Oisin Murphy has been booked to partner Via Sistina after trainer George Boughey confirmed the Qipco Champion Stakes as the intended target for his star mare at Ascot on Saturday.

A brilliant winner of the Group Two Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in the spring, the daughter of Fastnet Rock subsequently secured Group One glory in the Pretty Polly in Ireland and has since been placed in the Falmouth Stakes and beaten a nose in the Prix Jean Romanet in France.

Connections decided against contesting the Prix de l’Opera on Arc weekend due to the prevailing fast ground and have a choice of engagements this weekend, with Via Sistina also holding an entry in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes over a mile and a half.

But with rain forecast to hit the Berkshire track, Boughey is planning on running his five-year-old against the boys on British Champions Day – and with regular rider Jamie Spencer in Australia to ride Simon and Ed Crisford’s West Wind Blows in the Caulfield Cup, three-time champion jockey Murphy has been called up.

Boughey said: “It (Champion Stakes) looks very much the plan at the moment. Ten furlongs I think is her optimum trip and it looks like the ground might be in her favour.

“The forecast for France looked like it was going to dry up ahead of the Prix de l’Opera and it certainly did. Steve and Becky Hillen (owners), and fair play to them, they wanted to wait for Ascot and thankfully the rain looks like it’s coming.

“There’s a chance the race may be held on the inner loop and there could be 50 per cent more runners in the fillies’ and mares’ race, so it could get messy. I think the Champion looks the right spot for her.

“The more time she has between her runs, the better she is as well. I still think her best performance of the year was on very soft ground at Newmarket, having had a long break through the winter.

“She’s very fit and very fresh and ready to rock and roll.”

Via Sistina is set to lead a small but select Boughey team into battle at Ascot, with Believing an intended runner in the Qipco British Champions Sprint and Baradar and Raadobarg both set to contest the concluding Balmoral Handicap.

Of the latter pair, Boughey added: “The trip is a bit of a question mark for Baradar – William (Buick) will need to be very patient on him, I think. He has a good record on the horse and knows him well.

“He won well the last day and he seems to have found another leg for the cheekpieces. We know he handles very soft ground, he won the International at Ascot earlier in the season and he comes here in as good a shape as I’ve had him all year, but it’s going to be a long final furlong for him, I’d say.

“Raadobarg takes his racing very well and seems to have come out of his run in the Darley Stakes the other day (finished third) in super shape.

“He deserves his place in the line-up. He’s a big price, but arguably he might be one of the classier horses in the race and we know he handles the ground.”

Leeds have pulled off a double coup for next year’s Betfred Super League with the signings of Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers.

Half-back Croft, who won last year’s Steve Prescott Man of Steel, and England international hooker Ackers have put pen to paper on three-year deals.

Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington said: “It is our biggest investment in one go since we signed Iestyn Harris in 1997 when Iestyn came and made a significant difference to our squad.

“I am sure that Brodie and Andy will both do that.”

Leeds endured a disappointing season, finishing eighth – two points behind seventh-placed Salford – and missed out on the end-of-season play-offs.

Croft is confident he and Ackers can bring some vibrancy to Rohan Smith’s side as they attempt to revive their new club’s fortunes.

The Australian said: “I can’t wait to get started in pre-season and get to know the Leeds boys.

“When I found out that Gary and Rohan were keen to bring Andy with me from Salford, I was really excited. For me, he is the best hooker in Super League and we have a great relationship on and off the field.”

Ackers added: “The club have shown their ambition with the squad for next season and I will be looking to play my part.”

What the papers say

Newcastle have emerged as likely candidates to end England midfielder Kalvin Phillips’ frustrating time at Manchester City. According to the Daily Mail, they are preparing a bid for the 27-year-old.

Liverpool are showing an interest in Bayern Munich’s former Chelsea youth player Jamal Musiala, 20. The Daily Mirror, via German outlet Sport Bild, said the German international’s agents were not discussing a new contract with the Bundesliga club.

Off the pitch, The i reports that former Tottenham head of recruitment Paul Mitchell is tipped to become the new director of football at Manchester United. Current Old Trafford football director John Murtough’s role is at risk from the move.

Social media round-up Players to watch

Assan Ouedrago: Liverpool are among the Premier League clubs keeping an eye on the 17-year-old Schalke midfielder, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Goncalo Inacio: 90.min reports the Anfield club are also keen on Sporting’s 22-year-old Portugal defender.

Zion Williamson scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter and Brandon Ingram had 18 to lead the New Orleans Pelicans a 104-92 preseason victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

Williamson finished the opening quarter with 10 points, four steals, two assists and a rebound and shot 6 of 8 in 16 minutes overall before exiting for good.

Franz Wagner led the Magic with 19 points and brother Moritz Wagner added 16. The brothers combined to shoot 15 of 21 while the rest of the team shot 20 of 63.

Elsewhere in the NBA, Jayson Tatum poured in 28 points with five of his team’s 23 3-pointers and Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points in the Boston Celtics’ 123-110 win over the New York Knicks.

Jaylen Brown scored 17 points for Boston, which connected on 23 of 52 from long range.

Quentin Grimes paced the Knicks with 22 points, including 7 of 12 on 3-pointers. 

In Oklahoma City, Josh Giddey scored 19 points and Chet Holmgren had 18 to propel the hot-shooting Thunder to a 124-101 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Giddey was 9 of 12 from the field and Holmgren was 7 of 8 as part of the Thunder’s 56.5 percent (48 of 85) shooting effort that included 18 of 39 from 3-point range.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes, while Damian Lillard scored just five points on 2-of-11 shooting in his second game with Milwaukee.

Jenson Button won the Formula One world title on this day in 2009 after a fifth-place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

A combination of brilliant driving and dramatic incidents saw the Brawn GP driver elevated into fifth spot at Interlagos, while rivals Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello finished fourth and eighth, respectively.

That left Button with a 15-point cushion over Vettel, with Barrichello two points further back with just one race remaining.

He became the 10th British driver to win the top prize in motor racing, inheriting the crown from compatriot Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion.

The 29-year-old Button may not have wrapped it up in the way he would have liked, having won six of the first seven races of the season, but his Brawn team also claimed the constructors’ title just over 10 months after they appeared to be on the scrapheap when Honda pulled out of the sport.

The tears and the champagne flowed at the end of 71 laps, with Button’s father John admitting he and his son “cried like babies” when they
embraced each other after the race.

“You don’t win the world championship and feel relief, you feel ecstatic,” Jenson Button said.

“All the memories, good and bad, go through your mind, not just from this year, but previous years in the sport, especially this year.

“I had such a great start to the season and then the last few races were pretty stressful for me because the pace was there, but we struggled a few times.

“This team has done staggeringly well and what we’ve achieved this season after the winter we’ve had is exceptional, and I don’t think there has been a season like it in Formula One.

“It’s great to be sat here as world champion and I personally think I thoroughly deserve it. I’ve been the best over 16 races and that’s what world titles are all about.”

Button completed the 2009 season with a third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two weeks later, finishing 11 points clear of Vettel.

He moved to McLaren the following season and was runner-up to Vettel in the 2011 title race. He retired from F1 in 2017.

Kyle Schwarber hit a pair of home runs to back Aaron Nola’s stellar start and the Philadelphia Phillies rolled to a 10-0 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday for a 2-0 lead in the NL Championship Series.

Trea Turner also went deep and J. T. Realmuto drove in three runs to help the Phillies improve to 7-1 in these playoffs, including 6-0 at home.

Philadelphia will try to move closer to a second straight World Series appearance when the series shifts to Arizona for Game 3 on Thursday.

Nola gave up three hits over six innings without a walk and struck out seven. He is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in three playoff starts this season.

Turner’s one-out home run in the first off Merrill Kelly got Philadelphia started and Schwarber extended the lead in the third with his first blast of the night.

The Phillies tacked on four runs in the sixth and knocked out Kelly.

Schwarber led off with another home run and Turner walked before Kelly got the next two outs. Joe Mantiply relieved and surrendered Bryson Stott’s single and Realmuto followed with a two-run double into the gap in left-centre.

Brandon Marsh then doubled home Realmuto for a 6-0 advantage.

Alec Bohm had a two-run double, Realmuto singled home another run and Nick Castellanos added a sacrifice fly in Philadelphia’s four-run seventh.

The Phillies have hit .315 with 28 runs and 15 homers in the past four games.

Gareth Southgate says England are ready to fight for European Championship glory having progressed from what he believes was the toughest qualifying group with two matches to spare.

After bouncing back from December’s World Cup quarter-final exit to France by winning in Naples in March, three further wins and a draw away to Ukraine put the Euro 2020 runners-up within touching distance of progress.

Unbeaten England only needed a point against Italy to wrap up qualification for next year’s finals in Germany but went on to secure all three thanks to an impressive 3-1 comeback victory at a sold-out Wembley.

“Really pleased to win the game tonight,” manager Southgate said after sealing their spot at Euro 2024. “That’s the first thing.

“We know that the games against the top, top nations are the ones that we want to make a step forward with.

“We still need to win the games next month because it can affect seeding.

“Nice to get it done early. I think it’s probably the toughest qualifying group, with Ukraine, Italy and the results that North Macedonia have had, not only in this qualification but also in previous qualifications.”

The pressure is off as England welcome Malta next month, before rounding off 2023 away to North Macedonia buoyed by an impressive victory against Italy.

Former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca had put the Azzurri ahead on Tuesday as these nations met at Wembley for the first time since the Euro 2020 final.

But Harry Kane levelled from the spot and Marcus Rashford finished off a fine second-half team move, before the skipper added his second on a night that underlined their place among the Euro 2024 favourites.

“I think we have to accept that,” Southgate said. “I think pressure comes when expectation is different to reality and the reality is we are going to be one of the teams capable of winning.

“There are others. You know, it’s a very strong (line-up). You’ve only got to look through the top 10 European nations and on any given night one can beat another.

“We’re seeing in a Rugby World Cup now that teams that were ranked one and two in the world in those moments haven’t been able to get there.  That’s tournaments.

“But we’re comfortable with that. I’ve talked about that from when we played at Naples and we delivered that night.

“I think we’ve continued to do that through this calendar year. I think our performances have been good.

“I think the players that played against Australia did a brilliant job for us.

“If we didn’t have the depth that we’ve got and the mentality to come through what was a really tough night for them, we wouldn’t have been able to have the freshness that we had tonight to give ourselves the best chance of winning the game.”

One of the keys to success next summer will undoubtedly be the brilliance of midfielder Jude Bellingham.

The Real Madrid star is arguably the best player on the planet right now and earned the first half penalty scored by Kane, before winning the ball and playing in Rashford.

“With Jude, his mentality is incredible for his age,” Southgate said.

“To have such an impact at such a young age, to show such maturity but also humility. We’re very lucky to have him.”

As for Italy, Tuesday’s defeat under the arch leaves them in third in Group C and three points behind second-placed Ukraine.

But Luciano Spalletti’s men have a game in hand on Sergey Rebrov’s outfit, who they face in the final round of fixtures.

“We have to win our next game so we can then travel away to Ukraine to compete,” the Italy boss said, looking ahead to November’s home clash with North Macedonia.

“I saw a team trying to do what I asked of them and I saw some good things. We made a few errors as well.

“With the things we did well, we weren’t able to score but as soon as we made a mistake, we conceded.”

Steve Clarke has told his Scotland players to “stop this run” of defeats next month after losing 4-1 to France in Lille.

The Scots went into the friendly knowing they had qualified for the 2024 European Championships after Spain beat Norway at the weekend to ensure a top-two finish in Group A.

Scotland had lost 2-0 to Spain last week on the back of a 3-1 loss to England at Hampden Park in the 150th Heritage Anniversary match and the French were even classier.

Clarke made eight changes from Seville – goalkeepers Liam Kelly and Zander Clark played a half each on their debuts.

Scotland stunned the home side when midfielder Billy Gilmour guided in the opener after 11 minutes – his first ever senior goal.

However, France defender Benjamin Pavard scored two headers, skipper Kylian Mbappe added a third from the spot before the break after a VAR intervention saw referee Tobias Stieler judge Scotland defender Liam Cooper had held Olivier Giroud and substitute Kingsley Coman hammered in a fourth.

After victory in their first five Euro qualifiers, Scotland have lost three in a row and Clarke wants to get that winning feeling back in the final two qualifiers against Georgia next month before the final game against Norway.

He said: “We can take away the memory of the qualification but we lost two games in the camp.

“We don’t like losing. I don’t want them to be comfortable losing or happy to lose.

“We spoke about that after the game. It is important we set our standards higher than that.

“We have lost three in a row now and I have asked them to make sure that when we got to Georgia that we stop this run.

“We want to finish on the same points as Spain so the target is to finish with 21 point which will make it a good campaign.”

Clarke, who was “happy” with his team selection, acknowledged the superiority of the home side.

He said: “I thought we started the game really well, the first 15 minute was good and we got ourselves in front.

“To concede a goal from a corner was disappointing because we know France can score from open play and we try not to give goals away from set plays.

“The third goal – I don’t think VAR should have got involved in the decision, it was soft and when the referee goes there he has to be strong to stick with his original decision.

“Both players were at it and that takes the game away from us.

“The second half was OK but France are always a threat with their pace and power and quality.

“So lots to learn, lots to improve. We know we are not at that level yet.

“It is level we are going to strive to get to and the harder we strive the better team we will be.”

After sealing qualification to Euro 2024 with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Friday, France boss Didier Deschamps was happy to finish the camp off with a convincing win

He said: “It was a very good week, When you win you are always happy.

“The most important thing was against the Netherlands on Friday night and the fact that we have shown so much quality tonight as well, it is a great satisfaction for us.

“We created lots of chances against a team that can defend pretty well and has a lot of qualities. So we are very happy.”

Michael O’Neill has told Shea Charles he must learn from his dismissal after Northern Ireland suffered yet another 1-0 defeat in Euro 2024 qualifying, this time at home to Slovenia.

The 19-year-old Charles has been one of the bright spots for Northern Ireland in a hugely frustrating qualifying campaign, among the young players who have grabbed the chance to establish themselves in the side amid an injury nightmare.

But his international copybook got its first blemish as he collected two yellow cards to be sent off just before the hour mark at Windsor Park, meaning his run of starting every game so far in this campaign will end when Northern Ireland head to Finland next month.

The Southampton midfielder was booked for dissent just a few minutes into the match, protesting against the dubious decision to award Slovenia the free-kick from which Adam Cerin won the game, and then saw red when he caught Andraz Sporar late in the 58th minute.

Northern Ireland had been frustrated by several decisions from referee Istvan Kovacs on the night but O’Neill said that was something they had to be able to handle.

“This is a learning curve for young players,” he said. “(Slovenia) are a much more experienced international team than we are. You can see that in the way they managed the situation and played the referee a little bit.

“The emotion in the stadium obviously transferred to the players a little bit, everyone gets a bit frustrated with some of the decisions…If you’re booked for dissent, that’s poor. You put yourself under pressure so we have to learn from that.”

“We’ve probably seen a little combination of inexperience in a number of players and also just the nature of the emotion in the game when you’re chasing the game against a team that are a little bit more experienced and that can spill over a little bit.

“But I think that on the night we were pretty disappointed with the performance of the referee.”

This was Northern Ireland’s fifth 1-0 defeat of a campaign in which they have faced endless injury problems, with O’Neill forced to use two more fresh faces – Eoin Toal and Brad Lyons – on the night to take the number who have played in the eight qualifiers so far to 31.

O’Neill could rightly argue that this performance was a step forward from last month’s 4-2 defeat to Slovenia in Ljubljana considering the way a makeshift defence was able to stifle Benjamin Sesko – who went down easily to win the decisive free-kick off Jamal Lewis – and Sporar.

But ultimately it was another defeat, a sixth out of eight with only two wins over minnows San Marino to break up the run.

“I think there is always frustration when you lose the game – and a little bit of disappointment as well,” he said.

“I think the players deserved more out of it than what they got. We have had a frustrating campaign, a very challenging campaign and tonight’s game was probably a reflection of that once again.”

Captain Jonny Evans ended the night limping heavily after taking a late blow to his foot, having already been down in the first half to receive treatment.

“He’s obviously hobbling a little bit in there,” O’Neill said of the Manchester United defender. “I think the same foot was stamped on three times so he’s limping pretty badly but I think he’ll be fine.

“It will be one of those where when he wakes up in the morning he’ll be pretty sore but there’s no real damage as far as I know.”

Callum Robinson is convinced the Republic of Ireland are heading in the right direction despite their disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Ireland will not be in Germany for next summer’s finals – barring an unlikely series of results elsewhere which could hand them a second chance via the play-offs – after taking just six points from their first seven Group B fixtures, with just a tough trip to the Netherlands next month to come.

That has left manager Stephen Kenny fighting for his job, but Cardiff striker Robinson believes the foundations the 51-year-old has put in place since succeeding Mick McCarthy in April 2021 could yet pay dividends.

Speaking after Monday night’s 4-0 victory over Gibraltar in Faro, the 28-year-old said: “There’s so much potential and it’s a hard one for everybody to hear, but I think we’ve come a long way, football-wise.

“Now it’s getting over the other side by getting wins and three points. It’s been disappointing that we haven’t got the results we wanted, but if you look from the time the gaffer came in, it’s been chalk and cheese. We’re playing much better football.

“But it’s about bringing all of it together, being the team that’s hard to beat, scores goals and get wins.”

Kenny’s masterplan has been to overhaul his squad – he has handed out 20 debuts and used 52 different players in his time at the helm – with many of the newcomers elevated from the under-21 ranks.

The average age of the starting line-up at the Estadio Algarve was a little under 25.4; that figure was in excess of 28.8 for McCarthy’s final fixture against Denmark in November 2019.

However, whatever progress Kenny believes has been made has not been reflected in results, with the win in Faro just his sixth in 28 competitive matches and only one of note, a 3-0 Nations League victory over Scotland.

But Robinson said: “I can remember when I first joined the squad, everyone was saying that we weren’t playing enough football, just hitting it up there and hoping.

“That’s not so long ago, only five years ago. We nicked results, but it wasn’t enjoyable to watch. Now we’re playing good football and it’s about bringing that balance, being good in both boxes.”

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Robinson was one of Ireland’s goalscorers in Faro, marking the latest stage in his re-emergence from a long-term hamstring injury which was followed by a back problem and in the meantime, he has seen 18-year-old Evan Ferguson, who also found the back of the net on Monday evening, take his chance with both hands.

Asked about the competition, the older man said: “That’s football and he’s flying. I’m here to help. It’s competition and we’ll push each other.

“He’s a young kid, but is coming on leaps and bounds watching him week in, week out and he’s been nominated for the (European) Golden Boy (Award).

“He’s level-headed and if he stays the way he is off the pitch, he’ll have an unbelievable career.”

Scotland gave France an early fright before suffering a chastening 4-1 loss to their classy hosts in Lille.

The Scots went into the friendly knowing they had qualified for the 2024 European Championships at the weekend after Spain beat Norway to ensure Steve Clarke’s side a top-two finish in Group A.

Clarke took the opportunity to utilise his squad, giving a debut to Liam Kelly among eight changes from last week’s game in Seville and they stunned the home side when midfielder Billy Gilmour guided in the opener after 11 minutes – his first ever senior goal.

However, France defender Benjamin Pavard scored twice with headers by way of a rapid response and skipper Kylian Mbappe added a third from the spot before the break.

Substitute Kingsley Coman hammered in a fourth in the 70th minute to seal a commanding win for the superior home side.

After winning their first five Euro qualifiers, Scotland have lost three games in a row and Clarke will want to get that winning feeling back in the final two qualifiers against Georgia and Norway next month.

In addition to Kelly’s introduction to international football in The Decathlon Arena Stade Pierre Mauroy, Clarke also brought in defenders Nathan Patterson, Greg Taylor and Liam Cooper, midfielders Kenny McLean, Gilmour and Lewis Ferguson and striker Che Adams.

It was always going to be a tough test against Les Blues, who qualified comfortably for Euro 2024 by winning their first six qualifiers.

Boss Didier Deschamps also freshened his side up from the 2-1 win over the Netherlands last Friday.

Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann kept their places while Ousmane Dembele and all-time leading scorer Olivier Giroud came back into the side.

The kick-off was delayed for around 10 minutes due to the long queues at the stadium amid extra security measures put in place after two Swedish nationals were shot dead in Brussels the previous evening.

There was a minute’s silence before the game to commemorate that incident and it was a low-key start to the game on a pitch still showing markings from its use in the Rugby World Cup, before the Scots took an unexpected lead.

France defender Eduardo Camavinga cut out a pass from Gilmour inside the box but with a poor touch gave it straight back to the unmarked Brighton midfielder, who curled the ball low past goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

However, there was little time for the Tartan Army to enjoy the landmark goal as a Griezmann corner from the left five minutes later was all too easily glanced past Kelly by Inter Milan centre-back Pavard.

A refocused France side took control of the game and Mbappe skipped past Jack Hendry before crossing for Pavard again to head past Kelly from close range.

The visitors were struggling to get up the pitch and in the 40th minute France were awarded a penalty after referee Tobias Stieler went pitchside at the behest of VAR and judged Cooper had held Giroud inside the penalty area, with Mbappe stepping up to send the penalty past the diving Kelly, who got close but not close enough.

The Motherwell keeper did not look great moments later when he fumbled a shot from Dembele but the lurking Mbappe could not capitalise.

Hearts keeper Zander Clark replaced Kelly at the start of the second half to make his debut and Jacob Brown and John Souttar would take over from Adams and Cooper. Giroud and Dembele made way for Marcus Thuram and Coman and in the 70th minute the latter thrashed a shot high past Clark after Griezmann had volleyed against the bar.

A low drive from Brown in a rare Scotland attack was pushed past the post by Maignan and the corner came to nothing before Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong came on for Gilmour and McLean.

Thuram rattled Clark’s crossbar with a drive and at the other Maignan made saves from Armstrong’s volley and Brown’s header but the game was already well gone for Scotland.

Marcus Smith is now viewed as a “world class” option at full-back by England after Kevin Sinfield was blown away by his defensive heroics against Fiji.

England are hopeful that Smith will be passed fit for Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against South Africa after he was placed on modified training alongside Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Tom Curry, Courtney Lawes and Dan Cole.

The converted fly-half ended the last-eight victory over Fiji on Sunday with a fat upper lip and bandage around his head after he was the victim of a dangerous tackle by wing Vinaya Habosi, forcing him to depart for an HIA which he passed.

Once again he is competing with Freddie Steward for the number 15 jersey and, after two starts in the position, Sinfield sees a player who has the bravery to match his attacking brilliance.

“We’d all agree he’s a world class 10, but last weekend I felt he was a world class 15 as well,” England’s defence coach said

“You’ve got to remember this guys has played around 100, 120 minutes as a full-back in Test rugby so far.

“What he’s done on the training field for us has been outstanding. You’re blown away by what he does now that he’s being given more time and space.

“If there was any doubt how brave and courageous he is then you saw it with your own eyes. The bloke got his face smashed in and threw his body into tackles.

“The guys are in full admiration for him – he’s just got his face smashed all over the place yet he wants the ball. He’s just a brave guy.

“And not just because he’s physically tough and brave, because to be put on a world stage in a quarter-final and deliver what he delivered was an absolute credit to him. What a great kid.”

Steward was dropped from the 23 against Fiji altogether and now England face the choice of reverting to his high ball and positional expertise or rolling the dice by retaining Smith in the hope he will provide a cutting edge.

South Africa possess a far smarter kicking game that could expose Smith’s inexperience at full-back, pointing to Steward’s likely return when Steve Borthwick names his team on Thursday.

“I’ve worked with Fred for some time now and thankfully I’ve not had to have many of these conversations where I’m trying to pick him up,” Sinfield said.

“Clearly he was disappointed, as anyone would be, missing out on a quarter-final, but he’s responded as we’d expect him to.

“He is a great lad, you know what he’s about, he works incredibly hard at his game, he cares and he is unbelievable full-back too.

“We are in a pretty fortunate position where we have three world class 10s and two world class full-backs.

“Our team has changed every game throughout the World Cup and Steve selects the team he thinks it will give us the best chance of winning that game.

“Just because Fred wasn’t selected last week doesn’t mean he does anything wrong, he has actually done a lot of great things and a lot of things right, but Steve and the coaching team thought it was the right thing to go with Marcus against Fiji.”

Ten-man Northern Ireland returned to the all-too-familiar feeling of defeat as Adam Cerin’s early free-kick put Group H leaders Slovenia on the verge of qualifying for Euro 2024 with a scrappy 1-0 win at Windsor Park.

Saturday’s 3-0 victory over minnows San Marino ended Northern Ireland’s five-game losing streak but it proved only a temporary reprieve in an injury-ravaged qualifying campaign which has now seen Michael O’Neill’s side suffer five 1-0 defeats in eight games.

The defining moment of the match came early on. While there was no doubt about the quality of Adam Cerin’s fifth-minute free-kick, Northern Ireland were fuming at referee Istvan Kovacs’ decision to award it after Jamal Lewis barely clipped Benjamin Sesko on the edge of the box.

Shea Charles was booked for dissent and that proved costly just before the hour mark when the Southampton midfielder went in late on Andraz Sporar and was sent off, the first blemish on the 19-year-old’s impressive start in international football.

Charles has started every game of this campaign but will now miss November’s trip to Finland, another headache for O’Neill, who was forced into further changes here with Dan Ballard out with a thigh problem and Paddy McNair suspended following his late yellow card on Saturday.

The manager responded with bold choices, handing debuts to Bolton defender Eoin Toal and Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Lyons, the 30th and 31st players to be used in eight qualifiers so far, despite more experienced options on the bench.

The atmosphere inside a below-capacity Windsor Park was already flat at the start with but it fell silent after Cerin’s goal, the fans not even having the energy to resume the anti-Casement Park chanting heard before kick-off. As the night wore on, a sense of injustice would rouse the fans.

Northern Ireland responded quickly when Slovenia scored early in Ljubljana last month, a 4-2 defeat, but struggled to threaten here. Paul Smyth, the star of the show on Saturday, found little joy on the right. On the left Lewis had more joy in finding space but lacked the quality of cross required.

Although limited going forward, Northern Ireland were at least ensuring Slovenia’s powerful strike force had few sights of Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s goal.

After one rare attack, Slovenia appeared to have been gifted a second just after the half hour. Trai Hume’s poor headed clearance went straight to Jan Mlakar and Toal got it all wrong trying to cut out his low cross, allowing Sesko to thump home from close range.

However, the visitors’ celebrations were cut short after the referee checked the replay, deeming Sporar to be interfering from an offside position.

O’Neill sent on Washington for Josh Magennis at the break and was planning further changes a little over 10 minutes in before Charles saw red, forcing a rethink.

Conor McMenamin, amongst the goals on Saturday, had been due to come on but instead it was George Saville, Dion Charles and Isaac Price who entered the fray in a triple change.

The substitutes combined for Northern Ireland’s best move in the 69th minute as Price drove down the right, exchanged passes with Washington and then pulled the ball back for Saville but the midfielder, yet to score for Northern Ireland after 49 appearances, did not get enough power on his shot.

There was a let-off in the 72nd minute when Mlakar found space in front of goal but got the contact on his shot all wrong, while at the other end Dion Charles blazed harmlessly wide.

Northern Ireland still pushed forward but another flowing move ended with Saville shooting straight at Oblak and other attacks were thwarted by the over-officious Kovacs.

Captain Jonny Evans, who had treatment on an ankle injury in the first half, ended the game limping heavily after another strong impact when challenging for a corner.