Sam Szmodics played the full 90 minutes as Ireland beat Hungary 2-1 thanks to a last-gasp winner from Troy Parrott at the Aviva Stadium.

It was Szmodics’ third appearance for the senior squad following a remarkable campaign at Ewood Park, winning the Championship Golden Boot and becoming the first Rovers player to hit 30 goals in a single season since Alan Shearer.

Interim boss John O’Shea took of the side again while the search continues for Stephen Kenny’s successor.

Ireland started slowly and could have done behind when Shane Duffy was nudged off balance by Barnabas Varga, only for Loic Nego to blaze over.

Andras Schafer dragged a shot wide of Caoimhin Kelleher’s left post after bursting into the box before the Liverpool goalkeeper had to make a smart stop from Milos Kerkez.

Szmodics’ intelligent pass looked to have got Ireland in behind after the half-hour mark but indecision between Adam Idah and Matt Doherty saw the chance slip away.

Idah made amends three minutes later when Smallbone was given time and space to pick out the frontman, who powered a header past keeper Peter Gulacsi to give his side the lead.

Hungary were level before the break when skipper Dominik Szoboszlai’s deflected shot was flicked on by Willi Orban and Adam Lang arrived at the far post to blast into the roof of the net.

Kelleher made a couple more decent stops after the break to keep out efforts from Roland Sallai and Schafer as the visitors cranked up the pressure.

But Ireland stated resolute and got their reward in stoppage time when Parrott broke from his own half and powered past Denes Dibusz to win it. The Tottenham youngster had Szmodics to his left but opted to pull the trigger himself.

Rovers’ top-scorer will also be hoping to play a part against Portugal on Tuesday, June 11. The Irish FA hope to have the next permanent manager confirmed before the Nations League campaign gets under way in September.