GOALKEEPER Tom King trained with Wales for the first time yesterday and it won’t be too long before midfielder Josh Sheehan joins him in the national squad, according to Newport County AFC teammate Padraig Amond.

King will miss tonight’s Leasing.com Trophy tie at Cheltenham Town as he prepares for Wales’ Euro 2020 qualifiers in Azerbaijan on Saturday and at home to Hungary next Tuesday.

And Amond believes Sheehan will also have caught the eye of Wales boss Ryan Giggs with a series of superb performances for the Exiles this season.

“It’s an unbelievable achievement for Kingy and all the lads are delighted for him,” said Amond, who scored from the spot on Saturday to earn County an FA Cup first-round replay with Grimsby Town.

“Regan [Poole] was with us last year and he’s in the squad as well, and Josh Sheehan can’t be too far away from it because he’s been excellent this year.

“He’s been our best player by a distance and hopefully we can get more called into the squad.”

South Wales Argus:

Amond knows exactly how King is feeling this week after he earned a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad last season.

“Last March was the best feeling for me,” said the 31-year-old, who now has seven goals for the season.

“Apart from my wedding day, it was the best day of my life.

“Professionally, it was the best day of my life because that’s the pinnacle – to be called into your international squad.

“Kingy can be very proud of himself because, when you’re coming from League Two, some people would be a little bit disrespectful towards you.

“But, if you put in the performances, you will get managers like Mick McCarthy and Ryan Giggs calling you into the squad.

“Hopefully Kingy has a really enjoyable 10 days away in cold Azerbaijan and back in cold Wales!”

And Amond believes international recognition for himself and for King reflects well on everybody at Rodney Parade.

“It’s a personal achievement for him, but I think it’s a squad achievement as well because the defenders who have been in front of him have contributed to the clean sheets and helped him to get to where he is.

“It was the same for me last year; I couldn’t have scored those goals if it wasn’t for the delivery from my teammates so it is a squad achievement.

“For Kingy, I know what the feeling is like,” added Amond.

“It was a provisional squad for me, it’s a full squad for him and he’s going to get the experience of going away and hopefully he’ll want a lot more of that and to make sure it’s not a one-off.”

King, who was born in Plymouth, qualifies for Wales through his Cardiff-born mother.

Pembrey-born Sheehan is now 24 and has he represented Wales at under-21 and under-19 level while with his previous club Swansea City.

Giggs' men need to win in Azerbaijan and beat Hungary at home to qualify automatically for next summer's Euro 2020 finals.

Read more: Newport County ace Padraig Amond wants to keep his FA Cup scoring spree going