Wales captain Craig Bellamy cut a frustrated figure after his yellow card in Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Finland prematurely ended a disappointing World Cup qualification campaign.

The Manchester City striker has been in good form for his club in recent weeks and maintained his hot streak with a first-half equaliser in Helsinki.

That goal marked Bellamy as Wales' fifth highest scorer of all time, but any satisfaction the 30-year-old took from that moment was lost when Niklas Moisander struck a winner for the hosts 13 minutes from the end.

To further sour Bellamy's mood, his 48th-minute booking means he will miss Wednesday's final game of the campaign against Liechtenstein in Vaduz.

"Sadly, this is the end of the group for me, and it hasn't been a great campaign," he said.

"But I have been here before, it's not the first time, and you always try to make it better. But we will have to wait and see on that.

"We keep saying one day the kids will blossom, again we will have to wait and see.

"I am still keen to keep playing for Wales, of course, and I feel in good health which is vital for me if I want to do that.

"But it is very disappointing, and we have to keep soldiering on. This is not unfamiliar territory for me with Wales because we have been through this for a number of years and it is a shame to keep going through it.

"What pluses are there from this campaign? I don't know, I'll let others decide that."

While Bellamy still talks of wanting to fight for the nation's cause, just how much longer he will do so on a regular basis is now being openly discussed.

Boss John Toshack has already admitted he is considering using Bellamy only for qualifiers in the future.

Bellamy, as long as he is fit, will no doubt want to lead out Wales on November 14 for the prestige of a home friendly with Scotland to inaugurate Cardiff City's new ground as an international venue.

But after that Wales will have only a handful of friendlies this season before they embark on their European championship qualifiers next term.

Bellamy could therefore go 10 months without playing for his country, and by that time he will be approaching 32. It seems them, that the days of Bellamy's influence are clearly coming to an end.

The striker's importance was underlined in his goal, but in the end Toshack's side fell short and slipped to a sixth defeat in nine qualifying matches.

"We got back into it before the break but in the second-half we just did not keep the ball well enough, and ultimately you are going to pay for that," Bellamy added.

"That second-half was really disappointing. I'd got an equaliser which was from a really good move down the left and a great ball into me from David Vaughan.

"So I'm now number five in the goals charts for Wales after that one, which is nice to know because I am there with some really top names from the past.

"For my name to be mentioned alongside some really great players like Mark Hughes and Ian Rush does make me very, very proud. But it will no doubt please my kids more, I'm not really motivated by records."

Bellamy was also disappointed also with his booking which will see him sit out Wednesday's game alongside goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

He said: "I was disappointed with the booking, I haven't got a clue really why I got a card. I was very unhappy with the challenge, my leg was very sore for some while afterwards.

"I was the one fouled, their lad had already been booked and I was obviously having a go at him and not the referee, maybe the referee didn't understand my English.

"I have not been used to losing this season, so this will hurt me more.

"Some people will say that it will do me good to have a week off now. Maybe that's true, but I scored and I always want to go on and score more in the next match (for Wales)."