Collins left on the bench as Ireland slip to England loss

Luton striker James Collins didn't get on as the Republic of Ireland were brushed aside 3-0 by England in an international friendly at Wembley last night.

Harry Maguire gave the Three Lions the lead, heading in Harry Winks' cross after 18 minutes.

Jadon Sancho doubled England's advantage before the break and it was 3-0 when Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin hammered home a penalty in 56th minute after Bukayo Saka was fouled by Cyrus Christie to sealed a first win against the Republic since 1985.

Despite scoring five goals for Luton so far, Collins was restricted to a role on the bench, Ireland boss Stephen Kenny going for Norwich City forward Adam Idah, who has just one goal in seven domestic matches this term, flanked by Bristol City's Callum O'Dowda and Wycombe Wanderers' Darryl Horgan.

Even though Kenny's side haven't netted for five matches now, the Irish boss still didn't bring on Collins after the break, Stoke City forward James McClean and Portsmouth's Ronan Curtis getting the nod.

Afterwards, Kenny said: "We were beaten 3-0, we're disappointed to lose the game, we can't complain about anything, we can't complain about the result in any shape or form but we are disappointed with the goals we conceded.

"The fact we went two down was disappointing. We gave ourselves a lot to do when that happened.

"We only conceded one goal in any previous 90 minutes and that's the first game that we haven't really created any chances."

Collins will hope to add to his four caps when Ireland visit Wales on Sunday and then host Bulgarian on Wednesday, both matches in the Nations League.