The bulk of the Bristol City squad will be afforded a few extra days rest this week as the international break begins, following a job largely well done for the Robins.
Nigel Pearson’s squad end the first section of 10 games in ninth in the Championship, a welcome distance away from the lower mid-table purgatory of last term and with a feeling this team can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the division.
Some of Ashton Gate’s finest will still be in competitive action over the next 12 days before City’s Championship encounter with QPR, and it’s a measure of the club's form and success, at academy and senior level, they have a healthy number of internationals in their squad.
Here is a round-up of the six players who won’t be at the High Performance Centre at all until next week and how you can watch them in action for their respective international teams…
Zac Bell (Wales Under-19)
vs Hungary (Wed, Sept 21, 4pm)
vs Republic of Ireland (Sat, Sept 24, 1pm)
vs Gibraltar (Tuesday, Sept 27, 4pm)
The young Robins full-back, who's currently on loan at Bath City, has made the step up to the U19s and is in Rob Edward’s squad for their three European Championship qualifiers, all of which are being played in Wales in a mini-tournament style format. The games will be available to stream on the FAW website and via their YouTube channel.
Tommy Conway (Scotland Under-21)
vs Northern Ireland (Thurs, Sept 22, 2:30pm)
vs Northern Ireland (Sun, Sept 25, 2pm)
Bear in mind this could change given Steve Clarke is considering whether to immediately elevate Conway into the senior squad, before he’s even made an appearance for the U21s.
As it stands, he’ll be playing a friendly double-header home and away against Northern Ireland, which is good news for City because the second fixture is on Sunday, so he has plenty of time to recover. The Northern Irish FA have streamed matches before on YouTube and Facebook but there’s been no formal confirmation of that happening on this occasion yet.
Should Conway be called up to the senior group, they play Ukraine tomorrow in the Nations League, followed by Republic of Ireland on Saturday and then a return fixture against Ukraine on Tuesday (all 7:45pm kick-offs). The game against Ukraine is on ITV4, while the Ireland fixture is on Premier Sports.
Max O’Leary (Republic of Ireland)
vs Scotland (Sat, Sept 24, 7:45pm)
vs Armenia (Tues, Sept 27, 7:45pm)
Stephen Kenny’s Republic of Ireland have two Nations League encounters, with the first at Hampden Park followed by the visit of Armenia to Dublin. City No2 O’Leary is listed in the squad as third-choice for Ireland, so the chances of him seeing some action appear slim, with Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu and Mark Travers of Bournemouth ahead of the 25-year-old, but as mentioned above, both games are available on Premier Sports.
Alex Scott (England Under-20)
vs Chile (Wed, Sept 21, 8pm)
vs Morocco (Sat, Sept 24, 6pm)
vs Australia (Tues, Sept 27, 5pm)
Scott continues his progress through the age groups for England as Ian Foster now has him in the U20 set-up, following his success with the U19 in the European Championships over the summer. Much of that group forms this squad as they compete in the Costa Calida Supercup in Pinatar, Spain. All matches will be streamed from the Pinatar Arena YouTube channel.
Antoine Semenyo (Ghana)
vs Brazil (Fri, Sept 23, 7:30pm)
vs Nicaragua (Tues, Sept 27, TBC)
The last time Semenyo was with the Ghana squad, he sustained a shin injury that kept him out for just under three months so here’s hoping he gets through these two friendly fixtures without any issues, with Nigel Pearson also keen for the Black Stars to manage his minutes accordingly. The 22-year-old is, of course, looking to stake his claim in the squad ahead of the World Cup so wants to get on the field as much as possible.
At least he won’t have too much travel time as the marquee encounter with Brazil is taking place in Le Havre, France while Ghana play Nicaragua in Spain. Unfortunately, unless something changes, it doesn’t seem that either game will be streamed for UK audiences.
Andi Weimann (Austria)
- vs France (Thur, Sept 22, 7:45pm)
- vs Croatia (Sun, Sept 25, 7:45pm)
Named in the Austria squad for a third straight time, Weimann is very much getting used to life back on the international stage with two Nations League fixtures on the horizon. Ralf Rangnick’s team take on France in Paris before hosting Croatia in Vienna three days later. Both games are available on Premier Sports Extra.
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