There was one story in yesterday's news that caught my eye. New Nottingham Forest striker Rob Earnshaw says he has been "harshly treated" by Wales after being left out of the squad's recent friendlies in Iceland and Netherlands.

He went on to say, "I had a long look at it and maybe feel I've been harshly treated because I'm one of the senior players in the Wales set-up. There's lots of people in that set-up not playing and I'm the one who is not in the squad - it's very strange."

There is no doubt that Earnshaw is a talented footballer and the fact that Forest have seen fit to pay not much short of three million pounds for him shows that he is still highly thought of in some quarters. They are the fourth team to pay that sort of money for the pint sizes striker.

One interesting fact is that he is the only player to have scored hat-tricks in the Premiership, Divisions 1, 2 and 3, the FA Cup, the League Cup and in an international.

In an admittedly very poor Derby County side, Earnshaw has played twenty-two league games and contributed just one goal. That is clearly why John Toshack has felt him to be surplus to requirements.

Prior to that, he had enjoyed a successful period with Norwich City scoring twenty-seven times in forty-five league games. He was less successful at West Brom but his record of thirteen goals in thirty-nine internationals is not too bad.

Although he tends to move on quickly and Derby boss Paul Jewell had some disparaging remarks to say about him this season, I would ask if Wales have really have a strong enough squad to ignore Earnshaw?

I would have to say that Earnshaw has been slightly poorly treated. If he starts to score regularly for Nottingham Forest I hope he gets another chance with Wales.