The first international break of the season has concluded with Town seeing six first-team players, plus two more who out on loan, represent their countries. Here is a round-up of how they fared.

The Blues’ newest teenage star Sindre Walle Egeli scored and registered two assists on a productive camp with Norway U21s.

Walle Egeli, who signed from Danish side FC Nordsjælland last month for a Championship record fee, has previously been capped once for the senior team but took his total appearances at U21 level to eight.

Following Thursday’s 1-0 friendly victory against Denmark, the 19-year-old forward put in an outstanding performance for the young Norwegians in their European qualifier against Slovenia in Drammen where he also forced an own goal.

Tuesday’s 5-0 victory, where Walle Egeli netted his third goal at the level from outside the penalty area, gave Norway the perfect start in their bid to reach the European Championships for a fourth time.

Sammie Szmodics was among five Blues players away with the Republic of Ireland, but he was forced to withdraw from the squad after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Hungary in Dublin.

The Town attacker started and won his 11th cap before leaving the camp due to an unspecified injury.

In what was an underwhelming start to their World Cup qualification campaign, the Irish followed up their comeback point with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Armenia on Tuesday.

Town captain Dara O’Shea started both to take his total caps to 37, while Chiedozie Ogbene and Jack Taylor began the clash in Yerevan having featured from the bench three days earlier.

Ogbene, who is currently on loan at Sheffield United, picked up his 26th senior appearance for the national side with Taylor earning his seventh, although both were taken off at half-time.

Summer signing Kasey McAteer twice played his part as a substitute for the Boys in Green to take his total number of caps to eight.

Striker George Hirst was away with Scotland as the Tartan Army began their quest for a first World Cup appearance since 1998 with a positive opening two matches.

Sheffield-born Hirst, who scored his first international goal in June, earned his fifth cap as a substitute in Scotland’s 0-0 draw with Denmark in Copenhagen on Friday.

Steve Clarke’s side then beat Belarus 2-0 on Monday in a match played behind closed doors in Hungary, where Hirst remained on the bench throughout.

On-loan goalkeeper Aro Muric, who is currently with Italian side Sassuolo for the season, started both of Kosovo’s World Cup qualifiers to take his total international caps to 45.

Kosovo lost their opening match 4-0 to Switzerland in Basel, but followed it up with a 2-0 home victory over Sweden where Muric kept a clean sheet.

There was also some international recognition for four of Town’s academy squad this month.

Jacob Mazionis was involved with Lithuania U21s for the first time as they began their European qualification campaign with a two home matches, a 4-0 loss to Ukraine and 1-1 draw with Hungary.

Central defender Mazionis, who is currently on loan at League Two side Cheltenham Town, played the full 90 minutes in both fixtures. Town’s new loans manager Danny Searle watched the second game from the stands.

Blues schoolboy Jayden Adetiba, who signed a two-year scholarship with Town last month, was with the United Arab Emirates U18s for a friendly tournament in Croatia having previously been capped at U16 and U17 levels.

The Emirati youngsters lost to Poland, 4-0, and Italy, 1-0, before comfortably beating Ukraine’s U17s 3-0 with Adetiba registering an assist.

Young striker Josh Pitts, who had previously earned his first two caps for Malta U21s in June, added a third during Tuesday’s 5-0 defeat to Greece. The 18-year-old started Malta’s opening European qualifier in Ta' Qali.

Goalkeeper Henry Gray was drafted into the full New Zealand squad for the friendlies against Australia in the Soccer Ashes.

Gray was an unused substitute in both games as the Socceroos retained the trophy with a 1-0 win in Canberra and 3-1 victory in Auckland.

Photo: BILDBYRÅN via Reuters Connect

carlo88 added 10:22 - Sep 10 O'Shea's going to be absolutely knackered for Friday ain't he, Kipre should start.
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flykickingbybgunn added 10:34 - Sep 10 Any news of Szmodics ?
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PortmanTerrorist added 11:09 - Sep 10 Dont rule out McK playing Walle Egeli on the left. look how he operates here...he really can play anywhere across the front but will end up as our 9....if we keep him for long enough ! No one's place is safe up top from Friday which has to be good !
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JewellintheTown added 11:59 - Sep 10 Walle Egeli - Just what the fans wanted to see, and avoided injury too! Have to say I expected better from our Irish players considering they're team mates. That might go against them though at the moment considering our form.
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