Ipswich Town have 10 players away on international duty in the next few days. Alex Jones takes a closer look at what they'll be up to.
Sammie Szmodics, Chiedozie Ogbene, Dara O’Shea and Jack Taylor - Republic of Ireland
For the first time in a long time, Ipswich have had four players called up to the same national team, with Sammie Szmodics, Chiedozie Ogbene, Dara O’Shea and Jack Taylor named in the Republic of Ireland’s squad.
Taylor has been called up for the first time in his career - a decision seemingly swayed by the fact that manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was at Portman Road to see his impressive cameo against Aston Villa.
Szmodics, who was called up for the first time earlier this year, has four caps to his name, while Chiedozie Ogbene has scored four goals for his country in 22 appearances. O’Shea boasts the most caps of the quartet, having featured 28 times since 2020.
The Boys in Green are looking to bounce back from a poor start to their Nations League B campaign, where they were beaten 2-0 by both England and Greece. They start with a trip to Finland this evening before facing a rematch with Greece in Piraeus on Sunday (both 7:45pm BST).
Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead - Wales
After missing the last international break with hamstring injuries, Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead are back in Wales’ squad for their upcoming Nations League B games.
This is their first call-up from new boss Craig Bellamy, who replaced Rob Page over the summer. In his first two games, the Dragons held Turkey to a goalless draw before winning 2-1 away in Montenegro.
This time, they’ll head to Iceland tomorrow night before hosting Montenegro in Cardiff on Monday (both 7:45pm BST).
Burns, who’s got eight caps at international level, has been a regular for Ipswich so far this season. Broadhead, who’s featured 12 times for Wales, hasn’t played a competitive game since Ipswich’s 2-1 win against Coventry City at the end of April. The winger is fit to play again but has struggled to find his way into Kieran McKenna’s squad.
Arijanet Muric - Kosovo
Town goalkeeper Arijanet Muric is back in Kosovo’s squad after a tumultuous September international break.
The 25-year-old started in the 3-0 home defeat to Romania but was subsequently expelled from the group because he reportedly visited a nightclub after curfew.
After a few weeks of various comments flying around, Muric - alongside team-mates Edon Zhegrova and Florent Muslija - have returned to the squad, penning a message that the Kosovo FA shared publicly on social media.
“Dear team-mates, coach, Federation, and above all, fans of the Kosovo National team,” it read. “We are addressing you with this letter to tell you that we made a mistake and did not follow the rules of the national team.
"For this, we apologise to the coach, our team-mates, the federation and fans.
"We want to play for our country and we will always do our best in the future.”
Muric, who has 39 senior international caps to his name, is expected to return to Kosovo’s starting lineup for their Nations League C game against Lithuania on Saturday (2pm BST). Franco Foda’s side then return to host Cyprus on Tuesday (7:45pm BST).
Cameron Burgess - Australia
Defender Cameron Burgess is set to play his first minutes under new Australia boss Tony Popovic.
The 28-year-old is yet to play for Ipswich in the Premier League, with his only competitive minutes this season coming in the Carabao Cup defeat at AFC Wimbledon.
As a result, the international break should give him a chance to get back up to full speed and build on the 10 caps he’s earned so far.
The Socceroos are looking to recover from their poor start to the third round of World Cup qualifying, which ultimately spelled the end of Graham Arnold’s reign.
Popovic begins with a game against China this morning (10:10am BST) before travelling to Saitama to face Group C favourites Japan on Tuesday, October 15th (11:35am BST).
Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson - England Under-21
It’s set to be a crucial few days for England Under-21s, who’ve brought Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson into their squad for their final EURO U21 qualifying games.
Ben Futcher’s side will need to beat Ukraine at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth tomorrow night (7:45pm) to stand a chance of securing automatic qualification.
If they can do that, they’ll take it to the final game against Azerbaijan, which will be played at Ashton Gate in Bristol on Tuesday (7:30pm BST), where they’ll need to better Ukraine’s result against Serbia.
Should they fail to top Group F, they’ll head into the play-offs to decide whether they’ll progress to next summer’s tournament in Slovakia.
Delap, who’s been one of the surprise packages in the Premier League so far this season, has scored two goals in seven appearances at this level. Hutchinson, on the other hand, is uncapped, having missed the last international break through injury.
Injured players
Axel Tuanzebe was initially named in DR Congo’s squad for their upcoming AFCON qualifiers against Tanzania, but he’s set to miss a number of weeks after suffering a nasty cut on his hand while washing the dishes.
Jens Cajuste was expected to join up with Sweden’s squad for their Nations League C games against Slovakia and Estonia, but he’ll miss out with a knee injury. Ipswich are hopeful that he should be fit after the international break.
Massimo Luongo came out of international retirement to join Burgess in Popovic’s maiden Australia squad, but he’s since withdrawn with a knock.
The same has happened to striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who was initially named in Iraq’s squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Palestine and South Korea. He’s also dropped out with an injury.
Finally, Cieran Slicker is still sidelined with an issue that’ll keep him out of Scotland Under-21s' crucial EURO U21 qualifiers against Belgium and Kazakhstan. The goalkeeper captains his country at the level and has played a big part of their impressive campaign, where they sit in the Group B play-off spot above Belgium on goal difference.
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