Sobering night for Preston duo on international duty with trio next in action as England U21 debut eyed

PNE have a handful of players away on international duty

Preston North End pair Milutin Osmajic and Andrija Vukcevic had a night to forget in the Faroe Islands on Thursday.

Andrija Vukcevic of Montenegro | Getty Images

placeholder image — Andrija Vukcevic of Montenegro | Getty Images

Montenegro were thrashed 4-0 in the World Cup qualifier - a result which leaves them fourth in Group L after six matches. It was a consecutive defeat by the same score line, following the loss to Croatia back in early September. Montenegro’s next match is on Monday - a friendly at home to Liechtenstein.

Vukcevic - whose last two performances for PNE have come in for praise from fans and his manager - played the 90 minutes on Thursday. Osmajic, meanwhile, managed 82 minutes for his country. The forward did not feature for North End in their last league match, having struggled with a back issue in the days prior.

Preston have a handful of other players away with their countries over the October break, who will be hoping for far better results. Ali McCann has a couple of home World Cup qualifiers to contest with Northern Ireland, firstly against Slovakia before taking on Germany at Windsor Park.

The same applies for Iceland midfielder Stefan Thordarson, who could be involved against Ukraine and France. Both Iceland and Northern Ireland have three points from their first two fixtures. Two of PNE’s summer signings have then gone away with England’s young lions.

Thierry Small could make his debut for England Under-21s as they play two EURO U21 qualifiers, against Moldova and then Andorra. Everton loan man Harrison Armstrong has once again gone away with England U19s, who play Belgium and Wales in the space of four days, over in Spain.

Speaking about international duty last weekend, Small said: “It’ll be good... just a different environment, refocus, regroup. It's an exciting few weeks, I love it. The standard of play is incredible. You're playing with Premier League players, so it's always good to challenge myself and play against really high-end players.

“And yeah, I really enjoy it - everything's professional. Sometimes you can see some of the senior boys, which is always motivating and yeah, it's a great environment to also be in. Then, when I come back into training it will be same as always - work hard and try and get another three points.”