“There’s a lot of work to do still. I’ve known Rubin since he was 11, 12. There’s still a long way to go.

“Outstanding player and he has a very good attitude. But there’s still a lot of work to be done for him to hit the heights we believe he’s capable of being able to do.”

There might well be some work to do, but Wales boss Craig Bellamy clearly believes there’s at least some justification around the building hype surrounding youngster Rubin Colwill.

It already feels like the Cardiff City youngster has been on the scene for some time following his breakthrough under Mick McCarthy. Indeed, Saturday’s trip to Derby County comes just over three years to the day since he lit up the East Midlands with a match-winning brace over Nottingham Forest, a performance that really felt like the beginning of something special.

There have been other great moments since, but for one reason or another, the 22-year-old still hasn’t quite quite established himself as the un-droppable playmaker his obvious natural talent keeps promising.

Bellamy’s high-profile rejuvenation of the Wales squad has already inspired a fair number of column inches, and given their history, it’s not unreasonable to wonder if Colwill will be one of those to reap the benefits.

As Bellamy points out, the pair go back a long way, all the way back to when he was finding his feet as a coach in Cardiff’s academy, in fact.

There surely aren’t many coaches better placed to know what needs to happen to get the best out of a player who some are still insisting is destined for big things.

Colwill wasn’t initially included in Bellamy’s first squad, instead taking his place in the under-21s. But after capping a dazzling performance with a sensational strike against Southampton in the Carabao Cup, with the new Wales boss watching, there was clearly little hesitation in calling him up to replace the injured Daniel James.

“It was nice, I saw him a couple of weeks ago at the Vale Hotel, it was nice to catch up with him then but to be in the camp with him again it was a throwback to the under-18s, I really enjoyed it,” Colwill said.

“There was a lot of new tactical information about the game which were new to me or new at the time I just tried to learn and enjoyed it. The results were positive and good, it was a good camp.

“We had loads of good conversations, he gave me a lot of information on the pitch about things he wants me to do to get better at. We had a good few conversations in the week about the things he wants me to do to reach my potential, it was a positive week.

“Everybody has opinions about my game it’s all about taking them on board and trying to learn and improve. I was more than happy to listen to what he had to say.

“To come back I will look to try to push to get in the starting team, just work hard every day and hopefully I will be in the starting team at the weekend to try to help the team and if not come off the bench and try to make an impact. Just work hard, plugging away trying to improve.”

Pressed specifically on what areas have been ear-marked for improvement, the forward says the intensity of his work out of possession has been the subject of keen interest in this latest international camp – and he hopes the lessons learned can be taken back to his club.