John Toshack has lost another key defender

Delaney, who won 36 caps for Wales, has been forced to retire from football due to a long-standing knee injury.

And Toshack knows that in an already inexperienced defence losing 31-year-old Delaney is a further blow.

"It is a blow for us as he was our most experienced defender and that is an area where we are struggling," said Toshack.

I spoke to Gareth Bale last week and he was hopeful of being involved with Spurs at the weekend John Toshack

"He came into football late, so that makes it all the more frustrating for him as at the age of 31 he should still have another four years left at least.

"But we've been half expecting it and it is not a complete surprise. He's not played for 12 months and has had three operations.

"I was once told by Bill Shankly at Liverpool that many players think that their life is over when they finish playing football, but really it is actually just beginning and we wish him all the best with whatever he does from now."

Toshack's Wales travel to Bourgas to play Bulgaria next Wednesday and he is keeping his fingers crossed that he can take a pretty full strength side out there.

He said: "I can understand that it is a bad date for the clubs and I can see why they would not be happy with their players getting called up.

"If I was a club manager I would prefer them to have a rest, but we don't pick these dates, we get given them to us and we have to make the most of them. But it does get frustrating when you do get so many withdrawals."

One player he is hoping to play in Bulgaria is Tottenham Hotspur defender Gareth Bale who has missed the start of the season with a thigh injury.

But Toshack is still confident Bale will travel and play against Bulgaria, who have named a squad that includes team-mate Dimitar Berbatov and Manchester City midfielder Martin Petrov.

"I spoke to Gareth last week and he was hopeful of being involved with Spurs at the weekend," said Toshack.

"If he is then Spurs might be thankful of him getting another 45 minutes match practice out in Bulgaria.

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"As for Bulgaria I know Martin Petrov from Athletico Madrid and is very quick, fine player and apparently played well against West Ham for Manchester City.

"And Dimitar Berbatov is earning himself a reputation as one of the best strikers in the Premiership and it will be a tough game for us but a good test and decent preparation for our two games coming up. I just hope we can take out as near to our best side as possible for the friendly game."

Bulgaria squad for the friendly with Wales on 22 August:

Goalkeepers: Dimitar Ivankov (Kaiserispor, Turkey), Georgi Petkov (Levski Sofia)

Defenders: Radostin Kishishev( Leicester, England), Stanislav Angelov (Energie Cottbus, Germany), Aleksandar Tunchev (CSKA Sofia), Valentin Iliev (CSKA Sofia), Lucio Wagner (Levski Sofia), Igor Tomashic (Levski Sofia), Petar Zanev (Celta Vigo, Spain)

Midfielders and Attackers: Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa, England), Chavdar Yankov (Hanover 96, Germany), Hristo Yovov (Levski Sofia), Dimitar Telkiyski (Levski Sofia), Velizar Dimitrov (CSKA Sofia), Ivelin Popov (Litex Lovech), Martin Petrov (Manchester City, England), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham, England), Tsvetan Genkov (Dinamo Moscow, Russia).