Leeds United’s International Roundup: Barrow impresses, Jansson a catalyst

This month’s international break felt like it dragged on forever, but while we were waiting for the Reading game to arrive, some of our squad were representing their country. Here is a low down on how Leeds United’s players got on, in alphabetical order:

Modou Barrow

Barrow played in Gambia’s 2-1 defeat against Morocco, but he did grab himself a confidence-building goal in that game. He carried that confidence into the next game and scored again in a 2-1 victory to defeat Central African Republic. Former Leeds loanee Mustapha Carayol grabbed the other Gambia goal.

Liam Cooper

Cooper was called up to the Scotland squad after his resolute performance against Brighton. However, even though he was on the bench for Scotland’s friendly against Canada, Cooper didn’t get on the pitch and failed to make the squad for Scotland’s spirited 1-0 victory over Slovenia at Hampden Park on Sunday evening.

Stuart Dallas

Dallas had a very productive time with Northern Ireland after he helped them to a convincing 2-0 victory against Norway at Windsor Park. Goals from Jamie Ward and Conor Washington mean Northern Ireland remain unbeaten in Group C.

Pontus Jansson

The big Swede played the whole game on Saturday evening as Sweden bulldozed Belarus 4-0. A result which meant Sweden now sit 2nd in group A. He also played a crucial part in Sweden’s 3-2 victory against Portugal. Portugal were leading 2-0 at the break, but Jansson came on for the second half and Sweden came back to win the game 3-2. Jansson didn’t directly influence the game, but his presence was obviously the catalyst for the comeback.

Eunan O’Kane

O’Kane was not named in the matchday squad for 0-0 draw against Wales in Dublin on Friday. However, did get his chance on Tuesday evening in Ireland's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Iceland when he replaced Hourihane on 63 minutes.

Chris Wood

Wood captained and - surprise, surprise - scored as New Zealand defeated Fiji 2-0 on Saturday. Wood was set to lead New Zealand on Tuesday, but he picked up a knock and my new favourite person New Zealand Head Coach Anthony Hudson decided it was best for Wood to return to Leeds. The All Whites didn’t miss Wood anyway as they ran out 2-0 winners again.

Overall, six players got some playing time with their countries over the last 2 weeks, and with the exception of Wood, whose knock apparently isn’t a big deal, everyone seems back 100% fit as we look towards the Reading game on Saturday. MOT