Born in Southampton, raised in Lymington, Hampshire, Sam Vokes was the toast of Wales on Saturday night. The 18-year-old did not realise that his grandfather was from the Principality until little more than a year ago, but with a stretch of his size 12 boots, he breathed life into a qualifying campaign that, just 82 minutes old, looked destined for a depressing start. Vokes owed his place on the substitutes’ bench to the absence through injury of Freddy Eastwood – born in Essex. And they say that Fabio Capello, the England manager, has problems with squad depth.

A forward who has struggled to make the Wolverhampton Wanderers side since his summer move from Bournemouth, Vokes epitomised the paucity of riches available to John Toshack, the Wales manager. His team played with purpose, but it took the introduction of the 6ft 1in Vokes to make the most of a game plan to use width to stretch an organised Azerbaijan side.

Vokes’ arrival served only to emphasise that Toshack’s tactics made Robert Earnshaw – at 5ft 8in and born in Zambia – a peripheral figure. With a preference to play off a target man, Earnshaw does not appear to be the answer to Toshack’s favoured choice of split strikers. The out-of-sorts Jason Koumas saw his penalty and follow-up saved, after Chris Gunter was tripped in the area, but he breathed a huge sigh of relief when Vokes prodded in after a scramble at a corner. “Sam’s feet are incredible,” Toshack said. “I remember Bill Shankly querying the size of Tommy Cooper’s feet. Tommy replied: ‘13’. Bill said: ‘Tommy, I’ve sailed to Ireland in boats smaller that that.’ ” Only wins will do against the lesser sides if Wales are to have a chance of qualifying from a group that includes Russia, who they play in Moscow on Wednesday, and Germany.

Wales ratings

4-4-1-1

W Hennessey 6 C Gunter 6 C Morgan 6 A Williams 6 G Bale 7 S Davies 5 D Edwards 5 C Fletcher 5 J Ledley 5 J Koumas 5 R Earnshaw 4

Substitutes C Evans 5 (for Earnshaw, 62min); S Vokes (for Edwards, 72); C Robinson (for Koumas, 89). Not used B Myhill, S Evans, P Parry, S Ricketts.

Azerbaijan ratings

4-2-3-1

K Agayev 8 R Melikov 6 S Yunisogli 6 R Sadygov 6 K Mamedov 6 S Abbasov 6 E Bakhshiev 6 D Huseinov 6 F L Ramim 6 K Mamedov 6 B Subasic 5

Substitutes A Nabiyev 5 (for Huseinov, 46min); U Nduka (for Mamedov, 77). Not used M Shukurov, M Gurbanov, V Dzavadov, R Mehdiyev, L Gomes.

Referee A Stavrev (FYR Macedonia) Attendance 17,106