Ipswich Town: Full international round-up as seven Blues feature

All seven of Town’s internationals got time on the pitch during the September break. Alex Jones rounds up the action.

Nathan Broadhead

Broadhead earned his first start for Wales, playing up front alongside Tottenham Hotspur’s Brennan Johnson in a friendly match against South Korea in Cardiff. The 25-year-old had a good chance to assist Harry Wilson in the first half, but the Fulham man coul

Wes Burns

Burns started off as a substitute in Wales’ match against South Korea, coming on in the 60th minute as a left wing-back. He delivered some good crosses into the box, showing why he deserved to be in contention to start against Latvia.

Ultimately, that never materialised. Page confirmed that the 28-year-old picked up a knock in the latter stages of the stalemate, and that he would return to Suffolk to be assessed ahead of Town’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday.

“I didn’t want the game because I didn’t want to risk injuries,” the Wales boss said. “We’ve picked up an injury from that game, but there’s lots of positives to come out of it.

“Wes has come on and he’s tweaked his hamstring. We’ve got a duty of care for the player and for the club as well, so it was too risky to bring him [to Latvia].

“He’s pulled his hamstring, so it’s best off to send him back.”

dn’t capitalise on his defence-splitting pass that played him through on goal.

While he would’ve been keen to have picked up his sixth international cap on Monday, he was an unused substitute in the Dragons’ 2-0 win away at Latvia in EURO 2024 qualifying. A first-half penalty from Aaron Ramey and a late goal from David Brooks saw Rob Page’s side keep their dreams of making the tournament alive, but they’re still behind Armenia on goal difference, while Croatia and Turkey sit three points ahead of them.

Sam Morsy

Morsy returned to international duty for the first time since 2018, which was a fantastic reward for his efforts in a Town shirt.

The midfielder started on the bench in Egypt’s AFCON qualifier against Ethiopia, playing the final minutes of stoppage time where he committed a foul and had a goal disallowed.

He was named as a substitute against Tunisia in their friendly clash the following week, where the Pharaohs fell 2-0 behind after just eight minutes. They struck back ten minutes before the half-time break, and while Morsy came on for the final five minutes, he was unable to help his side avoid defeat as Hamza Rafia scored in stoppage time to make it 3-1.Cameron Burgess was praised for his Australia debut despite giving away a penalty (Image: Ross Halls)

Cameron Burgess

Burgess is one of three Ipswich players who was scheduled to be involved in just one match during the international break. He travelled to the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where he made his senior international debut for Australia.

The 27-year-old ended up starting in their friendly match against Mexico, partnering Harry Souttar at the back. The Leicester City man ended up scoring the opening goal, before Hibernian’s Martin Boyle doubled their advantage from the spot.

It was all looking good until Burgess pushed Uriel Antuna inside the box, with the referee awarding Mexico a penalty as a result. Fulham’s Raul Jimenez got them back into the game by converting it, before fellow substitute Cesar Huerta scored with less than 10 minutes on the clock to earn El Tri a draw.

Despite giving away a penalty, Australia boss Graham Arnold said after the game that he thought Burgess ‘did very well’.

 

Dane Scarlett

Scarlett stepped up to make his debut for England under-21’s after helping the under-20’s reach the Round of 16 of the U-20 World Cup earlier this summer.

The striker came off the bench in the 63rd minute of the Young Lions’ 3-0 win away against Luxembourg, meaning that they started their EURO U21 qualification campaign with three points thanks to goals from Liam Delap, Callum Doyle and Cole Palmer.

 

Cieran Slicker

Slicker earned his ninth cap for Scotland under-21’s, starting in goal as they travelled to Spain in EURO U21 qualifying. Scot Gemill’s side had chances to take the lead early on, but eventually found themselves under immense pressure against the side that finished runners-up at the last European Championships.

La Rojita eventually found a way through in the 83rd minute. A well delivered corner from FC Barcelona’s Pablo Torre found substitute Benat Turrientes in the box, allowing him to head home and deny Slicker a clean sheet at the Estadio de La Victoria in Jaen.

Elkan Baggott

Baggott had a memorable international break, albeit that he dropped down a level to feature for Indonesia under-23’s alongside a number of other experienced players.

He started in both of their U23 Asian Cup qualifying games, first scoring in their 9-0 win against Chinese Taipei. He came close to registering an assist in their 2-0 victory against Turkmenistan after an earlier mistake, helping his nation qualify for the next stage of the tournament with two clean sheets.