MK Dons duo Lee Hodson and Samir Carruthers have both been called up for international duty.
Hodson has been named in the Northern Ireland squad ahead of their final two World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Israel. The Northern Irish cannot qualify for next year’s tournament but will be looking to finish as high as possible by taking six points from these two difficult away games.
The Dons right-back has already linked up with his national team-mates ahead of Friday’s clash with Azerbaijan in Baku, which will be shown live on Sky Sports. Hodson and Northern Ireland will then make the journey to Israel for their final game on Tuesday.
As a result of his call-up, Hodson will miss the tomorrow’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie with Stevenage and the trip to Leyton Orient on Saturday.
Loanee Carruthers, on the other hand, won’t join up with Republic of Ireland Under-21s until this weekend for their UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifying round fixture at home to Romania.
The Boys in Green travel to Central Europe this Friday for the first of two games against the Romanians but due to the sending off he received in last month’s defeat to Germany, Carruthers is suspended and won’t feature. The Aston Villa loanee, however, will meet up with the squad on Sunday for the return fixture, meaning he will not miss the Dons’ Sky Bet League 1 tie with Leyton Orient.
Meanwhile, Dons youngster Danny Collinge made his international debut for England Under-16s last week, coming on as a 55th minute substitute in the Young Lions’ 1-0 win over Wales.
Kenny Swain’s side came out on top in their opening Sky Sports Victory Shield match courtesy of a first-half strike from Chelsea starlet Charlie Wakefield, in front of over 2,700 people at Kidderminster Harriers’ Aggborough Stadium.
Collinge, a schoolboy at the Club, replaced West Ham United’s Reece Oxford in the second half and played his part in helping his side see out the result. Collinge will now be hoping he’s done enough to earn a place in the squad for the next match against Northern Ireland, which takes place in November.
Finally, Collinge’s Dons’ teammate Kevin Danso will be hoping to feature for Austria Under-16s tomorrow evening as they take on Denmark in a friendly.