Preston North End international round-up with pain for duo but joy for Kian Best

Preston North End's players had mixed fortunes on the international stage over the break.

Getting the not so good news out of the way first, Milutin Osmajic missed out on EURO 2024 qualification with Montenegro - following defeat to group leaders Hungary. After beating Lithuania 2-0 last week - a game in which Osmajic played the 90 minutes - Montenegro fell to a 3-1 loss at the Puskás Aréna.

Osmajic started and completed both matches, operating down the right against Lithuania before partnering Stefan Jovetic up front in Hungary. Montenegro finished third in their group, having collected 11 points from their eight qualifying games. Rivals Serbia pipped them to second.

Meanwhile, minutes were in shorter supply for Liam Millar, who came off the bench late on in both of Canada's CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final games against Jamaica. Mauro Biello's team won the first leg 2-1 in Kingston, but lost 2-3 at home as the Reggae Boyz went through on away goals. A win would've taken Canada through to next year's Copa America, but they will now have to win a play-off clash in March to qualify.

On a more positive note, Preston youngster Kian Best went away with England Under-19s for the first time and helped the Young Lions win the Marbella Cup. Simon Rusk's side destroyed Romania and Mexico, in Spain, while edging out Japan by three goals to two. Best started the first two games and then played the final 20 minutes of the Mexico win. He scored a screamer and assisted in the 6-0 win over Romania, before getting 63 minutes under his belt versus Japan.

Finally, Preston skipper Alan Browne played the full game as the Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 in the Netherlands. He then came off the bench in Tuesday night's 1-1 friendly draw against New Zealand. It was a poor qualification campaign for Ireland, who won two matches and lost six. As a result, manager Stephen Kenny is expected to depart his role.

"It would be a dream to carry on, but my instinct is that is not going to happen," he said. "That's my own instinct and the evidence would suggest it's not going to happen. Obviously the board are meeting next week. They have a decision to make and I respect whatever that decision is."