The international break has not eased manager Alex Neil’s selection concerns, as he expects to again be without a number of players for the visit of Thomas Frank’s Brentford.
Before the break Andrew Hughes (hamstring), Tom Barkhuizen (groin), and Sean Maguire (eye) were all missing and they are not expected to return for the clash with the Bees.
Club captain Tom Clarke (knee) and Louis Moult (ACL) are also unavailable. The former is about six weeks away from a return, whilst Moult is due to undergo his operation to repair the knee ligament shortly.
Alan Browne returned to training on Thursday after being away with the Republic of Ireland, with the boost of grabbing his first international goal in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium.
Another player in training, but still some distance away from a first team return is David Nugent, whose calf problem has prevented his second debut for the club since his summer return.
One player who should be back is Darnell Fisher. He missed the trip to Nottingham Forest with a minor hip complaint, but he is back in training and likely to be available for selection.
The Bees too have a number of players returning from international duty. Bryan Mbeumo, the expensive summer signing, impressed with his first goal for France’s U21s at his former club Troyes over the weekend.
Centre half pairing in the Bees’ 3-0 success at home to Derby County last-time out Henrik Dalsgaard and another summer signing, Pontus Jansson, both return from Scandanvia having been with Denmark and Sweden respectively during the break, the former starting, whilst the former Leeds United man was an unused substitute.
There are a number of other members of the squad who jetted off to join up with their countries during the two week break and Thomas Frank will hope they all return fully fit for the trip up to Lancashire.