Portsmouth midfielder hoping for Wales World Cup reprieve with ex-Luton Town and Bristol City man suspended for play-offs

The Pompey midfielder is upbeat talk of a yellow card amnesty will work in his favour, and allow a reprieve for the play-offs to decide who goes to next year’s Qatar finals.

Morrell shone for Wales last week as they guaranteed themselves a seeding for next March’s semi-final, with a 1-1 draw against Belgium.

But the 24-year-old picked up a yellow card, meaning he will be absent for the one-legged game.

Reports suggest the amnesty will aid the 107 players from 12 countries who are one card from a ban - and will potentially miss the final.

They also state it wouldn’t benefit those already suspended, like Morrell and Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But the Pompey man explained he’s hoping an appeal from his country could allow him to be involved.

He said: ‘I’m not sure what’s happening. I’ve heard that may be getting taken off.

‘Because Ibrahimovic is suspended, Uefa may want him playing in the play-offs.

‘I think that could work in my favour.

‘Wales have appealed against it and so have Scotland.

‘As far as I know, it could be something that could be overturned. I hope that’s the case.

‘Ibrahimovic and Morrell are suspended - and they want them both to play!

‘I don’t know what will happen, but it would be great if that was the case.’

A reprieve for Morrell could keep him out of a close at Bolton next March, but the summer arrival from Luton knows there’s a lot of football to be played before then.

And with his Pompey career accelerating as he finds full fitness, that’s where his focus is lying now.

Morrell added: ‘There’s four months until that could happen, so I need to get my head down now.

‘It was only normal I was playing catch-up at the start when I came here.

‘Pre-season was disrupted a bit, then there was Covid and the Euros, so it was tough.

‘When I signed the training schedule wasn’t as tough for the lads as it had been, because we were into the season.

‘But I feel I’ve been finding my feel for the past month or so, and that just comes with games.

‘There’s a chance to get a good run of points on the board and see where that takes us.’

Designed with Pompey fans in mind

Get unlimited access to all The News’ sports coverage without the need for a full subscription. Play-by-plays of every match, in-depth analysis, live blogs and exclusive interviews starting from just £2 per month; that’s just 50p per week - click HERE to subscribe.