that squad, there’s a good selection headache for me to have.

“All the forwards we’ve picked are playing well and scoring goals, so it’s a good problem to have.”

Adam Davies, Charlie Savage, Dylan Levitt, Josh Low, Rabbi Matondo, Rubin Colwill and Wes Burns have been recalled to an enlarged squad.

Low replaces Tom Lockyer, who played in Wales’ last Euro 2024 qualifier against Turkey in November.

Luton defender Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest in a Premier League game at Bournemouth in December.

Reading midfielder Savage and in-form Cardiff forward Colwill join Wycombe defender Low in being promoted from Matty Jones’ under-21 squad.

Leeds pair Daniel James and Ethan Ampadu are to win their 50th caps over the course of the play-offs.

Page said: “They’re great lads for what they’ve given to us and the country.

“Ethan’s still a young lad at 23 and they deserve all of the plaudits they’re going to get.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho felt he saw the worst and the best from his side as they recovered from a terrible start to fight back and secure a hard-earned 3-2 win at struggling Reading.

Protests from the home fans – with around 2,000 supporters also staging a pre-match protest march against Chinese owner Dai Yongge – saw the game paused twice after tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch before the Royals took a shock 2-0 lead through quick goals from Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage.

Pompey, though, fought their way back on to level terms before the break through on-loan Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin and Colby Bishop.

Terry Devlin then slotted in the winner early in the second start to extend Pompey’s unbeaten start.

“I was really disappointed by the way that we played for 25 to 30 minutes,” Mousinho said.

“But even at 2-0 down, I was still quite positive of getting back into the game. We then proved that with 15 minutes-worth of very good football.

“The (tennis ball) protests impacted the flow of the game, but Reading had to deal with that as well. They just got on with it.

“For us, it was really Jekyll and Hyde in that first half. To start off, with what we have put together collectively, we were an unrecognisable team.

“But once we had taken that kick in the face (of Reading’s goals), we were excellent.”

After the final whistle, Reading substitute Amadou Mbengue received a red card following a skirmish between both sets of players.

Reading slipped to the bottom of the table as their winless run stretched to seven matches.

“We were just not able to keep the lead,” said Reading manager Ruben Selles said.

“And at 2-1, we had an amazing opportunity to make it 3-1, but that has been happening so often to us lately.

“We don’t put the ball in the net and the next one is coming against us.

“The performance was there, we were competitive against one of the best teams in the league, but we need to be more robust and more ruthless.”

Rob Page has revealed Charlie Savage will be staying with the Wales squad for the Euro 2024 qualifier with Croatia on Sunday.

Savage, the 20-year-old son of former Wales midfielder Robbie, made his full senior debut on Wednesday as the Dragons cruised to a 4-0 friendly win over Gibraltar in Wrexham.

The Reading midfielder was due to join up with the under-21 side ahead of their European Championship qualifier away to the Czech Republic on Friday.

But Savage and Wycombe central defender Joe Low – who also made his senior debut against Gibraltar – will remain with Page’s squad ahead of the vital Croatia clash in Cardiff.

“We’ll keep Savage and Joe, not just off the back of tonight,” said Wales manager Page. “They’ve done themselves the world of good.

“Sav has earned the right to be with us and I’ve got a lot of time for Joe.

“He’s earned the right to be there with injuries we’ve got.”

Savage claimed an assist for a Kieffer Moore header as Wales brushed aside Gibraltar with all four goals coming in the first half.

Bournemouth striker Moore scored twice to take his Wales goals tally to 12, the same number as Ryan Giggs and one fewer than John Toshack.

Ben Davies, who wore the armband in the absence of injured captain Aaron Ramsey, and Nathan Broadhead were also on target.

“He has taken my advice and left,” Page said of Savage’s move from Manchester United to Sky Bet League One outfit Reading in the summer.

“It must have been hard for him. I spoke to Rob who had to leave United to go to Crewe. It’s no different for Charlie.

“He did it because he’s playing week in week out in competitive football. He trains as he plays and has personality. We blocked Robbie from speaking to him all week which was a big achievement.

“Joking aside, Rob has got his back, he’ll look after him. He’s got his feet on the ground.

“Sav’s best position is an old-fashioned box to box eight. The ball for Kieffer was first class, right on his head. He showed he can do both sides of it and he’s a great talent.”

Wales’ comfortable win saw them secure back-to-back victories for the first time since November 2021.

“The results were not great in June, but it’s how you bounce back and we did that in September with class (winning 2-0 in Latvia),” Page said.

“The environment is brilliant. We won’t get carried away beating Gibraltar, but I see work in progress.

“My challenge to them was to be clinical and we were. We have to put it all together on Sunday.

“We picked a team here knowing what we’ll face on Sunday.

“From the first minute on camp we knew the team we’d pick here and we know the team on Sunday. We are ready and can’t wait for Sunday’s game.”

Wes Burns has returned to Ipswich and will be assessed by his club after the wing-back suffered an arm injury that forced him off in the early stages against Gibraltar.