Wrexham striker Kieffer Moore to miss Wales' World Cup playoff

Wrexham striker Kieffer Moore will miss Wales' World Cup playoff game with a hamstring injury that he sustained in the Red Dragon's FA Cup loss to Chelsea earlier this month.

Moore, 33, has already missed Championship matches against Hull City and Swansea City and is not expected to return until April. That would make him unavailable for Wales' World Cup playoff semifinal matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina on March 26.

If Wales wins their first match, they would advance to a playoff final against Italy or Northern Ireland five days later.

Moore has scored 13 goals and added a trio of assists in 36 matches across all competitions since joining Wrexham from Sheffield United last summer.

"Kieffer's not going to be right for the internationals, which is a blow for him and for Wales," Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said.

"He's got this tendon injury which he feels OK with, but he's shown up on the scan and it's one of those injuries that, up to 80-85% you're fine, but if you extend beyond that you make yourself susceptible to muscle injuries."

Parkinson also revealed that wing-back Liberato Cacace will miss New Zealand's upcoming international matches with a tendon issue. A club-record signing at the time he was acquired from Serie A side Empoli last July, the 24-year-old Cacace has a lone goal while making 13 appearances across all competitions for the Red Dragons while dealing with various injuries.

"Libby will miss New Zealand's internationals and we've just got to focus on getting him to hopefully contribute for the end of the season," Parkinson said, per BBC Sport.

"Because he's had a couple of setbacks, I don't really want to put any pressure or time scale on him.

"But it's not a major injury, it's just he keeps getting slight setbacks, which is obviously not him. We just do everything we can to get him to contribute."

Wrexham did announced that defender Dom Hyam has been called up for Scotland for its two March international matches. Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

--Field Level Media