‘I’m very happy with him’: Manuel Pellegrini praises Troy Parrott after Betis win

The fixture mill just keeps on grinding. No sooner had the door closed on a four-game international window few had any appetite for, than it swung open again for two fast-approaching Ireland games.

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson will name his squad on Thursday for the final Nations League matches of a fraught campaign, away to Austria on November 14th and home to Kosovo on November 17th.

With both of the contentious Israel games out of the way, normality should return to proceedings on and off the pitch for a side that has everything to play for, sitting third in the table but level on five points with second-placed Kosovo and just three off leaders Austria.

Ahead of that squad announcement, Hallgrímsson will hope that Troy Parrott’s first league start since September proves timely with the forward’s veteran club manager, Manuel Pellegrini, explaining over the weekend how Parrott’s four starts for Ireland in that hectic September-October window led to enforced rotation at Real Betis.

Parrott has started in the Champions League in that time, but fourth-placed Betis’ 2-1 win at home to bottom side Malaga on Saturday was his first in the league since he provided the assist in a 1-0 win over Getafe on September 17th.

“I see him as always trying to improve,” said Pellegrini. “All players have good days and bad days. We rotated him because he played four games during the last international break with his national team. I have no doubt he will get back to his best. He is a very hard-working player who contributes a lot. I’m very happy with him. He had chances to score.”

While Parrott’s goal drought stretched to six games, Sinclair Armstrong did find the net over the weekend but it may not be enough to earn a first Ireland recall since the Nations League playoff double-header against Bulgaria in early 2025.

The striker (23) has started just twice in 10 games for Turkish top flight side Göztepe, following his summer move from Bristol City. But he sent Hallgrímsson a reminder after coming off the bench to score Göztepe’s equaliser at Fenerbahce – where former Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt is caretaker manager – and pave the way for his club’s 2-1 win.

Nathan Collins missed the four Nations League games against Kosovo, Austria and Israel due to a calf injury in early September. While he will return to the Irish squad this week, he does so having missed Brentford’s last six Premier League games.

Collins was an unused sub for the third league game running – although he got 71 minutes in the League Cup defeat to Sunderland on Wednesday – in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest, a performance manager Keith Andrews labelled as their “best of the season”, suggesting he is unlikely to dismantle that team any time soon.

Liam Scales had a day to forget after shipping even more criticism on social media following Celtic’s dire 2-0 league defeat away to Falkirk yesterday. But Jamie McGrath and Owen Elding enjoyed better fortune, with McGrath scoring the winner in Hibs’ Scottish League Cup semi-final win over city rivals Hearts, while Elding assisted their first.

Ryan Manning is a more likely left wing-back option than Scales for these upcoming internationals and Hallgrímsson will have noted his two assists in Southampton’s 4-1 win over QPR, although James Abankwah had a trying night in Udinese’s 5-2 home defeat to Roma.

Josh Cullen put his hand up for consideration again having overcome the ACL injury in December that derailed his year up to this point. He has not played for Ireland since then but made his first competitive appearance of the season for Burnley on Saturday, with 19 minutes off the bench in their 0-0 draw with Portsmouth.

“It’s been a long 10 months and to get back out there and do what I love is an amazing feeling,” said the midfielder.

Jack Moylan should play another prominent role across the two Ireland internationals having embraced his step up to the Championship this season. But he missed out on a fourth goal in four games as his finish was ruled offside in Cardiff’s 3-0 defeat at Wolves.

Chiedozie Ogbene’s loan move to Lincoln City has not taken off like he would have hoped and the 16 minutes he got off the bench in a 3-1 home defeat to Birmingham City was in keeping with the stop-start nature of his season.

Rocco Vata, back in the Ireland frame last month for the first time since March 2025, can empathise with Ogbene after clocking just 17 minutes across Watford’s last three games, with eight of those coming in the weekend defeat to Norwich City.

Aaron Connolly has not been seen in an Ireland jersey for three years and it is unlikely the 26-year-old will be back, barring a remarkable career turnaround. But he opened his account for the season with Leyton Orient’s last goal in a 3-0 win over Cambridge United in League One, with Cork’s Jaze Kabia scoring the second.