Evans defends Bellamy decision

Roy Evans believes Craig Bellamy's "troublemaker" reputation should not be held against him for the rest of his life.

The Wales assistant boss was defending the decision by John Toshack to give Bellamy (27) the captaincy of his country for the first time - in the same week he must answer an assault charge in a Cardiff magistrates court.

Bellamy will skipper Wales in his home city for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Slovakia on Saturday and Cyprus next Wednesday.

But that decision by Toshack has polarised opinion, with those who doubt his suitability for the role quick to point out that Bellamy has frequently courted trouble, culminating with the spectacular fall-out with Graeme Souness last year that ended his Newcastle career.

Since then Bellamy has worked to rid himself of that image at Celtic, Blackburn and now Liverpool.

But his attempts to rid himself of the bad boy image has not been helped by next week's court appearance, to answer a charge he has always denied. Evans, the former Liverpool boss, said: "Let's not allow things in the past to live with him forever. He should be remembered as a great player, so it's a little sad that we all have to talk about this.

"There is no doubt he did get into some trouble, that's well known. But you cannot hold that against him for the rest of his life. The lad has started to do the right things and we feel he will be a good captain for us.

"Mark Hughes had no problem with him, and neither has John (Toshack) or Rafa Benitez.

"If people can't handle a fiery character, then you have a problem. All you must do is make sure they are not disruptive to the squad. But in my time with Wales he has never been a problem, all he wants to do is play and win.

"He likes a moan but he's not the first guy to be partial to one of those." Evans added: "I have no problem with him being captain."