Republic of Ireland vs Belgium: International preview, team news, stats, kick-off time and how to follow | Football News

March 25, 2022 admin

Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott has been challenged to reap the rewards of his hard work after realising he was only going to get “one shot” at making it.

The 20-year-old Tottenham frontman already has 10 senior international caps to his name, most of them as a substitute, and is currently playing for League One MK Dons in the third loan spell of his fledgling career.

He could find himself pitched into battle with No 1-ranked side Belgium on Saturday evening and, if he does play, he will run out having endured a difficult few months during which he has matured as a player.

Ireland boss Stephen Kenny said: “Troy has had to sacrifice himself a little bit for the team at MK Dons, he’s had to play in a variety of positions.

“He had a little period where he lost his place – he had Covid and he got sent off after he came back from Covid in a cup game.

“You are thinking, ‘right, he’s got a job to do to make sure he stays in the international squad because this is a little period for him, a little test for him’.

“But he knuckled down and he had about six consecutive matches where he played the full 90 minutes. Even though the manager was making three substitutions in the attacking areas, he was the one who was never taken off.

“They are on a good run – they are third in League One and they are going well. He is still a young player and he has done well. He has not probably scored the amount of goals he’d like to have scored, but he has sacrificed himself.

“He got two last week against Cheltenham, but he has certainly sacrificed himself for the team and has put in tremendous work and has been a great team-mate to the players.”

Parrott, who has been touted as a future star for Ireland since his teenage years, has admitted he found himself at a watershed in his career as he waited for his breakthrough at Spurs, and decided he had only one option.

The striker said: “It came at a time when I was in and out of the team and I just realised that ultimately you get one shot at this football game and where I was at the time wasn’t helping me get to where I wanted to get to.

“I realised I just needed to do more. I needed to be playing if I wanted to get to where I wanted to get to.”

That came as music to the ears of Kenny, for whom he played previously at U21s level.

The manager said: “I’d be in regular contact with him and obviously I’ve been to their games and met him afterwards.

“Nobody deserves credit, only himself for knuckling down and realising the amount of work he had to do to get himself right. I think he is going to improve from here and he will only get better.”

How to follow

Watch Republic of Ireland vs Belgium live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday from 4.30pm; kick-off 5pm. Full match highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at the final whistle.

Opta stats

This is the first meeting between the Republic of Ireland and Belgium since Euro 2016, a 3-0 victory for the Belgians with goals from Romelu Lukaku (x2) and Axel Witsel.
Belgium have not played away against the Republic of Ireland since October 1997 in a World Cup qualifier, drawing 1-1 at Lansdowne Road with Luc Nilis equalising after Denis Irwin opened the scoring for Ireland.
Republic of Ireland have won three of their last four matches (D1), as many as in their previous 22 games combined (W3 D11 L8).
Belgium have lost three of their last eight matches (W4 D1), as many as they had in their previous 59 matches combined. They have only won one of their last four games (D1 L2), having won eight of their previous nine games.
Republic of Ireland have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four matches – they last kept more consecutive clean sheets between May and October 2011 (eight in a row).
After scoring just 11 goals in their first 16 games under Stephen Kenny, Republic of Ireland have netted 10 goals in their last four. They converted just seven per cent of their shots in those first 16 games under Kenny, compared to 18% of their efforts at goal in their last four games.
Callum Robinson has scored six goals in his last four Republic of Ireland appearances, after netting just one goal in his first 20 games for his country. He has scored more goals under Stephen Kenny (six) than any other Ireland player, while his six goals during 2021 were the most by an Ireland player in a single year since Robbie Keane in 2013, who scored eight.
Michy Batshuayi has been directly involved in 16 goals in his last 15 starts for Belgium (14 goals, 2 assists), although he’s not scored or assisted in each of his last two starts (v Belarus in September 2021 and Italy in October 2021).

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