Preston North End stars feature for Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with Lionel Messi's Argentina on the way

PNE captain Alan Browne, Robbie Brady and Troy Parrott all featured for the Republic of Ireland in their game against Scotland, the former two coming off the bench.

Ireland took the lead through Sheffield United defender John Egan before the Scots overturned the deficit. Browne and Parrott were both involved in key moments in the game.

Browne was penalised from a corner to have handballed the cross, the 27-year-old jumping for a header with his arms raised, which Ryan Christie converted to make the game 2-1 with eight minutes to go.

Before that however, Michael Obafemi led an Ireland counter attack and played the ball into the path of Parrott who had an opportunity bearing down on goal one on one, though Craig Gordon made a save with his legs as the Tottenham Hotspur loanee’s goalscoring troubles this season continued.

The result left Ireland third in their Nations League group, six points behind Ukraine and eight behind Scotland with just one game to go.

Stephen Kenny’s side play Armenia on Tuesday, 7:45pm, to finish off their Nations League campaign, a defeat would see them relegated though a draw and win sees them safe.

Ali McCann was the fourth North End player to have been involved in the internationals so far, tasting success with Northern Ireland for the first time in their Nations League campaign.

Ian Baraclough’s side went behind to Kosovo but managed a late comeback to take the three points. They scored in the 82nd and 92nd minute to complete the turnaround, with McCann a late substitution after their first goal.

Northern Ireland will be hoping for more success as they travel to group leaders Greece on Tuesday night, 7:45pm, and they need to match the result of Cyprus – who play Kosovo – in order to avoid relegation.

Daniel Johnson is the only other senior PNE player called up for his country, though Jamaica have yet to play their game. They face off against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the early hours of Wednesday morning, kicking off at 1:00am UK time.