Wales manager Mark Hughes has insisted that Ryan Giggs, John Hartson, Mark Pembridge, Andy Melville and Robbie Savage miss their club games on the Sunday before Wales' Euro 2004 qualifier on the Wednesday.

It appears that Manchester United, Celtic, Everton and Fulham have accepted that their Welsh players will not be available.

Under Fifa regulations, players must be released by their club four days before an international match.

Hughes wants the five players concerned to miss the Sunday fixtures to ensure they will be fresh enough to train the following day.

The FAW already has verbal assurances from world football's governing body that it is within its rights to invoke the four-day rule.

Birmingham are claiming that the fixture falls on a friendly date on the Uefa calendar, and therefore players only have to be released 48 hours before the match.

The club has offered to fly Savage to the Wales camp in Cardiff by helicopter after their match.

They have even threatened legal action if Savage is not available to them.

But according to a Fifa spokesman, the status of the fixture date itself holds no significance.

He stressed the overriding factor is the status of the match itself, and since Wales are playing a European qualifier, players must be made available to the national side four days in advance.