Craig Bellamy has revealed he turned down the chance to become Burnley's manager over the summer, choosing to remain as Wales head coach instead. The Championship club had triggered a release clause in Bellamy's contract to approach him about succeeding Scott Parker, but he described staying with Wales as "the right place for me" and a "simple" decision, despite calling his two years on Burnley's coaching staff "heaven".

Bellamy, 47, spent time as Vincent Kompany's assistant at Burnley and took caretaker charge after Kompany left for Bayern Munich, but is now focused on Wales's Nations League fixtures against Portugal, Denmark and Norway, starting in Lisbon a week on Thursday. He pointed to past sacrifices as evidence of his loyalty to Wales, including hiring solicitors to force Newcastle to release him for Euro 2004 qualifiers, never claiming international expenses, and donating money to Wrexham when they were at risk of relegation out of the Football League in 2006-07. He remains under contract with Wales until the end of Euro 2028.