Republic of Ireland vs Belgium: International preview, team news, stats, kick-off time and how to follow
Troy Parrott has been touted as a future star since his teenage years and is expected to feature against world No 1-ranked side Belgium; watch Republic of Ireland vs Belgium live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 5pm
Saturday 26 March 2022 16:52, UK
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.
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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."
Kelleher to start against Red Devils
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will start for the Republic of Ireland in their friendly clash with Belgium on Saturday evening.
The 23-year-old Carabao Cup-winner will line up against Roberto Martinez's men, with rivals Gavin Bazunu and Mark Travers missing through illness and injury respectively.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Kenny said: "Caoimhin will definitely start, that's absolutely right, for sure. He'll most likely play the two matches now, I think it's fair to say, and deservedly so."
Kenny added: "He's had to be patient because of an unfortunate injury. He missed the last March camp with injury and Gavin Bazunu has come in and been absolutely outstanding.
"We're on a run of four-and-a-half games now consecutively without conceding a goal and Caoimhin has played his part in that because he played against Qatar.
"In Caoimhin's two matches to date against Qatar and Hungary, he hasn't conceded a goal either, so he deserves his chance because he's been absolutely excellent."
D-Day for Dara?
Dara O'Shea was one of the early beneficiaries of Kenny's policy of promoting from the junior ranks and he impressed in a green shirt before he fractured his ankle in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat in Portugal in September last year.
The 23-year-old West Brom defender is back in the Republic squad for the first time since his misfortune struck and will be desperate to make up for lost time.
Going for goals
Successive Ireland managers have sought an answer to the lack of goals which has hampered the nation in recent qualifying campaigns, and the quest for greater firepower is ongoing.
Kenny's side have scored 10 in their last four matches - three of them against Azerbaijan, Qatar and Luxembourg - with six of those coming from Callum Robinson and two more from Chiedozie Ogbene, but, of the remaining frontmen, Troy Parrott has two international goals to his name and Will Keane, Scott Hogan and Conor Ronan are yet to open their accounts.
Big guns missing for Belgium
Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has left many of his big names at home after opting to select players with fewer than 50 caps for the game at the Aviva Stadium, meaning the like of Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard will not be on show.
However, he still has an impressive array of talent at his disposal, with Youri Tielemans, Michy Batshuayi, Christian Benteke, Adnan Januzaj, Divock Origi and Leandro Trossard among the travelling party.
Nations League uncertainty
Kenny and his players will run out against the Belgians and Lithuania on Tuesday night unsure as to how their summer campaign will pan out.
Ireland's Nations League Group B opponents include Ukraine and Scotland, who were due to meet this week in a World Cup play-off semi-final, which has been postponed as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and provisionally rescheduled for June, although the situation in Eastern Europe means the current plan could change significantly.
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).
