Irish Players Abroad Round-up: Coleman On The Comeback Seamus Coleman returned to action for Everton this week, playing 90 minutes as the Toffees’ beat Mansfield Town 2-0 in the EFL Cup in midweek, before coming off the bench in the 3-2 victory over Wolves at Molineux on Saturday. That cameo in the Midlands means that the 36-year-old has now made an appearance in 17 consecutive Premier League seasons, a remarkable feat for a player who moved to Merseyside in January 2009 for just £60,000. Injuries have been cruel to Coleman, limiting him to just 10 Premier League starts since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign. The full-back is not in Ireland’s squad for this week’s crucial World Cup qualifiers but if he can get himself fully fit, Coleman can continue to be a big asset for both club and country. Jake O’Brien started in the win at Wolves while Matt Doherty was an unused substitute for the home side. Read our comprehensive guide to all Irish footballers abroad Bees Stung Late On At Sunderland Keith Andrews’ Brentford fell to a 2-1 defeat to Sunderland with Caoimhin Kelleher conceding to Wilson Isidor in the 96th minute. Nathan Collins also played the full 90 minutes. Josh Cullen scored an unlucky own goal in Burnley’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United. Contrasting Fortunes For Strikers Troy Parrott is averaging a goal every 49 minutes for AZ Alkmaar this season but he will not have the chance to continue that for Ireland in this week’s World Cup qualifiers. The 23-year-old missed AZ’s Conference League playoff second leg with a knee injury and Celtic’s Johnny Kenny has received his first call-up in Parrott’s absence. On a more positive note, Evan Ferguson’s promising start to life in Italy continued as he provided the assist in Roma’s 1-0 win over Pisa. It is worth noting that the striker has not completed 90 minutes for his new side and last did so for Brighton in their 3-2 loss to Liverpool in the EFL Cup last October. Neither Kenny or Adam Idah, who has been linked with a move to Alan Sheehan’s Swansea City, were not in the squad in Celtic’s lowkey 0-0 draw with Rangers while Liam Scales started at centre-back. Azaz Steps Up Finn Azaz is hoping his £12million move from Middlesbrough to Southampton can “prove I can play for a Premier League club”. The 24-year-old has certainly proved he is too good for the Championship with 46 goal contributions in 93 appearances at the level for Boro and Plymouth. He made his Saints debut in their 2-2 draw with Watford at the weekend, with Ryan Manning scoring his second free-kick of the season while Rocco Vata assisted for Watford. On The Continent Festy Ebosele played twice for Istanbul Basaksehir last week after scoring in their Conference League qualifier defeat to Romanian side CS Universitatea Craiova. In Hungary, Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros got back to winning ways with a 3-0 win over Debrecen after being knocked out of Champions League qualifying by Qarabag. Callum O’Dowda started all six of Ferencvaros Champions League qualifying games but was limited to a six-minute substitute appearance in the league at the weekend.
