It's difficult to tell which of Wales’s next two fixtures has the potential for most embarrassment. Macedonia has been dubbed a win-or-give-up game by Chris Coleman, but they beat us in Skopje last month and Friday night’s game in Cardiff looks like another banana skin.

Belgium have not been beaten in Group A and will want to finish the campaign with a flourish in front of their home crowd on Tuesday.

And our preparations for these two challenges could not have been worse.

No fewer than 11 mostly first-team players, including captain Ashley Williams and Gareth Bale, are absent.

They have been replaced by nine players, who either weren’t expecting a call-up for some years or never expected one again.

Defenders James Wilson, Daniel Alfei, Rhoys Wiggins, Declan John and midfielder Lloyd Isgrove are all yet to earn a cap.

Bristol City’s Wilson, who is on loan at Cheltenham Town of League Two, is likely to start at centre-back, though Coleman and James Collins have thankfully resolved their feud, meaning Collins could now play.

Owain Tudur Jones, Jermaine Easter and David Cotterrill have six, eight and 12 caps respectively, but have not pulled on the red jersey since the Celtic Nations Cup tournament two years ago.

Shaun MacDonald was judged unfit by Wales’s coaches and sent back to Bournemouth.

Of our regulars that remain, both Aaron Ramsey and Sam Vokes have been held back from training and wrapped in cotton wool. Understandable but not helpful.

These are, however, the crisis conditions that Craig Bellamy has grown used to and thrived under in his 15-year Wales career, which is set to come to an end in Brussels.

At least on the field, Bellamy has grown from a whinger and whiner to leader and warrior — complete with an Owain Glyndwr tattoo down one forearm.

The famous song Men of Harlech, which is now also a Welsh terrace chant, remembers Glyndwr’s forces holding Harlech castle against an English siege in 1408.

And, I think privately, Bellamy will see this week’s siege conditions as the perfect opportunity to make a heroic exit from the international stage.

He can also put a marker down as an inspirational and respected leader of our current crop of players, should Coleman be axed.

But you don’t need to look so far back in the history books to find more relevant examples of Welsh resilience.

John Toshack was forced to field five under-21 players in our final group match against Germany in Frankfurt in November 2011.

Chris Gunter was among the youngsters whose determination and composure earned Wales a 0-0 draw against all the odds and he needs to use that experience over the next two games.

They say if you’re good enough, you’re old enough and we’re about to find out what Wales’s next crop of youngsters are made of.