Wales Under-21’s slip to defeat against Belarus

Wales’ hopes of qualifying for their first UEFA Under-21 Championships took another hit after they were beaten 3-0 by Belarus in Georgia.

A third defeat in four matches left Matty Jones’ side bottom of Group I as they failed to build on last month’s win over Austria.

Wales should have taken the lead after only six minutes but Cian Ashford (twice) and Charlie Crew were denied by goalkeeper Ivan Shimakovich’s triple save.

It proved costly as Ruslan Myalkovski converted from close range in the 14th minute and Wales struggled to break down their hosts before Kirill Tsepenkov double the lead just after half-time.

Shimakovich continued to keep the visitors at bay and Radzivon Pyachura ended any hopes of a comeback with a curling 73rd-minute effort.