We're back with another round of Irish player ratings, giving you a look at the performances of our footballers plying their trade abroad.
There were a couple of standout performers in the Premier League, with David McGoldrick finding his goalscoring touch at the right time. However, there are some injury concerns.
Elsewhere, Sean Maguire had the perfect response to being left out of the Ireland squad, while Shane Duffy produced a very eye-catching moment for Celtic that would have really pleased Stephen Kenny.
Here are the ratings in full.
Premier League
The standout performance in the Premier League came from David McGoldrick. The Sheffield United striker grabbed his first league goal of the season in the 2-1 loss at Arsenal, producing this beautiful left-footed strike late in the game.
A fine finish from David McGoldrick. 👏 pic.twitter.com/e7qiiXy0n1
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) October 4, 2020
With Ireland taking on Slovakia later this week, this was the ideal time for our first choice striker to rediscover his scoring touch.
This was another loss for Sheffield United, but they actually performed quite well. John Egan and Enda Stevens both had good games, something we hope they will carry onto the international scene.
Seamus Coleman's injury has been well documented at this stage, with the Ireland captain set to miss that game in Bratislava. He was putting in another excellent performance for Everton before injury.
Matt Doherty did not feature in Spurs' win over Manchester United, perhaps no bad thing when you consider he has looked fatigued early in the season.
Championship
Having been left out of Stephen Kenny's squad for the upcoming internationals, Sean Maguire responded by putting in the best Irish performance in the Championship over the weekend.
The Preston striker scored his side's fourth as they secured a very impressive win away at Brentford.
(The goal will play automatically when you click on the video below.)
Alan Browne also performed well in that one, with Lancs Live saying that he 'was a nuisance for Brentford throughout the game and looks back to his best in that number 10 role'.
With Darragh Lenihan missing due to injury, Blackburn teammate Derrick Williams put in another excellent performance ahead of his recall to the Ireland squad. We would expect to see the Waterford native add to his three international caps over the next week.
Jason Knight played a key role in Derby's win over Norwich City, producing a stunning solo run late on that led to the winning goal. He will now link up with Jim Crawford's U21 squad ahead of the key Euro qualifier against Italy.
Kieran Sadlier was the only other Irish player to directly contribute to a goal in the division, getting an assist in Rotherham's 1-1 draw with Huddersfield Town.
League One
Glenn Whelan was the top Irish performer in League One, although it wasn't enough to stop Fleetwood Town falling to a 2-1 defeat at Rochdale. He came up against the likes of Gavin Bazunu, Paul McShane, Eoghan O'Connell, and Jimmy Keohane in opposition.
There were no Irish goalscorers in the division, although a couple of players did grab assists.
On-loan Watford player Ryan Cassidy assisted Accrington Stanley's winner against AFC Wimbledon, putting in a strong overall performance.
Ronan Curtis also got an assist after being introduced as a substitute in Portsmouth's 4-2 win at Burton Albion.
League Two
Eoin Doyle starred in Bolton Wanderers' 2-1 win at Harrogate.
After scoring 26 goals in League Two last season, he has started to rediscover some of that form with a goal and an assist on Saturday afternoon.
Other Notables
Shane Duffy continued his very strong start to life at Celtic, making a major contribution in their 2-0 win over St Johnstone, getting an assist and a rating of 8.3/10 from Who Scored.
The nature of his assist will certainly encourage Ireland supporters. Duffy showed great awareness to steal the ball from an opposition player, before carrying it forward and showing the composure to pick out Klimala in the penalty area.
Ajer’s skill 💫
Elhamed’s cross 🎯
Griffiths’ finish 🔥
Klimala’s determination 💪
⚽️ #𝙎𝙏𝙅𝘾𝙀𝙇 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/z1IqSKzmGR— Celtic TV (@CelticTV) October 5, 2020
With doubts over his ability to act as a ball-playing centre back, Stephen Kenny would have enjoyed watching that clip.
See Also: Report: Josh Cullen Set To Seal Intriguing Move To European Club
