International involvement for Hibs pair Elias Melkersen and Rocky Bushiri

Hibs forward Elias Melkersen made his debut for Norway’s Under-21 team as he came off the bench in the first of two friendly matches in Spain against their Scotland counterparts on Thursday night.

The 20-year-old, whose club season only came to an end earlier this week as loan side Sparta Rotterdam lost out in the final of the Eredivisie Europa Conference League qualification play-off against FC Twente, was named among the substitutes after receiving his first call-up to Leif Gunnar Smerud’s squad – despite playing just nine minutes of senior football in the Netherlands.

The Norwegians drew a blank for a third consecutive match, following back-to-back 3-0 defeats by the Netherlands and Portugal in March, as neither team could find a breakthrough and the game ended goalless. The stalemate extends Scotland’s winless run to five games, their last victory coming against Northern Ireland in September 2022 when Kieron Bowie, Ben Doak, and Josh Mulligan netted in a 3-1 win at the Blanchflower Stadium in Belfast.

Hibs pair Elias Melkersen, left, and Rocky Bushiri were on international duty this week

Meanwhile, Rocky Bushiri will have to wait to make his debut for the Democratic Republic of Congo. The centre-back was named in the Leopards squad for their friendly against Uganda earlier this week ahead of Sunday’s AFCON qualifier against Gabon in Franceville, but was an unused substitute as Théo Bongonda’s penalty gave Sébastien Desabre’s side a narrow victory at the Japoma Stadium in Cameroon.

Capped by Belgium at under-19 and under-21 level, the 23-year-old switched allegiances earlier this year and might have been included in previous squads were it not for an ankle injury that sidelined him from late January until May.