Craig Bellamy has named his new-look backroom team ahead of the first game of his Wales reign next month.

Bellamy has named former international team-mate and current Brighton and Hove Albion first-team coach Andrew Crofts as one of his assistants, while former Newport County boss James Rowberry is also included.

Rowberry worked with the current Wales boss during their time working in the Cardiff City academy together, and says he’s relishing the opportunity to work with Bellamy once again.

“Being involved with our national team is something I’ve always wanted to do and to represent my country,” Rowberry said. “I’ve known Craig for a long time, and we share the same ideas on football. Being the link to the player pathway will be a key part of my role and my previous work in that area will allow me to be the natural link as we look to showcase our young talent on the world stage.”

Commenting on his own appointment, Crofts added: “I’m very proud. As soon as I knew there was an opportunity to be Craig’s assistant it grabbed me straight away. To represent Wales as a player was incredible for me and my family, and to now represent my country as an assistant coach is an indescribable feeling. I’m obsessed with coaching, studying various trends in the game and bringing a team’s methodology to life, something which I can’t wait to do with this group of players and staff.”

Other appointments include Piet Cremers, who worked closely with Pep Guardiola during his time as head of performance analysis at Manchester City, and also linked up with Bellamy during their time together at Burnley.

“I’m very excited to be joining the Cymru setup and working with Craig again,” said Cremers. “Having come through the FAW coach education system and worked in club football with Manchester City and Burnley in recent years, this is a great opportunity to return to Wales, work with this exciting group of players and staff and bring my experience into international football.”

Former Swansea City and Liverpool coach Ryland Morgans is also coming on board, having previously worked as head of performance for the Wales side that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

“It’s great to be working with the FAW again,” he said. “The UEFA EURO 2016 journey was a career highlight and working with some of those players, as well as the new faces, is a challenge I’m really excited for. It’s been a busy few weeks working with Craig as we prepare for our first camp, and we can’t wait to get things going on the grass.”

Speaking about the appointments, Bellamy himself said: “I’m very happy with the group of staff that we’ve been able to bring in. I’ve worked with all of them previously, either as a coach or as a player. As a collective I believe the balance and various expertise between us is the best we could have asked for. The work off camp has been great so far and I can’t wait for us to meet up with the players and get things started with them.”

Further announcements to Bellamy’s coaching staff are set to be made in due course, with Swansea goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson among those believed to be on the radar of the current Wales boss.