It was a hit-and-miss night for Caoimhin Kelleher as he started for Ireland, while three Liverpool youngsters helped keep clean sheets with England.
Kelleher made his first senior start since January, and his ninth for the Republic of Ireland, when he lined up for Wednesday’s friendly against Latvia.
A youthful Ireland side could have been expected to win, given the level of their opposition, but despite a quickfire start they made it difficult for themselves.
Liverpool’s second-choice goalkeeper will have been disappointed with his role in Latvia’s two goals to bring it back it to 2-2, after early strikes from Callum O’Dowda and Evan Ferguson.
Chiedozie Ogbene’s second-half winner spared any blushes, but Kelleher was given lowly five-out-of-10 scores from both the Independent and RTE.
A potential successor if Kelleher pushes for the exit this summer, Harvey Davies fared better as he started alongside fellow Liverpool youngster Jarell Quansah for the England under-20s.
Taking on Germany in the first of three friendlies this month, Davies and Quansah played a key, 90-minute role in keeping a clean sheet as the Young Lions won 2-0.
Sam Iling-Junior scored both goals in a comfortable victory that saw Dominic Corness come off the bench for his debut.
Luke Chambers also helped keep a clean sheet for the England under-19s, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 victory over Hungary while Lee Jonas went unused.
There was also a win for the England under-18s in their friendly against Croatia, with Bobby Clark and Calum Scanlon given just over an hour in a 2-1 victory as Jude Bellingham’s brother, Jobe, scored one of the goals.
Less fortunate were academy pair Melkamu Frauendorf and Kieran Morrison with their youth national teams.
Frauendorf was brought off at half-time as the Germany under-19s lost 3-2 to Italy, while Morrison played 61 minutes as the Northern Ireland under-17s fell to a last-minute 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands.
Thursday is a busy day for Liverpool’s internationals, with Jordan Henderson, Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley and academy striker Lewis Koumas all in action.
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