John Egan helps Premier League new boys Hull City to a draw at Chelsea
Ireland captain Nathan Collins remains a major doubt for the upcoming Nations League games later this month after missing Brentford’s draw with Bournemouth with a calf injury.
With Heimir Hallgrimsson naming his squad next Thursday for the quadruple-header, Collins sat out today’s Premier League game having been forced off last weekend against Sunderland after just 17 minutes.
Speaking pre-match, Bees boss Keith Andrews revealed that he doesn’t expect to have the defender back until after the international break.
“No, he won’t be involved this side of the international break,” said Andrews of Collins, who hasn’t missed a competitive international in almost three years.
“Unfortunately, he’s picked up a calf injury. He probably felt it a little bit earlier in the game and tried to play through it, naturally, like he would, given the type of character he is and being one of our leaders.”
Ireland begin the Nations League campaign away to Kosovo on September 24, with the October 1 home clash against Austria coming in between two highly-contentious games against Israel.
Elsewhere today in the Premier League, John Egan’s Hull City maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-2 draw against Chelsea. The Ireland defender played the entire 90 minutes as his newly-promoted side picked up a point, and sit third in the table with four games played.
Adam Idah continued his good start to the season with another goal for Swansea in their Championship victory over Burnley.
The Ireland striker (25) had begun the campaign with two goals in four games for the Welsh club and was on target again this afternoon, capitalising on a terrible goalkeeping error to tap in to an empty net.
His 13th-minute opener made it three goals in seven for the Corkman, as Swansea beat the Clarets 3-1 to remain second in the Championship.
Elsewhere, Finn Azaz impressed again for Southampton with a goal and two assists in his side’s 4-1 victory over Jason Knight’s Bristol City.
Azaz (26) created the Saints’ first and third goals before keeping his cool to convert the fourth himself, helping his side make it back-to-back wins as they rise to seventh. Azaz now has three goals and five assists in seven games this season.
Also in the Championship, Gavin Bazunu earned rave reviews for his performance in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-0 win over Brian Barry-Murphy’s Cardiff City.
The former Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper, who moved to Bolton on a permanent deal last month, made his second league start for the club and pulled off an impressive 10 saves in the game, before Thierry Gale’s injury-time winner secured a first win in five.
In Scotland, Owen Elding returned from injury to make the bench for Hibernian’s League Cup victory over Ross County. The striker (20), who signed from Sligo Rovers last January, had missed their last three games with a calf injury, but is now back fit and will hope for his first official Irish senior call-up next week.
Last month, he was in the final stages of getting his Irish passport, having been invited to train with Hallgrimsson’s squad in May.
Meanwhile, it was a memorable day for Ireland U-21 international Kian McMahon-Brown, as the 18–year-old netted his first goal in senior football. The forward, who featured for the Ireland U-17s at last year’s World Cup, is on loan at League Two Shrewsbury Town from Burnley and found the net after just eight minutes in his side’s 2-0 win over Northampton.
Ireland U-21 striker Mark O’Mahony looks set to miss the three upcoming European Championship qualifiers. The Corkman, on loan at Burton Albion from Brighton this season, faces several weeks on the sidelines with a foot fracture, a blow for Jim Crawford’s U-21s who finish the campaign against Slovakia, Kazakhstan and England.