Irish player tracker: Troy Parrott kept fresh as Jack Moylan catches eye with Cardiff

A four-game international window like no other is upon us and, for the most part, the football will be a footnote to the wider discourse.After a delicate squad announcement last week that centred almost exclusively on Israel, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson will be back treading familiar ground on Monday when his Ireland squad trains in Dublin for the first time in advance of Thursday’s Nations League game in Kosovo, and Sunday’s contentious clash with Israel in Hungary.Of the 26 players Hallgrímsson selected for the games against Kosovo, Israel twice and Austria, 23 played for their clubs over the weekend, with Jamie McGrath and Harvey Vale the only fresh concerns after respective injuries in their warm-ups.Ordinarily, Hallgrímsson would be disappointed to have seen Troy Parrott benched for the entirety of Real Betis’ 1-1 draw at Deportivo on Sunday night. But Ireland’s star turn has made such an electric start to life in Spain that the sharing of roles with Cucho Hernández – who scored – shouldn’t be sniffed at this week, if it keeps the striker fresh for his country.READ MOREJack Moylan was the big eye-catcher over the weekend after maintaining his fine form to hand Cardiff City a much needed win over Charlton, with uncapped call-up Joel Bagan also featuring for the Bluebirds throughout. Former Shelbourne man Moylan is taking his step up to the Championship in his stride and scored twice and assisted the third in a 3-1 win.“We felt as if we were bringing a player who would improve the squad when we bought Jack Moylan. He has qualities we probably didn’t have before,” said Cardiff’s Irish manager Brian Barry-Murphy of the attacking midfielder, who scored a hat-trick on his Ireland debut against Grenada in May.Barry-Murphy added: “He’s a very dangerous player in the situations you saw him in. The big appeal for us was because of where he’s come from, he has a lot of improvement in him. The way he’s working means he will improve a lot and become a great player for the club.”Johnny Kenny scores for Preston against QPR on Saturday. Photograph: Andrew Kearns/CameraSport via Getty Images Johnny Kenny was not included in this Ireland squad but he still sent Hallgrímsson a timely reminder of his worth with both of Preston North End’s goals in their draw at QPR, opening his account for the club following his deadline-day move from Celtic.But in a worrying development for the Ireland manager, Vale was injured in the warm-up for that game – in which Jimmy Dunne also played – and was forced to miss out.Bizarrely, the same fate befell McGrath just before Hibernian’s clash with Aberdeen and the FAI has yet to determine whether the pair can stay involved for this international camp, with the squad gathering on Sunday night and Monday morning.“He had an issue with his calf before the game, 10 or 15 minutes into the warm-up. I couldn’t tell you what it is or how bad it is,” said Hibs’ interim manager John Potter of McGrath. New Ireland recruit Owen Elding played 77 minutes of that game.Liam Scales played for 89 minutes of Celtic’s 1-0 home defeat to arch rivals Rangers but fellow Ireland defender Jake O’Brien had to wait until the same minute before appearing in Everton’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town, where Dara O’Shea captained the Tractor Boys. John Egan got 78 minutes in Hull’s defeat to Newcastle.Caoimhín Kelleher showed the way for Ireland’s trio of goalkeepers with a clean sheet in Brentford’s 3-0 win over Chelsea on Friday. Although neither Gavin Bazunu nor Max O’Leary could replicate that on Sunday, both got 90 minutes in the tank.Bazunu made his third successive start for Bolton – following his move from Southampton – in a lively 4-3 win at Norwich while O’Leary made a fantastic save for West Brom in their 1-0 defeat at Wolves, with Jayson Molumby also starting in the Baggies’ midfield.And although Bosun Lawal was selected in Hallgrímsson’s squad, he didn’t feature for Stoke City in their 2-1 win over Sheffield United on Saturday, having picked up an injury in the win over Charlton 2½ weeks ago. First-time Ireland call-up Liam Kitching got 90 minutes for the Blades in that clash with Stoke.