offfield

Lake rekindles the Wales captaincy role he adopted during the 2024 summer tour of Australia and the autumn internationals.

He has been asked to lead the squad again after his good friend Jac Morgan was one of only two Welshmen picked for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, alongside scrum-half Tomos Williams.

“I was just proud of him and happy for him,” said Lake. “We came through together and have done a lot together.

“To see his name read out was amazing. I was on the flight in South Africa with him at the time when he found out and we all expressed how happy and proud we all were.”

Lake’s own Lions ambitions were hampered by an injury-affected Six Nations in which he missed the start of the tournament because of a bicep injury.

After being absent for the first three games, Lake was reduced to replacement appearances against Scotland and England.

His latest setback continues a series of niggling injuries that has limited the Ospreys hooker to just 20 caps so far.

“It’s tough, but things happen for a reason I guess,” said Lake. “But I’m feeling good and my body’s feeling good.”

There are six uncapped players in the 33-man squad in Japan and Wales have benefitted from having a month together.

“We’ve trained well and hard,” said Lake. “It’s kind of a new group so a lot of time has gone into just building relationships.

“Having a certain understanding of each other and how they work has been important.”

City have had a poor campaign, relinquishing hold of the Premier League trophy, exiting the Champions League in the last 16 and being stunned by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.

They end the season with a trip to Fulham on Sunday (kick-off 16:00 BST), knowing a point should clinch a Champions League place for next season.

But City have a quick turnaround this summer as they will be competing in the expanded Club World Cup, which starts in the US on 14 June.

“It’s obviously difficult because the lads are mentally drained from this season,” said Foden. “I believe everyone needs the right time to recover to go back to next season.

“Obviously there will be this competition that’s coming up. It’s going to be a funny one, some clubs will take it more seriously than others but I know City and the club we are, we’ll definitely take it seriously.”

Before that, manager Thomas Tuchel names his England squad on Friday for the World Cup qualifier in Andorra on 7 June and friendly against Senegal at Wembley three days later.

Asked if he needs to rest his ankle, Foden said: “Obviously it’s a difficult situation for me with the internationals right around the corner.

“It’s something we have to speak with the club and national team to see maybe if it’s better to rest and get my ankle fully 100% back how I want it.

“I just don’t know at the moment. It’s a conversation to be had and we’ll see what happens.”