A crucial international window for the Republic of Ireland gets underway this evening, with Mick McCarthy's side taking on New Zealand in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm, RTÉ 2). And McCarthy has handed a full senior debut to 17-year-old Tottenham Hotspur striker Troy Parrott, as he names a youthful side ahead of next Monday's crunch Euro 2020 qualifier against Denmark. Parrott becomes the third-youngest debutant in Ireland's history, after Jimmy Holmes and Robbie Keane, but McCarthy has urged supporters to be patient with the prodigious Spurs forward. He said: "Can I say something? Robbie Keane was playing in the Wolves' team at 17, playing competitive football in a first team environment. There is a huge difference, a huge, huge difference. It doesn't take a special kind to be pitched in. It takes a special kind to thrive, to do well, to make a good impression and impress everybody. I hope that's going to be the case with Troy. Robbie did it instantly." Among the more experienced members of McCarthy's starting XI are Robbie Brady and Ciaran Clark, with the Newcastle United defender eager to make the most of his opportunity after a spell in the international wilderness.
Earlier in the day the Republic of Ireland Under-21s continue their Euro 2021 qualification campaign, away to Armenia in Yerevan (kick-off 12pm Irish time). Injuries, suspension and Parrott's selection for the senior side mean Stephen Kenny is without eight first-choice players for the first part of a double-header, and he has handed debuts to four players - including Stoke City defender Nathan Collins. Elsewhere England take on Montenegro at Wembley tonight (kick-off 7.45pm, UTV and Virgin Media One) knowing one point would be enough to secure their place at Euro 2020. It is the England national team's 1000th fixture, and ahead of it manager Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to drop Raheem Sterling, following the Manchester City forward's bust-up with Joe Gomez earlier in the week. "We take the decision and drew a line under everything," he said.
Meanwhile in her column this morning Sonia O'Sullivan has talked about American distance runner Mary Cain, who recently spoke out about the emotional and physical trauma she was subjected to while a member of Alberto Salazar's programme at the Nike Oregon Project. And she has said that Cain's allegations have addressed an elephant in the room in athletics, particularly when it comes to the weight of athletes and the pressure placed upon them to attain a certain size - and reminded her of her own experiences. She writes: "I grew up at a time that when I started at Villanova University, at age 17, every Monday we were expected to meet at the weighing scales. That magic number 114lb was also thrown around. It didn't really mean much to me, as I was so used to stones as the measure of weight straight off the plane from Ireland. And I wasn't even sure of the purpose. It was a very old school method, and you took it for what it was. I know some athletes feared it more than others."
Elsewhere Jason Smyth secured a staggering 20th gold medal of his career as he dominated to take the 100 metres T-13 final at the 2019 World Para-Athletics Championships in Dubai. The 32-year-old clocked a championship record time of 10.54 seconds to top the podium and afterwards, he said: "It's another incredible world championships, things obviously have been going very well this year. And such a strange time of the year, November, to be trying to put up fast times but to come here and put up one of my fastest times of the season, it's testament to a lot of the people that are around me and supporting me and putting me in a position to get here and do so."
And Douvan is set to return to action at Clonmel today in the Grade Two Clonmel Oil Chase (2.50pm), with Willie Mullins' two-time Cheltenham winner back on the track after an absence of 569 days.
