West Brom ace shines in latest display for his country, 4 tackles and 9 clearances

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West Bromwich Albion centre-back Dara O’Shea was in international action for the Republic of Ireland last night.

Stephen Kenny’s charges got their World Cup qualifying campaign under way with a trip to Serbia, with O’Shea lining up at central defence in a 3-5-2 formation.

The visitors took the lead on 18 minutes as a well-worked move culminated in Alan Browne scored a fine header to end Ireland’s seven-game goalless streak.

However, Serbia surged back as Dusan Vlahovic levelled for the hosts after 40 minutes, before Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a quick-fire second-half brace.

Although James Collins netted four minutes from time, it ended up being just a consolation as Ireland remain winless since Kenny took charge.

Despite the Irish back line conceding three goals, O’Shea did fairly well, with four tackles, one interception, nine clearances and a blocked shot under his belt.

And the Albion man was praised by several Irish media outlets.

The Irish Times gave the 22-year-old a 7 out of 10 rating and wrote: “Was given the difficult task of marshalling the dangerous Vlahovic.

“Did a good job on the whole, but let the Fiorentina striker go for Serbia’s equaliser.

“Overall an assured performance from O’Shea, both defensively and when carrying the ball out from the back.”

Balls.ie gave him the same score and wrote: “Was perhaps caught napping for Serbia’s first even accounting for the unlucky bounce, but O’Shea put in yet another solid display at the back.

“He was the one tasked with stepping out of the defence with John Egan out injured and did it very well at times. He also made a number of key tackles in dangerous positions throughout.

“The West Brom man will be a key man in this campaign.”

Up next for Ireland is Saturday’s qualifier with Luxembourg and a friendly against Qatar on Tuesday.