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Wales boss Rob Page has backed Brennan Johnson to fill the striker void at Tottenham left by Harry Kane\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n
Record Spurs goal-scorer Kane moved to Bayern Munich in a \u00a3100million deal earlier this month and Tottenham have yet to replace him ahead of Friday\u2019s transfer deadline.<\/p>\n
But Tottenham are leading the chase for Wales forward Johnson with Nottingham Forest ready to listen to offers around the \u00a350m mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t even talk about the Harry Kane situation and going in to fill that,\u201d Page said after naming a 25-man squad for the September 7 friendly with South Korea and the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia four days later.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s his own person and player, a different type of player. I think he\u2019s just got to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Page saw Johnson play for Forest on Saturday in their 3-2 defeat at Manchester United.<\/p>\n
Johnson came off 20 minutes from time, but Page said the 22-year-old was \u201cfully fit\u201d for international duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung players today \u2013 and Brennan falls into this category \u2013 are a confident breed and he\u2019s more than capable of playing at that level (for Tottenham),\u201d said Page.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Brennan has a good support network around him. I know his dad (David), who used to play so he\u2019s been through all this himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need that network as a young lad. I don\u2019t believe he will get carried with it. He will stay grounded and won\u2019t change.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t go into a club expecting to fill somebody\u2019s else\u2019s boots.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very different player to Harry and, if he goes there, it is on his own ability and what he can offer to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leeds winger Daniel James is sidelined by an adductor injury while Joe Morrell and Kieffer Moore \u2013 who are available for the Cardiff friendly with South Korea \u2013 are suspended for the trip to Riga after receiving respective red cards against Armenia and Turkey in June.<\/p>\n
Tom Lockyer is in the squad for the first time since collapsing in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley in May.<\/p>\n
Lockyer underwent an operation to address an irregular heartbeat but has since returned to action to lead Luton in their first Premier League campaign.<\/p>\n
Page said: \u201cIt\u2019s a great story. We all watched the events unfold in the play-off final. We were all concerned, but there has been nothing but positivity since that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has had some great news, he is back to normal and is now playing in the Premier League, which is unbelievable for him as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is always going to be a challenge when you get promoted to the Premier League, Luton have done really well to be where they are at with the resources they have available to them.<\/p>\n
We all watched the events unfold in the play-off final. We were all concerned, but there has been nothing but positivity since that day<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for him personally he should be very proud of how he has recovered after it. A dream for him was to play in the Premier League and he has achieved that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh Sheehan and Wes Burns earn recalls as Ollie Cooper and Luke Harris drop out of the squad.<\/p>\n
Fulham midfielder Harris, 18, has been in and around the squad for the past 12 months but has yet to be capped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ironic, isn\u2019t it?,\u201d said Page. \u201cLuke\u2019s not been involved for Fulham and the day I announce the squad the night before he\u2019s on the bench and comes on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan might be that Luke still goes out on loan to play games at a lower level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see potential in him, but it hasn\u2019t quite gone how I anticipated if I\u2019m being honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut like with Rubin (Colwill) and JJ (Jordan James) we\u2019ve wanted to see them play more games.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s about managing Luke and he\u2019ll drop back down to the Under-21s now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt benefited Harry Wilson when Ryan (Giggs) was manager and, although it\u2019s good we can expose him to this environment, there\u2019s nothing like playing games and getting caps.\u201d<\/p>\n