International Round-UpWednesday, 16th Oct 2024 06:00 by Kallum Brisset
The second international break of the season has concluded, with Town seeing 10 first-team players head off to represent their countries. Here's a summary of how they fared.
Omari Hutchinson produced a stunning display from the bench as England U21s beat Azerbaijan 7-0 at Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening, netting his first Young Lions goal and laying on three assists.
The 20-year-old entered the action on the right after 60 minutes and forced an own goal before providing crosses for Elliot Anderson and Dane Scarlett to score.
Hutchinson then tapped home former Blues loanee Scarlett's cross for a goal of his own to cap off a fine substitute display and strike for the first time at international level.
He had previously made his debut for England's U21s in the 2-1 victory over Ukraine at Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium on Friday.
Town's record signing, who has previously been capped for Jamaica in two senior friendlies and for England at U17 and U19 level, earned his maiden call-up in the September camp but pulled out for medical assessment as a precaution.
Hutchinson was joined on his debut against Ukraine by Liam Delap, who played the full 90 minutes to earn his eighth U21s cap as England confirmed their qualification for next summer's European Championships.
The Blues' in-form top scorer was widely praised, including from interim boss Ben Futcher, who described Delap as a 'top number nine'.
He added that "Ipswich are very fortunate to have such a good striker on their hands".
Delap was booked in that clash and missed the thrashing over Azerbaijan through suspension. He is understood to have returned to Playford Road earlier this week.
Jack Taylor made his long-awaited debut for the Republic of Ireland in their 2-0 UEFA Nations League defeat in Greece on Sunday, the midfielder featuring as a 57th-minute substitute in Piraeus.
London-born Taylor had won seven caps at U21 level and was called up to the senior squad for the first time in November 2020 and on subsequent occasions without playing.
His first senior international appearance came alongside the Blues' fellow Irish contingent of Chiedozie Ogbene, Sammie Szmodics and Dara O'Shea, who all started both fixtures for the Boys in Green following their 2-1 victory in Finland earlier in the week.
Right-sider Ogbene has now won 24 caps, Szmodics primarily featured on the left and is now on eight caps while O'Shea was deployed at right-back and took his total to 30.
Wales remain unbeaten in their UEFA Nations League campaign and saw Town pair Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead return to the squad after they missed the September fixtures through injury.
Burns started Monday's 1-0 home victory over Montenegro after coming on as a half-time substitute in the 2-2 draw in Iceland on Friday, taking his total number of caps to 10.
Broadhead is yet to feature for the Blues this season following a hamstring injury suffered in July but did record his first minutes of the season in the Montenegro clash as a 69th-minute substitute, earning his 13th cap for the Dragons in the process.
Burgess turned Keito Nakamura's cross into his own net to deny the Australians their second successive victory, following Thursday's 3-1 win over China where Burgess was an unused substitute.
The 28-year-old was winning his 11th senior cap and first under new head coach Tony Popovic, who took over from Graham Arnold last month.
The Socceroos are five points behind the Samurai Blue, where the top two progress directly to the World Cup finals.
Town goalkeeper Aro Muric returned to the Kosovo squad following controversy last month surrounding his expulsion from the squad for allegedly breaking team rules.
Muric, who denied the accusations along with two of his teammates, subsequently apologised for misconduct in a press release and was left on the benc, apparently due to a knock, for the Kosovans' trip to Lithuania on Saturday.
The Swiss-born glovesman earned his 40th cap and kept a clean sheet during Tuesday's 3-0 UEFA Nations League victory over Cyprus in Pristina.
The Blues' most experienced international Massimo Luongo had planned to come out of retirement and join teammate Burgess in the Australia squad, but was forced to pull out with an ankle injury.
He was not the only one to miss out, as Axel Tuanzebe's unfortunate hand injury ruled him out of representing DR Congo, while Ali Al-Hamadi withdrew from going away with Iraq.
There was also no place for Jens Cajuste in the Sweden squad as the Napoli loanee recovers from a minor knee issue, with Cieran Slicker also denied the chance to join up with Scotland U21s.
Two members of the Blues' U21s squad received international recognition during the October window.
Goalkeeper Woody Williamson earned his ninth cap for Scotland U19s in their 2-1 friendly victory over their Hungarian counterparts.
Ash Boatswain started both of Montserrat's CONCACAF Nations League double-header against Bonaire, hitting the post in the first clash and taking his total caps to four.
The 19-year-old forward made his debut for the Caribbean nation, who are coached by former Town midfielder Lee Bowyer, during last month's camp.
Elsewhere, former Town defender Kane Vincent-Young made his international debut for Grenada, featuring in two fixtures against Curacao. The full-back is currently without a club following his release from Wycombe Wanderers.
Photo: Annabel Lee-Ellis / Sportimage
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MVBlue added 11:41 - Oct 16Is Nathan Broadhead ready for us if he played then? Want him to feature in the Prem
Linkboy13 added 17:04 - Oct 16As much as i like Nathan Broadhead there were times last season when he was left out of the team. I don't think he has the physical attributes to play in the Premier league like some are finding out at the moment. One of the main reasons Liam Delap has been impressive is because he has pace and physicality. Hutchinson is finding it hard but has outstanding skill but will have to release the ball much earlier in the Premier league if he is going to succeed.