Milton Keynes Dons

MK Dons winger Darragh Burns made his first start for Republic of Ireland Under-21s in their international friendly with Kuwait Under-22s.

Burns was handed his Under-21s debut last week when the Boys in Green faced Ukraine and the Irish number 17 was awarded with a starting spot following his ten-minute contribution against Ukraine in a game that ended in a 2-2 draw.

Against Kuwait, quick-fire goals from Ireland gifted them an early 2-0 lead ten minutes into the game. Their advantage was further increased to 3-0 shortly after the restart.

This fixture, however, was abandoned on the 70-minute mark following an alleged incident that occurred during the friendly, the FAI put out this statement after the game: “The FAI regrets to announce that today’s U21 international match against Kuwait has been abandoned after a racist remark was made by a Kuwaiti player towards one of our substitutes.

“The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA.”