It’s been a busy week for three of our Fleetwood Town players as they’ve been out on international duty with the countries and have featured in two games each over the last seven days.
Kicking off this international roundup with great news as Stephen McMullan, who recently stepped into the First Team goalkeeper spot after Jay Lynch’s ban, received his first Northern Ireland Under-21s call-up ahead of the window and made his debut against Luxembourg last Thursday.
Two full games in the tank meant plenty of game time and experience was gained whilst with Tommy Wright’s side and he did it all with Carl Johnston by his side. The full-back earned his own accolades throughout the break as he was named Northern Ireland Under-21s captain.
Johnston, 20, wore the armband in both fixtures against Luxembourg and Ukraine and, even though results didn’t go their way during the EURO 2024 Qualifiers, they performed well and showed promise as a team.
Moving on to another player now as Bosun Lawal, who is currently on loan from Scottish Premiership side Celtic, found himself in the centre of the Republic of Ireland Under-21s’ defence in both clashes against Turkey and San Marino respectively.
Two wins at Turner’s Cross meant the Young Boys in Green had a perfect international break; the Turkey clash, which ended in a 3-2 win, saw plenty of drama throughout the game as Ireland managed to find the winner 96 minutes into the clash thanks to Aidomo Emakhu finding the target.
Goals from Rocco Vata (1) and Sinclair Armstrong (2) were the difference in the second clash of the break against San Marino and Lawal – along with his fellow defenders and goalkeeper – picked up a clean sheet and a valuable set of points in the EURO qualification process.
Well done lads, time to head back to Fleetwood now with Oxford at the weekend!