The final international break of the season has drawn to a close with several Sunderland players returning to the Academy of Light ahead of the clash with Cardiff City on Good Friday.
Mike Dodds' side head to South Wales knowing three points is paramount if they want to avoid being pulled further into a relegation battle, currently sitting nine points adrift of the danger zone.
A point with QPR last time out, stopped their losing streak in its tracks, but they remain seven games without a win, but could some of their internationals breathe a new lease of life into the side after a change of scenery?
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From Trai Hume's impressive outing with Northern Ireland, to Chris Rigg's dynamic England display and Callum Styles' midfield role for Hungary - here's everything you need to know about the international break.
Trai Hume
One of, if not the standout performer for Sunderland this season aside from Jack Clarke. Trai Hume continued to establish himself as one of the breakout right-backs in British football, with an impressive display against Scotland.
The Black Cats defender tackled just about everything that moved at Hampden Park. instrumental in his keeping a clean sheet alongside fellow Sunderland defender Dan Ballard.
Playing in a slightly more advanced right-wing-back role, having played as a centre-half in a back three in the 1-1 draw with Romania last week, Hume showed why a number of Premier League sides are watching his development.
“It was a good defensive performance from us,” the Sunderland ace told the Belfast Telegraph. “I thought Scotland battered the door a lot so we had to be resilient and I thought we were and the performance was strong.
“Before the game Michael (O’Neill) said to go out and show what we are about and that we are a young side and to keep building. He also said that we were playing against a lot of Premier League players and to show how good we are.
“We have to keep on building game by game. We have had two good games in this camp where we got two good results and going into the summer camp we just have to keep going.”
Locking horns with Manchester United's Scott McTominay, it was Hume who came out on top on the pitch.
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Callum Styles
The only member of Sunderland's current squad that looks set to head to this summer's European Championships in Germany. Callum Styles was a second half substitute in for Hungary's win over Türkiye and then played 84 minutes in the heart of midfield for their 2-0 win over Kosovo.
The 24-year-old midfielder has been an ever present for Marco Rossi's side over the past year or so, playing in his preferred central role, which we're yet to see after his move to Wearside.
FotMob awarded Styles the third highest rating of Hungary's starting XI against Kosovo, with a rating of 7.6 creating one opportunity and completing 25 of 35 accurate passes, with five passes into the final third. Below we see him spray a brilliant cross field ball to switch the play.
Styles doesn't necessarily play as the 'number 6' or holding midfield player that Sunderland have lacked this season, but does offer Hungary's defence more cover in a box-to-box role, supporting the two number tens ahead of him in a 3-4-3 formation.
Defensively, he won all three of his ground duels, both of his aerial duels and recovered the ball for his side on seven occasions.
His attentiveness and willingness to pounce on loose balls in central areas of the pitch, a sign of what he might bring the Black Cats in more defensive minded midfield role.
On the occasion above, the attack breaks down as his team-mate gets in his way.
Dan Ballard
Having sat out of Northern Ireland's draw with Romania, Ballard was back in the starting line-up to face Scotland and help keep a clean sheet against the Tartan Army.
The 24-year-old finds himself in a similar position with club and country, being recognised as one of the most experienced players in young squads.
He came through the win over the Tartan Army unscathed after an injury scare heading into the international break. A welcome sigh of relief for Dodds.
Leo Hjelde
Leo Hjelde added two further caps at Under-21 level for Norway, coming off the bench to beat The Netherlands 2-1 last Thursday. The Black Cats defender was thrown on at half-time to help his country swing the result back in their favour with Andreas Schjelderup scoring the winner.
He then played the full 90 minutes in Norway's 4-0 win over San Marino U21s.
Youngsters in action
Chris Rigg notched a goal and two assists to continue his remarkable ascent into professional football for England U17s against Northern Ireland and Hungary, but the Three Lions captain was sent off in their third game of European qualification after 25 minutes against France.
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Matty Young was another on international duty with England and played the full 90 minutes for the Under-18s as they defeated the Netherlands 2-1, to lift the U18 Pinatar Super Cup.
Elsewhere, Timur Tutierov helped Ukraine to wins over North Macedonia and Latvia in U19 European Championship qualifying, scoring the third and final goal of the game against Latvia. They'd go on to top the group with a 3-0 win over Switzerland in their final game of qualifying.
Trey Ogunsuyi was also in action for Belgium in back-to-back friendlies with Wales, winning one and losing one of those games.
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