MIDFIELDER Andy King took advantage of the absence of Arsenal ace Aaron Ramsey to star against Finland on Saturday and stake his claim for a regular starting berth for Wales, writes Andrew Penman.

The Leicester City man scored his second goal for the national team with a header from Hal Robson-Kanu’s cross just before the hour-mark.

Riku Riski silenced the Cardiff City crowd with an equalizer in the second minute of injury time at the end of the friendly match to deny Wales a second win in three games.

But King is happy with his own form and Wales’ progression, despite the late disappointment on Saturday.

“It was massively disappointing to concede in the last minute like we did. We should go on to win from there,” he said.

“But it was a good performance against a team who did well in their qualifying group so maybe we’ve got to take the positives.

“I felt we did enough to win, we had the better chances in the second half and we were probably the better side but that doesn’t always work in international football.

“It’s nice to have played a few games and to score,” he added. “It’s just a shame it wasn’t the winner.

“There is massive competition in the midfield with really strong Premiership players in that midfield you have to take your chance when it comes along. Everyone thrives on competition.”

King believes Wales are heading in the right direction under manager Chris Coleman and with star man Gareth Bale fit and firing.

“We are optimistic,” he said. “The last few results have been positive and once we get everyone back we can move forward.

“To win against Macedonia and put in a good performance in Belgium was good and we should have won again against Finland so it’s positive.

“We’ve been unlucky with injuries and for the manager to get positive results, with a depleted squad at times, shows we’re all working hard for him.

“To have Gareth in your side is a massive bonus,” he added. “He’d walk into any team at the moment. He’s a great professional and an outstanding player and obviously for everyone involved in the camp the more games he can play the better.”