Wayne Rooney admitted “it’s great to be back in English football” despite suffering a 1-0 defeat in his first match as Birmingham’s new boss at Middlesbrough.
The former Manchester United and England striker was left frustrated against ex-team-mate Michael Carrick’s Boro when Morgan Rogers flicked in an 89th-minute winner at the Riverside.
Rooney, who turns 38 on Tuesday, took over from John Eustace during the international break.
It was a day of emotion and reflection for both Rooney and Carrick as they heard the news of Sir Bobby Charlton’s death at half-time, with both sets of fans then chanting the World Cup winner’s name before the restart.
Both Rooney and Carrick had spent time with Charlton during their Old Trafford careers.
Middlesbrough had controlled the first half and wasted numerous opportunities, the best of which was when striker Josh Coburn was played in and fired wide, having earlier headed over the bar too.
But when Rogers, only 13 minutes after emerging as a substitute, arrived at the front post to turn in Matt Crooks’ low return pass, there was no way back for Birmingham – meaning defeat for Rooney in his first game.
Rooney, whose side have slipped to seventh after a fourth straight defeat on the road, said: “I have been quite calm. You always have a feeling before the game as player or manager, which is normal, but I was quite calm. I know what I want.
“I know where we need to get to. I knew this was a possibility today, but it will take time to get where we want to go.
“We might have to go through days like this and it is important we stay calm to ensure we hit the goals we really want to.
“You never enjoy when you lose, but it is great to be back in English football, great to be at Birmingham. Thankfully we have another game Wednesday.
He added: “There were parts of the game we wanted to take the ball more, but ultimately you don’t always get what you want in football. It is decision-making and game management.
“Even after Middlesbrough scored there were different moments in the game were our game management has to be better. That is what frustrated me in the last eight minutes.
“But we are a team trying to adapt to a different way and that will take time. During that period we do have to pick up points.”
Given Rooney and Carrick’s Old Trafford connections, it was ironic that it was Rogers, a former Manchester City player, who scored the winner.
The 21-year-old has scored twice in the league cup since his summer arrival from the Etihad, but this was his first goal in the Championship – and one that secured a fifth straight win for Middlesbrough.
Carrick, whose side moved a point behind seventh-placed Birmingham, said: “It was a big goal for all of us – a big goal to win a game.
“I’m really pleased for Morgan, he came on to make an impact. Goals like that can give you a massive boost and I am sure he will have an impact for the rest of the season.
“We did enough to win the game because we had enough chances, and those chances we could have scored from, they were good ones.
“I couldn’t fault the boys. It is tough when you go into a game like this because we didn’t really know
what we were going into, there wasn’t much we had to go on (after Rooney’s arrival).
“But I’m really pleased about the impact from the boys off the bench. They have all come off and made an impact in different ways.
“You never know if a goal is going to come, but you have to keep doing the right things and freshen up to try to create a spark. In the end the boys found a way to score.”
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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