Rob Edwards has called on Luton to play “like our lives depend on it” in Tuesday’s Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Sunderland.
The Hatters’ dreams of reaching the Premier League for the first time in their history suffered a setback on Saturday after Sunderland hit back from an early deficit to claim a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light.
And Luton boss Edwards has stressed the need for his side to combine a red-hot desire with ice-cold thinking if they are to book a place in the play-off final against either Middlesbrough or Coventry at Wembley later this month.
Ready to go again tomorrow. |
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown)
“We have got to be calm because we need 11 players on the pitch, but we need fire and th…
Joe Hart says there is no point in England going to Euro 2016 without the conviction that they can win the tournament.
Roy Hodgson s side qualified with a perfect record of 10 wins from 10 and will face Russia, Wales and Slovakia in Group B in the finals in France.
England have only reached the semi-final stage of the European Championship once when they were beaten by Germany on home soil in 1996 and their triumph at the 1966 World Cup remains their only major trophy win.
Hart, however, insists the team are full of confidence heading into this year s tournament.
We ll have to go for it. We ve got three weeks to mould ourselves, know each other inside out and be ready to hit the ground running, he told BBC Sport.
We believe it, there s no point …
But international team-mate Fonte believes a return to Madrid would be the best outcome for Ronaldo, who won four Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles with Los Blancos between 2009 and 2018, as well as becoming the club s all-time leading scorer with 450 goals.
Lille defender Fonte, who along with Ronaldo was part of the Portugal squad that won Euro 2016, told talkSPORT: What I do know is that the man loves the Champions League.
He believes it is the best competition in the world and knows how he has to perform [in it] to win Ballons d Or.
He needs to be winning trophies and competing for trophies for the Ballon d Or. He is a serial winner, as everyone knows.
He might be looking at the [United] squad and thinking, Am I going to be able to win so…
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Two nations who will be looking to clinch back-to-back qualifying victories on Tuesday night, Scotland will welcome European heavyweights Spain to Hampden.
Scotland
Starting with the hosts, opening their European qualifying campaign with a rampant display on home soil over the weekend, Scotland should find the mood in their camp at a real high. Eventually breezing their way to a 3-0 romp against Cyprus, Steve Clarke’s men will have their sights firmly set on finding a route out of Group A. Gaining a string of plaudits last year as they secured a Nations League promotion, the one-time Kilmarnock boss his seen his squad lose just one of their last six appearances across all competitions. With their eye-catching flurry highlighted by a…
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is unsure if reuniting with former club Tottenham will feel like bumping into an ex-girlfriend because he cannot remember having one.
Pochettino enjoyed five full seasons in charge of Spurs between 2014 and 2019 but is poised to return for the first time as manager of one of their fiercest rivals.
The Argentinian, who believes Tottenham are genuine Premier League title contenders this term, is uncertain how he will be greeted by home supporters on Monday evening.
Yet he insisted a negative response would not tarnish his memories as he laughed off an analogy referencing his love life.
“My goodness,” he replied with a hearty chuckle when the situation was compared to meeting a former girlfriend.
“It’s difficu…
Romelu Lukaku scored four times in 20 first-half minutes as Belgium thrashed 10-man Azerbaijan 5-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Lukaku headed the opener from Jeremy Doku’s cross before Eddy Pascual was shown a second yellow card for a foul on the Roma striker, who is on loan from Chelsea.
The 30-year-old completed his hat-trick by the half-hour mark and grabbed his fourth after 37 minutes before being substituted at half-time. Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard completed the rout late on.
Lukaku’s total of 14 goals is a record for a European Championship qualifying campaign, beating the mark of 13 set by Northern Ireland’s David Healy in 2008 and equalled by Poland’s Robert Lewandowski in 2016.
Belgium had already booked their place at next year’s tou…
Roy Hodgson lamented the loss of an “iconic figure” at Crystal Palace after Wilfried Zaha left the club to join Turkish giants Galatasaray.
Zaha was a free agent after the expiry of his Crystal Palace contract and had revealed he was in Istanbul for talks, having reportedly turned down a £200,000-a-week offer to remain at Selhurst Park.
Earlier this week, he took to Instagram to confirmed his exit from Palace, the club he joined when he was 12 and scored 90 goals in 458 appearances, describing their shirt as his “second skin”.
After Galatasaray announced Zaha had signed a three-year deal worth an annual £3.75million, Hodgson expressed his disappointment at the forward’s exit.
“I was really sad to hear that Wilf has decided to leave and start…
The 2018 World Cup campaign will be Chris Coleman s last as Wales manager, according to the boss himself.
One of the most popular figures in Wales, Coleman guided the country to a remarkable semi-final berth at Euro 2016.
The 46-year-old, who took the reins in 2012, has a contract through to 2018 but he has no intention of continuing beyond Russia in two years time.
I am sure this will be my last campaign whether we qualify or not, said Coleman.
That will be six or seven years in the job, which is a long time. So I think this will be my last hit, at it so I will give it my best shot, but I would not consider going anywhere else. I want to see this through.
There s success in this team, I think, because they re at a good age. But I ll certainly …
York reached the FA Cup second round for the first time since 2010 as captain Lenell John-Lewis bagged a brace to see off Chester 2-1.
Visiting skipper George Glendon reduced the deficit for the National League North side, but it is the Minstermen who now go on to entertain 2013 Cup winners Wigan in a televised Friday night clash on December 1.
York started with purpose as Dipo Akinyemi fired past the near post just six seconds into the contest before John-Lewis opened the scoring in the fifth minute.
Poor away defending saw John-Lewis afforded the space to collect Scott Burgess’ right-wing corner at the near post before turning and firing past an exposed Will Stanway from two yards.
Chester only managed one effort during the opening 45 minutes, with Da…
Burnley and England goalkeeper Nick Pope could be a doubt for Euro 2020 due to a knee injury.
Clarets boss Sean Dyche confirmed on Sunday that the 29-year-old, who last played in the 2-0 win at Fulham on May 10, requires surgery.
Pope, who has seven senior international caps, had been expected to be named in Gareth Southgate s 26-man Euro 2020 England squad on Tuesday.
According to reports in England, Pope will require around a month to recover, meaning he is likely to miss the tournament.
Burnley stated the player will be assessed following the operation to see whether he can be part of England s plans, with their opening game against Croatia taking place on June 13.
Unfortunately, Nick is going to need a minor operation on his knee this week,…