Football Morrell looks ready to make his return to a City shirt
IT was another round of action for Bristol City’s international players on Sunday, with none ending on the losing side.
Dean Holden will be hoping all those involved remain unscathed this week ahead of City travelling up to Barnsley at the weekend (after Joe Morrell missed every game after the last round of international fixtures), but the West Country squad does run deep, in mitigation.
After playing the first half against England, Morrell got another 90 minutes for Wales on Sunday, showing no ill effects of a recent calf strain which kept him out of action for his club.
Ryan Gigg’s side could only record a goalless draw in their UEFA Nations League against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin though (despite a red card for James McClean), and Morrell will now head to Sofia for tomorrow’s game against Bulgaria.
O’Dowda didn’t feature in the game on Sunday however, and was reportedly one of the four Irish players to not be involved due to one of the Republic players testing positive for coronavirus and those four players being in close contact with him.
O’Dowda had previously come off the bench in the previous game against Slovakia, which resulted in a defeat on penalties, and was expected to start against Wales. Stephen Kenny’s side now focus on tomorrow’s UEFA Nations League game against Finland, but with O’Dowda set to miss out again.
The winger may also be unavailable for City’s trip to Barnsley on Saturday depending on the timing of any testing and isolation periods. The club have yet to confirm on the former Oxford United man and his status but are likely to later this week.
Meanwhile, Adam Nagy, pictured, played 90 minutes in Hungary’s 1-0 win over Serbia on Sunday evening. Hungary play Russia next in the Nations League, while Nagy played 82 minutes of Hungary’s 3-1 Euro qualifying win over Bulgaria in midweek, too. Some good game-time for the central midfielder who has not yet featured in the league for City this season.
Famara Diedhiou led the line for Senegal for 56 minutes before he was substituted in their 3-1 friendly defeat to Morocco. Senegal will host Mauritania in their next fixture tonight.
Sam Pearson came off the bench in the 82nd minute of Wales’ 5-0 defeat to Belgium in a Euro Under-21 qualifier. He re-joins Rob Edwards’ Wales Under-19s for their game against England tonight.
Han-Noah Massengo is on a five-day training camp with France Under-20s.
In addition, a couple of former Robins were also in action too - after long spells away from the international scene.
Niki Maenpaa was on the bench for Finland, as his country beat Bulgaria 2-0. Maenpaa was
released by City in the summer but has recently been recalled for his country after featuring on the bench against Poland five days ago - following some four years in the international wilderness.
The 35-year-old was an unused sub again on Sunday as he looks for a new club, having even spent time training with Bristol Rovers previously (due to a link-up with former goalkeeper coach David Coles).
Good luck to Niki in his search for a new team - and being involved with Markku Kanerva’s side may help the 6ft 3ins goalkeeper find a new club soon.
Meanwhile, Milan Djuric returned to international duty this week - after a similarly long spell out of the reckoning for his country.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina striker played for an hour in a creditable 0-0 draw against the Netherlands on Sunday, being replaced by Roma’s Edin Dezeko after an hour. It was his first appearance for his country since 2016 too, though he was on the bench for his country’s defeat on penalties to Northern Ireland in midweek in their Euro 2020 Qualifier.