Ice hockey fans have paid tribute to Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson, who died after sustaining a serious injury during a match watched by thousands.

Many supporters were in tears as they signed books of condolence on the ice at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Saturday evening.

Fans walked past a photo of Johnson and a shirt displaying his name and team number, 47, as they came onto the ice – which had been carpeted – to pay their respects to the American.

Hundreds of floral tributes to Johnson have also been left outside the Motorpoint Arena in Bolero Square.

Nottingham Panthers said the team’s players and staff would spend Saturday afternoon privately reflecting on their memories of Johnson while signing the books of condolence.

Johnson’s funeral will take place on Sunday in the US, according to an obituary posted on the website of Dougherty Funeral Home in Hibbing, Minnesota.

The obituary stated: “Adam had a quiet confidence about him and was never boastful.

“He was never looking to be the centre of attention, but rather he preferred to listen to others and do what he could to make them feel important.”

The 29-year-old American was playing for the Panthers against Sheffield Steelers on October 28 when he was hit in the throat by an opponent’s skate, causing a fatal injury.

About 8,000 fans watched in horror as attempts were made to save Johnson’s life as he lay on the ice at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena, shielded by fellow players.

On Friday, Sheffield’s senior coroner Tanyka Rawden opened and adjourned an inquest into Johnson’s death at Sheffield’s Medico-Legal Centre.

Frankie Dettori was at his brilliant best as he delivered Inspiral to a last-gasp victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

The John and Thady Gosden-trained filly has been one of Dettori’s star performers over the past few seasons, so it was somewhat fitting that she shone once again at Santa Anita, the place Dettori is soon to call home.

Held up towards the rear of mid-division for her first attempt at 10 furlongs, Dettori angled Inspiral out for a run rounding the far turn and flew home to deny Aidan O’Brien’s Warm Heart in the dying strides.

Misfiring captain Jos Buttler questioned his own form as he admitted England had “let people down” with their dire World Cup defence.

The 2019 champions slumped to a sixth defeat in seven matches to finally end their dim and distant hopes of reaching the knockout stages, allowing rivals Australia to apply the killer blow in Ahmedabad.

Having already lost to New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India it was hardly a surprise to see England beaten by 33 runs. However, the continued downward spiral of a once-feared batting line-up continues to bemuse.

Here they were rounded up for 253 and have now lost 67 of a possible 69 wickets in the competition. While their bowling attack has raised its game in the past two games, the runs have dried up in alarming fashion, rendering England unable to compete.

And a forlorn Buttler, who appears to be finding his post-match appearances increasingly wearing, put his own poor returns front and centre on the list of problems.

He is widely considered one of the country’s best ever white-ball players but his tame dismissal for just one against Australia means he has now scored just 106 runs at an average of 15.14 at the World Cup.

“It’s a low point, it hurts a lot,” he said.

“We feel like we’ve let people down and you wear that on your own shoulders. You want to lead from the front as a captain.

“My own form has really hurt us. Obviously, I’ve had a pivotal position in the batting line-up, so to play as poorly as I have done has had a big effect on the team.

“Coming into the tournament I felt in fantastic form, as good as I’ve been in. So, to be sat here having had the tournament I’ve had is incredibly frustrating – but it doesn’t shake your belief.

“I’ve got to make sure I’m the last one that stops believing in myself. You guys (the media) will give up on me a lot earlier than I’ll give up on myself.”

England have two games left before they can finally put the campaign behind them, against the Netherlands and Pakistan, and know even back-to-back wins may not be enough to see them qualify for the next major 50-over tournament.

They need to finish in the top eight to seal a place at the Champions Trophy in 2025 and are currently an outside bet to do so.

So, while they would be forgiven for pining for the exit lounge, the stakes are too high.

“Exactly that,” Buttler added. “You know, the Champions Trophy is a tournament we want to be involved in and if we’re going to be involved in it, we need to win some games of cricket.

“We threatened today but it’s still not good enough.”

Australia’s Mitchell Starc took a jab at England in an interview with host broadcaster Star Sports, resurrecting a familiar theme from this summer’s Ashes series.

Nodding to the notion that England had edged the 2-2 drawn series thanks to their domination of the rain-ruined Old Trafford Test, he said: “We expected England to come out a bit more aggressive, but they can take the ‘moral victory’ from this.”

Lando Norris’ bid to win for the first time in Formula One was over in the blink of the eye as Max Verstappen claimed another victory in Brazil.

The British driver started from top spot in Saturday’s 24-lap dash to the chequered flag in Interlagos after edging out Verstappen in qualifying.

But Norris, 23, was out-gunned by Verstappen on the short run down to the opening corner to ensure the McLaren man’s wait for a first victory goes on.

Norris had to settle for second, crossing the line 4.2 seconds behind Verstappen. Sergio Perez took third ahead of George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton finished only seventh, 35 sec back.

Perez’s third-placed finish allowed him to extend his lead over Hamilton in the race for championship runner-up from from 20 points to 24 ahead of tomorrow’s grand prix.

The Interlagos venue in Sao Paulo has been kind to British drivers over the years. Hamilton took his first world title here 15 years ago, with Jenson Button securing his sole championship the following season.

Last year, Russell followed in the footsteps of Hamilton, Button and David Coulthard to become the fourth British winner this century after he captured his only win in the sport to date.

As the lights turned to green, Norris enjoyed a decent getaway in his McLaren, but Verstappen was also strong away from his marks.

Norris resisted the opportunity to move his left and cover off the racing line, allowing Verstappen to sling his Red Bull up the inside.

By the end of lap one, it would get worse for Norris with Russell, who breezed ahead of Perez on the run down to the opening corner, launching a fine move on his compatriot to take second.

In the other Mercedes, Hamilton was also on the move. At Turn 4, Hamilton was later on his brakes than Perez, placing his Mercedes round the outside of the Mexican for fourth.

However, it took Perez just four laps to regain the place when he re-took the seven-time world champion at the first corner.

Following his disappointing star, Norris regained his composure and usurped Russell at the start of lap five with Verstappen 1.3 sec up the road.

Russell, running in third, was slipping back into the clutches of Perez and the on lap eight, the Red Bull driver dived underneath the Mercedes to re-take third.

Russell struck back at Turn 4 with a gutsy manoeuvre only for Perez to swing back ahead on lap 10.

“The pace of those guys ahead is well fast,” said the British driver. In the other Mercedes, Hamilton was starting to struggle.

With three laps remaining, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc moved ahead of Hamilton, demoting him to sixth. That would become seventh the next time round when Yuki Tsunoda raced by in his AlphaTauri.

Shrewsbury boss Matt Taylor praised his side for scoring three goals for the first time this season after a 3-2 win against Colchester in the first round of the FA Cup.

The U’s remained in contention throughout and made it a nervous watch at the end for the home fans after Zach Mitchell headed home in the 86th minute.

Jordan Shipley made a spectacular return to action for the Shrews, scoring a superb two-touch goal and assisting after two months out through injury.

Cameron McGeehan had opened the scoring for the visitors before Daniel Udoh levelled in the first half.

Shipley then put Shrewsbury in front before an own goal made it 3-1, with Mitchell getting one back late on.

Taylor said: “I felt we were for large periods of that game totally dominant. We conceded from their first attempt on goal.

“We started the game really well. What I liked is the players didn’t give in; they didn’t lose belief and kept going.

“We scored a really good goal to equalise. I spoke to the players at half-time, our decision-making in and around the opposition’s box I didn’t feel was at the level they can produce. So second half the challenge was to go out there and make better decisions.

“We did that, we should have scored more than the three. I think we had 17 shots but only hit the target six times, which when you look at it wasn’t probably good enough.

“The aim at the beginning of the day was to be in the hat for the next round of the cup, and ultimately we fulfilled that.

“I am pleased that we have scored three goals for the first time this season but disappointed in the second goal and the way we conceded it.”

U’s interim boss Matthew Etherington said: “It was pretty close in the end. I thought the boys rallied really well, albeit not starting the second half great.

“The changes that we made had an impact and we finished the stronger team, so overriding feeling is opportunity missed but I didn’t think there was a great deal in the game.

“The two goals we conceded in the second half were poor goals to concede, and it is kind of a common theme with this team at the minute. We have to stamp that out because we are scoring plenty at the same time.

“As I have said to the players, in terms of the energy, effort, and commitment, I can’t fault it; it’s outstanding, but we need to tidy up those areas.

“It was an unbelievable goal (Cameron McGeehan’s). The move leading up to that was a good move, and we know Cam has that quality. It was a great strike and finish.

“Overall, I thought we were competitive in the game against a League One side. I thought we were more than competitive and causing them problems.”

Wayne Rooney accused some of his substitutes of falling short after Birmingham surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against high-flying Ipswich at St. Andrew’s.

Rooney picked up his first point since becoming City manager but was denied his first win after substitute Marcus Harness’ late brace extended Ipswich’s unbeaten league run to 11 games.

Jay Stansfield’s fifth goal of the season gave City a 13th-minute lead and it was followed by a Cameron Burgess own goal after 51 minutes.

Ipswich were a different proposition after the break though and substitute Harness replied in the 79th and 89th minutes.

Ipswich made four substitutions in the 72nd minute and three of them combined for Harness’s first goal.

“Their subs made the difference and I felt ours didn’t,” said Rooney.

“Some of the lads who came on didn’t do enough. The lads worked extremely hard to put us in the position we were in, and when you’re coming off the bench you need to be better than a few of them were.

“When you make changes and bring players into the game, you have to pick that (intensity) up, especially as Ipswich were starting to get a bit of control, so we needed them to give us that energy to continue what we were doing.

“I just felt there were a couple of players who didn’t do that for us. That’s something for us to improve on.”

Rooney admitted City are trying to improve players’ fitness so they can maintain their intensity for longer.

“The way I want them to play is different – it’s more front-footed and it takes a lot more energy to do that,” he said.

“We’re constantly trying to build that up so they can get to a level where they can do it for 90 minutes.

“But as we started tiring, Ipswich started to get control and pushed us back and we couldn’t hold them.

“Ideally I want to be making changes for tactical reasons, not necessarily for physical reasons.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna praised the character of his team and substitutes after coming back from two goals down to retrieve something from a game for the third time this season.

“I was really pleased and proud of the players and for the supporters as well,” said McKenna.

“The biggest credit due was our reaction to their second goal because that was the one that could have really deflated the group. But we managed to pick straight up and keep going how we were.

“We’ve seen it before with this group and we’ve built that resilience over time to keep playing our football, and trust if we do the right things we can always score.”

In contrast to Rooney’s view on his substitutions, McKenna was full of praise for his replacements, who changed the game.

“Credit to all the subs who came on – the boys all knew what slots they were going to come into and they all had a really good impact,” he said.

“Marcus scored twice to back up his goal from last week and that was great for the spirit in the group.

“It was also great for the understanding that with the challenge we face this year, it’s going to take the whole squad.”

Russell Martin praised Southampton’s bravery as Ryan Fraser was again their late hero at Millwall.

The Saints have scored crucial injury-time goals in their last three away games with Fraser, who scored a last-gasp winner at Hull last month, sealing the spoils with a 93rd-minute strike.

Martin’s side are now motoring – having also drawn with Preston thanks to Ched Evans’ stoppage-time own goal – but were made to wait for their fifth win in seven, peppering Bartosz Bialkowski’s goal but unable to get past the Pole until the last gasp.

“The lads responded and stayed so brave in the second half,” said Martin. “The amount of running we made them do made the game look like it did in the last half-hour.

“We were relentless in attack and at the hour mark I thought ‘we’ve got them’ but their keeper made a few good saves and we couldn’t get the goal.

“Thankfully we got it right at the end and it’s a moment of composure. I’m really grateful for that and proud of the players.

“I think we had control, we limited them to one shot on target and they hit the bar from a set-piece.

“The second half looked a lot different because we were aggressive, we made runs for each other to open them up and I was really pleased with that.”

Bialkowski made a string of fine saves, keeping out Stuart Armstrong’s shot in the 20th minute and then powerful efforts from Carlos Alcaraz and Will Smallbone.

Frustration grew in the Saints ranks with Kamaldeen Sulemana, another denied by Bialkowski in the second half, reacting angrily to being substituted by Martin.

“We had guys coming off the pitch annoyed that they’ve come off and I don’t mind that,” said Martin.

“I’ve told them it’s a squad game. And if you show you’re annoyed when you come off I honestly don’t have a problem with that at all.

“They’re human beings and want to play football and that’s how it should be. I don’t see that as disrespectful and all that nonsense. As long as they celebrate with the guys when there’s a moment like that, which they did, then there’s never a problem.”

Adam Barrett continues to take caretaker charge at the Den, with Millwall now winless in five having also conceded late in their draw with Watford.

“You know with the quality players they’ve got and their play that they will wear you down a bit,” he said of Saints.

“I’m frustrated with the ending because when you switch off for one moment against these tough teams they punish you. They keep working and probing and it was a real sickener to concede so late again.

“I haven’t watched it back, but my initial thoughts are we spoke about the way they play and move and I don’t think we dealt with it well enough.

“They’re good players and they go and punish you. It’s two games there where we should be coming away with four points and we’ve got one.

“It’s vital we get results back on track here, it’s been disappointing.

“We’ve hit the bar first half and that could have changed it. The fans were with the boys all game, it was a great atmosphere. But we’ve got to get The Den back to being a real difficult place to come.”

Curtis Fleming admitted his future was uncertain after starting his spell as Bristol City’s interim head coach with a 1-0 victory over 10-man Sheffield Wednesday.

The Irishman stepped up to replace sacked manager Nigel Pearson, but has no intention of putting his name forward as a permanent replacement.

Rob Dickie’s close-range strike from Tommy Conway’s 64th-minute cross was enough to secure the points against opponents reduced to 10 men after 32 minutes when Barry Bannan was shown a straight red card for fouling Jason Knight on the edge of the box.

Fleming hailed it as “a huge win at the end of an emotional week” before admitting he had no idea what the future held for him.

“I am just taking things day by day,” he said. “I will enjoy a glass of beer tonight and then see what the club’s plans are going forward.

“If it proves my only game in charge, at least I will have a 100 per cent record!

“It has been a tough few days, losing friends who have left and trying to prepare the players for what we knew was going to be a massive game for us.

“You try to paint pictures for them in training, but those pictures can change when the lads are performing in front of 20,000 people.

“I tried to tweak a few things and some worked better than others. We can play better, but sometimes the result is more important than the performance.

“What I couldn’t fault was the effort of the players. The last five minutes seemed to go on forever. But in the end we have the three points and that’s great.

“It makes such a difference in a tightly-packed table. Now we can look forward positively to the next game.”

City should have gone two up after 72 minutes when Conway shot against a post and Sam Bell somehow contrived to hit the other upright from the rebound.

After that it took a brilliant Max O’Leary save from substitute Ashley Fletcher to prevent Wednesday from equalising.

Owls boss Danny Rohl said: “After the red card I saw a team on the pitch who were giving everything.

“I am so proud of them. We had three or four chances to equalise and deserved something from the game.

“I didn’t think Barry deserved his red card. It was a foul, but we had two defenders covering, so it was not a clear scoring chance.

“Bristol City are a strong side, who press high, but we feel a bit unlucky today.

“Things tend to go against you when you are at the wrong end of the table.

“Now we have to recover and move on. We know we need wins, but I saw so much to please me.

“In my short time at the club I have seen players with the right mentality for a fight.

“At the moment things are not going our way, but if we continue to create chances that will change.

“It’s about maintaining a belief and conviction that results will come and I am seeing that in training and matches.

“We have to keep working hard to reward our fans, who were fantastic today.”

Warren Gatland reflected on an “incredibly special” occasion as Welsh rugby said farewell to three of its biggest names in the sport’s professional era.

Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Leigh Halfpenny, who won 352 caps between them, enjoyed a fitting send-off from international rugby as Wales beat the Barbarians 49-26 in Cardiff.

A crowd of 53,000 roared its approval, with a prolonged standing ovation afforded to Halfpenny when he went off 13 minutes from time proving particularly memorable.

Billed as a tribute match, all three players played their part, with Wales full-back Halfpenny contributing five conversions, while official player-of-the-match Jones scored a try and captained a Barbarians side that saw flanker Tipuric among his team-mates.

Halfpenny is now set for a move to the southern hemisphere, with Super Rugby heavyweights the Crusaders his likely destination, while Jones is currently with French club Toulon and Tipuric remains a key figure in Ospreys colours.

“For the three of them, to have that game here in the stadium was incredibly special,” Wales head coach Gatland said.

“I thought the crowd were amazing in recognising that as well.

“I thought ‘Tips’ played well today, he caused us a few problems at the breakdown. I said that to him afterwards and he said ‘there’s still life in the old boy yet’.

“Al (Jones) as well. It was an entertaining game, and in fairness to them they put us under some pressure.

“We talked about leaving Leigh on for 80 minutes, but then there was an opportunity to bring him off. I thought the ovation he got is testament to him not just as a rugby player, but as a person.”

First-half tries by hooker Dewi Lake, wing Tom Rogers and fly-half Sam Costelow gave Wales a flying start in their final match before a Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 3.

But Fijian scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli scored two Barbarians tries, and when Jones crossed early in the second period, Wales led by just two points, with Nicolas Sanchez adding a conversion double.

Replacements Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright and Kieran Hardy (2) claimed second-half touchdowns for Wales, though, with Halfpenny and Cai Evans each adding two conversions, with Barbarians flanker Tom Hooper also scoring a try, converted by Ben Donaldson.

Gatland added: “To score 49 points, you’ve got to be pretty happy. We probably left a few out there in the first-half, with some of the opportunities we created.

“We scrummaged well, the lineout was outstanding today – both defensively and on attack. As the game went on, we grew into it.

“There were times where I thought we defended well and didn’t give them opportunities. But there were also times when we came under some pressure with their off-loading game, and we were stressed.

“I am pleased where we are, I am pleased with this group of players.

“We are setting standards and expectations on ourselves in terms of what we expect as a team going forward.

“We know this next Six Nations will be a challenge, but if you keep working hard and keep believing, we are capable of doing things and winning matches. We showed that in the World Cup.”

Reading manager Ruben Selles admitted that he was pleased that his struggling side avoided an upset against lower-division opposition after their 3-2 FA Cup first-round win over MK Dons.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan gave Reading a third-minute lead with his sixth goal of the season, but Alex Gilbey levelled before the break.

Second-half efforts from Harvey Knibbs and Lewis Wing eased Reading into a two-goal cushion, with Max Dean halving the deficit with a late consolation for the Sky Bet League Two outfit.

Selles, whose side sit bottom of League One after losing their last five games, said: “The FA Cup is always difficult.

“Whoever is your opponent, we have often seen teams from higher categories falling to teams in the categories below. So, we put in a good performance.

“Perhaps we should have finished the game a little bit earlier. We just made it complicated in the last minutes.

“But I’m happy with the performance and keeping the team together, no injuries and we go into the next round. It was a good day.

“We got a little bit caught out in the first half, especially with their first goal. It was just that pass in between, we should have defended it much better.

“We were missing a few things in the first half, which is why we changed at half time. We were missing with the wingers, the one-against-one situations and the pressure.

“It was a matter of changing the dynamic of the game. We had to be much more on the front foot, much more aggressive with the pressure. We were much better in that way in the second half.”

New MK Dons head coach Mike Williamson, who succeeded Graham Alexander last month, said: “The halves were contrasting and, from our point of view, that was disappointing.

“That’s been a bit of a theme, our starts to the second half, and that’s something that we need to address.

“But I think that you can see the detail that we’re putting in and it’s evident what the boys are taking on.

“We’ve just got to find a way of wrestling the momentum back when we do go behind.

“We have to accept that we are going to suffer in periods of games. It’s how we get back into it and get back on the ball.

“In the first half, you could see what we were trying to achieve. But there was still an element of frustration getting the better of us.

“When other teams do step on and step up, we haven’t quite got to grips with that yet.

“Again, though, the boys fought all the way to the end. Even though we were running out of time, we never gave up. So there was still so many positives to take.”

Coventry manager Mark Robins has urged his side to build on their second-half showing against Preston despite going down 3-2 at Deepdale for a fourth straight loss.

The Sky Blues missed out on promotion a year ago in extra-time of the play-off final against Luton but have found life tougher this season, sitting 20th in the Sky Bet Championship.

Defeat to Preston, who ended a run of seven without a win, will not help, but they almost salvaged something thanks to Haji Wright’s double.

It was not enough though, with Coventry now winless at Deepdale on their last 21 visits in the league.

Robins said: “I think there was definitely nervousness. What happened was the first half we were pretty poor, couldn’t really get out and they had a lot of the ball and their intent was clear.

“Ours wasn’t, we couldn’t move it, we turned the ball over too much, but then we took the lead probably against the run of play.

“The second half was chalk and cheese really, it was a proverbial game of two halves, and we showed the intent that our team shows generally and has done for years and we’ve got to hold on to that.

“The second-half performance was pretty good, apart from the goal that we conceded.

“The three goals we conceded were soft, they were poor, so that’s got to improve, but we looked better.

“We’ve broken that duck of not scoring away from home and then we’ve ended up with two from Haji which is good for him and his confidence.”

Coventry hit the front against the run of play when Wright opened the scoring after 33 minutes, but they were 2-1 down by half-time.

Duane Holmes levelled for Preston before Alan Browne fired home from the spot after Kyle McFadzean was adjudged to have brought down Milutin Osmajic.

Osmajic then gave Preston breathing room after 71 minutes, but Wright got his second seven minutes from time, leaving the home side sweating.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe believes that on this form, Coventry will turn things around.

He said: “What I will say about Coventry is they’re well coached and have got a fantastic manager and they’ve got some fantastic players and they’re in a false position as we speak.

“I said that to Mark at the end, ‘keep going because you’ve got some players and a good team’.

“Of course it’s a bit of a relief when you get that third goal but they’re never going to lie down, they were play-off finalists last year and they’re not just going to roll over and say take the three points.

“They’re going to keep fighting and that’s what they did so we had to show a different side to us again.

“Their second goal I’m disappointed with because it shouldn’t get to that, but I said to the group about management in-game and what we need to do and how we do it, and they know, they take it on board.

“A two-goal cushion is fine for a while and then they get one back. But I’m just pleased for the lads, they’ve been working hard.

“The performances have been good but the results just haven’t been, so to take three points off a good team in Coventry is pleasing.”

Scarborough boss Jonathan Greening was left to reflect on football’s ‘cruel’ side after his part-time team were denied an FA Cup upset against Forest Green in stoppage time.

An equaliser by Olly Sully – the 18-year-old sub’s first senior goal – secured a 1-1 draw for the League Two strugglers after the National League North outfit had taken a first-half lead through Alex Wiles.

It also cost the Seadogs a precious £41,000 windfall in prize money and Greening, a member of the Manchester United squad that won the 1999 Champions League final in stoppage time, lamented: “I really wish we could have held on and won the game.

“But it wasn’t to be and, sometimes, football can be cruel. The boys are absolutely devastated because they put an absolute shift in and I’m really proud of them.

“We’re a part-time team and might not have a lot of money as a club but we showed that we’ve got a lot of heart and we’ve just got to show the same work ethic, team spirit and passion now in the replay.”

Forest Green boss David Horseman threw on Sully in an attempt to lift a lacklustre and unimaginative performance from his team and was delighted to see the teenager get on the scoresheet.

He said: “We were really poor. We gave a bad goal away and then had to break down an 11-man block, which we found difficult.

“But we did it in the end because some people stood up to the challenge of a difficult game and I’m really proud of Olly.

“It was brilliant to see somebody from our academy keep us in the FA Cup and help us live to fight another day.”

Port Vale manager Andy Crosby was proud of his 10-man team after they earned an FA Cup first-round replay against fellow League One side Burton with a goalless draw.

Captain Nathan Smith was given a straight red card in the 18th minute after bringing down Mark Helm, but Burton failed to make their one-man advantage count.

Vale actually finished the game with nine men as Jason Lowe was withdrawn through injury and they’d already used their three substitution intervals.

The draw comes on the back of Crosby’s men booking their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday, but they’re currently on an eight-match winless run in League One.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of the group, the togetherness of the group,” Crosby said.

“We were the better team with 11 men, we were the better team with 10 men, we were the better team with nine men.

“We controlled possession, we controlled them out of possession, we controlled them with 10 men and we controlled the possession with 10 men.

“And I can’t tell you how together this group is, how much they care, how disappointed they’ve been with the run we’ve been on.

“But to go into that game and start the way we did and have the chances we did.

“And then to suffer the disappointment we did with the referee making the decision, to not feel sorry for ourselves, to keep going.

“They crawl off that pitch in a better place than when the game started.”

In a game not short on chances, Burton finally found the net in the dying moments through Josh Walker, but it was ruled out for offside against substitute Cole Stockton.

Albion boss Dino Maamria felt his team were blatantly denied a place in the second round, rather than missing a golden opportunity to go through.

“We scored a legitimate goal in the last minute of the game – it’s clearly onside,” he said.

“Watch it back. Diagonal ball from Jake Caprice, Ryan Sweeney’s in an onside position – he heads it down. Josh Walker’s in an onside position – he turned and volleyed it in brilliantly.

“But the offside got given on Cole Stockton at the near post with the ball nowhere near him.

“It’s a really, really frustrating decision to give, but in all honesty am I surprised by it?

“You see it when they got the sending off in the first half, every decision after that – the crowd, their bench – they’re on top of the referee, they’re on top of the linesman – he got abused throughout the game.

“I didn’t think they were strong enough to deal with that.

“And flagging that last decision there denied us going through.”