It was a mixed bag for Saints stars on international duty yesterday with goals, losses and unused subs the order of the day.

It all started so well with Maya Yoshida in goalscoring form as Japan hammered Honduras 6-0 in a Kirin Challenge Cup game.

The centre half opened the scoring with a header after nine minutes to start Japan on their way to a handsome win.

Yoshida, who now has three international goals to his name, will be action again on Tuesday when Japan face Australia in another Kirin Challenge Cup game.

However, that was pretty much about as good as it got on a day when six of the 15 Saints stars on international duty were in action.

Shane Long was handed a massive boost as he was named in the starting line-up for the Republic of Ireland in their Euro 2016 Group D qualifier away to Scotland.

The game was a highly charged and pulsating affair and Long came close to putting his side in the lead early in the second half.

However, he was taken off after 68 minutes and Scotland went on to grab the only goal of the game through Shaun Maloney.

Dusan Tadic suffered a similar fate as Serbia hosted Denmark in Group I.

The game was played in an empty stadium as a result of the abandoned match with Albania last time out, which saw Serbia awarded with the win and then deducted three points.

Their chances of qualifying for the finals took a blow as they lost the game 3-1.

Tadic started the game and saw his side get off to a great start as Zoran Tosic put Serbia into the lead after four minutes.

They held onto their advantage until just over the hour mark but ended up soundly beaten with Tadic being withdrawn on 71 minutes.

Morgan Schneiderlin won his seventh cap for France as a late sub in a friendly against Albania.

Schneiderlin entered the match with ten minutes remaining in place of Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko but couldn’t affect the scoreline as the game ended 1-1.

Jose Fonte is still waiting for his international debut as he was again an unused sub as Portugal edged out Armenia 1-1 in a Euro 2016 qualifier.

Florin Gardos also had to sit and watch as Romania won 2-0 against Northern Ireland, who were without their skipper, Saints midfielder Steven Davis, due to his hamstring injury.