'Had his hands full' - Mixed fortunes on the international stage for Preston North End quartet
Four PNE players have been in action so far during the international break
There are three more games involving Preston North End players over the international break, with four already played.
Stefan Thordarson (Iceland), Ali McCann (Northern Ireland), Milutin Osmajic (Montenegro) and Robbie Brady (Republic of Ireland) are away with their countries. Of those, McCann is the only one whose two games are done and dusted - with a 2-0 win secured over Luxembourg on Thursday, prior to Sunday’s 1-0 loss in Bulgaria.
McCann was introduced as a substitute in both Nations League games, around the 82nd minute mark. As for Thordarson, he went up against club team mate Osmajic, in Reykjavik. The PNE midfielder played the full game, as Iceland ran out 2-0 winners. North End’s number 28 also started the game, out on the left, and played an hour.
Both are in Nations League action on Monday evening, with Iceland facing Turkey away while Montenegro host Wales. Finally, it was a tough test for Brady on Saturday as the Republic of Ireland were beaten 2-0 by England. Declan Rice and Jack Grealish scored the first half goals at the Aviva Stadium, with Brady playing the full game. He lined up at left wing-back, against Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, and earned a match rating of 5/10 from both The Guardian and Irish Examiner.
The former wrote: ‘Had his hands full keeping Saka quiet down the right. Still has a wicked set-piece delivery but only had sparing opportunities to show it.’ The latter said: ‘Registered an attempt off target but gave away possession as many times as he found a man in green.’ Ireland’s second National League game takes place on Tuesday night - once again at home - against Greece.