Newcastle boss Eddie Howe would have no qualms over handing “big-game player” Elliot Anderson the chance to make a name for himself with late-season heroics for a second time.

Twelve months ago, the 20-year-old midfielder ended a hugely successful loan spell at Bristol Rovers in style when he scored the crucial last goal in a 7-0 final-day drubbing of relegated Scunthorpe to edge them to automatic promotion from Sky Bet League Two at Northampton’s expense.

On Monday evening, he could find himself playing a key role as the Magpies attempt to seal Champions League qualification against struggling Leicester, with fellow midfielder Joe Willock nursing a hamstring injury and Sean Longstaff working his way back from a foot problem.

Asked about Anderson’s readiness, head coach Howe said: “No qualms at all. He would have played more this season if it hadn’t been for the form of the players around him, there’s no doubt about that for me.

“The midfield has been performing as a unit very, very well this year. You look at each of the players in that midfield and you’d say they’re up there as our best-performing players, so Elliot, we believe in him, it’s just been the strength of the group.

“I think he showed last year in his loan spell – it was a brilliant experience for him – he showed that he’s a big-game player. When they needed him, Bristol Rovers, he stood up and made the difference and yes, it could be a chance for him to do that again.”

Anderson returned to Tyneside after his spell in Bristol and forced his way into the first-team picture, although he has had to remain patient.

Twenty-one of his 25 appearances to date have come from the bench, and his only Premier League start against Liverpool in February ended after just 24 minutes when he was replaced by goalkeeper Martin Dubravka following Nick Pope’s dismissal.

Howe said: “I’d say he would consider himself a first-team player now, as in a fully-integrated member of the first-team squad. He’s trained consistently throughout the season.

“It’s very difficult for those lads that haven’t played regularly when the team wins consistently and has performed as well as it has to wait for their chance.

“Now, he’s a young player that has been desperate to play, he’s controlled his emotions really well. I do believe he’s added elements to his game and improved certain parts of his game that needed to improve.

“I’d say he’s ready. He’s versatile – he proved that against Brighton. He came on on the right side of midfield. He’s predominantly been used by me as a left-side player and he’s very much capable, so we believe in him.”

Michael Beale will dig deep into his Rangers squad for the trip to Hibernian on Sunday but he is determined to build on the recent upswing in form.

The Light Blues, guaranteed to finish runners-up to cinch Premiership champions Celtic for a second successive season, go into the game on the back of a morale-boosting 3-0 win over their Old Firm rivals at Ibrox last weekend.

That first win of the season over the Hoops followed a 1-0 home win over Aberdeen, after losing to both of those teams in the previous two matches.

Defender Connor Goldson is a doubt for the Easter Road game and could be added to a lengthy injury list which includes Borna Barisic, Ben Davies, Ryan Kent, Antonio Colak, Kemar Roofe, Tom Lawrence, Steven Davis and Filip Helander while on-loan attacker Malik Tillman is now back at Bayern Munich with a hamstring problem which has ended his season.

The Gers boss said: “In terms of the young players, we’ve lost Bailey Rice and Zak Lovelace to international duty with Scotland and England Under-17s, at the Euros.

“So there will be one or two others get an opportunity.

“There’s players that have been injured for big parts of the season that need an opportunity as well and we are going to need everyone.

“We probably have 16 players to get us through the last three games next week: Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday.

“We want to end the season well. We know the teams we are playing this week are still in the hunt for European places, so they are not slowing down.

“It is important for us that after two home wins against Aberdeen and Celtic that we back that up this weekend.”

However, with changes for next season certain to be made, Beale stressed the need for the comprehensive win over Celtic not to be romanticised.

The former QPR boss said: “When the sun is shining on your face and you get a good result then everything feels better.

“Other times, when the wind is in your face and everything is rubbish – that’s the life of a football manager in this city.

“I’ve always said there’s a core of players that will move forward, you don’t change a whole squad,  you try to improve your squad in certain areas.

“Last week was a decent performance but it is important we don’t get romantic over one result.

“People have had all season to play and perform and to show everyone if they should be involved or not. It was a good day last week.”

Pep Guardiola has played down the significance of his role in Manchester City’s outstanding season.

Guardiola’s exhilarating side could end the campaign by winning the treble after hitting a hot run of form throughout the spring.

There will be a celebratory feel in the air as the leaders host Chelsea in their final Premier League home game of the season on Sunday while they also have FA Cup and Champions League finals to come.

Guardiola has once again been a huge factor in their success, with little doubt after Wednesday’s ruthless demolition of Real Madrid that he has brought his team to the boil at just the right time.

Yet the inspirational Catalan has no interest in taking all the credit.

The City boss said: “As a manager, I feel part of something but, no confusion, I never think it belongs to me.

“I’m part of it, I don’t deny it, but not without the incredible work and decisions of the sporting director, the board and the players, who are the most important thing.

“I am a part of that and I am really proud but I’m not the only person to achieve the Premier Leagues or Champions League finals and so on. I don’t feel only I am responsible for that.”

Defender Nathan Ake is City’s only fitness doubt for the visit of Chelsea. The Netherlands international has missed the last three games after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

City are unbeaten in their last 23 games in all competitions since February and have won 19 of them.

They have won 11 Premier League games in a row and have not lost at home since November.

Ruben Selles says Southampton still have pride to play for as they see out the Premier League season as a relegated club.

The Saints’ demotion to the Championship was confirmed last week, which means there is nothing riding on this Sunday’s visit to Brighton or next week’s final game against Liverpool.

But the Spaniard, who is insistent that he wants to be the man to try and lead the Saints back into the top flight, says his side still have to be professional.

“It doesn’t matter what sport you practise, the first thing is that you play for yourself and train for yourself and keep fit for yourself and you put yourself into the team, into a group of players that want to do things,” Selles said.

“The first meeting (after relegation) was very simple. It’s nothing new but the fact we can’t get anything from the table, it makes those things a little bit more important than ever because you need to play for yourself.

“When you think about that and playing for the club, the fans that will go and support us on Sunday and against Liverpool.”

The trip to the Amex represents a difficult one for the Saints, whose hosts are vying for European qualification.

They have excelled following Roberto De Zerbi’s appointment earlier this season and Selles says his Italian counterpart is breaking the mould.

“Brighton has a really good season, first with Graham Potter and now De Zerbi, they play attractive football and you can recognise what they do in every single game they play,” he said.

“They are performing really well in the Premier League and if you do that it’s because something has been building up for a long time. I am respectful of Roberto because he is a great coach and you can see it every time his team play.

“I know Roberto from the time in Sassuolo so I know what he can do and from Shakhtar Donetsk. He played amazing football so I am not surprised he can take his style and play it in the Premier League.

“The football in possession he practises is a really good one, it’s a little bit different, it’s usually the big teams that play with that kind of model but Roberto has shown you can do it in a different kind of environment.”

Roberto De Zerbi insists Brighton deserve to qualify for European football next season as a result of their efforts over the current campaign.

The Seagulls will head into Sunday’s Premier League clash with relegated Southampton at the Amex Stadium knowing two wins from their final three games – they host champions elect Manchester City next Wednesday before bringing the curtain down with a testing final-day trip to Aston Villa – would secure a Europa League berth.

It would be a first qualification for continental football for the south coast outfit and De Zerbi wants his players to write themselves into the club’s history.

Asked if he would regard this season as a success whatever happens over the next week or so, the Italian said: “Good question, but I prefer to answer you at the end of the season.

“ I am really proud for this season, but we want to write our own history of our club for our fans, for ourselves.

“I think we deserve to qualify for the Europa League. We won against Chelsea two times, we won against Manchester United two times, we won at Arsenal’s stadium, beat Liverpool and I think we are deserving to qualify for Europe.

“It is very difficult. The games are not one per week, they are very close, but we have to adapt, to react with motivation, with energy, with the head.”

Brighton head into the weekend sixth in the table, a point clear of Tottenham and Aston Villa with a game in hand on both.

Their outside hopes of threatening the top four were dealt a blow on Thursday evening when they were beaten 4-1 at Newcastle, who cemented themselves in third place as a result.

It was a second defeat in three games – they were surprisingly trounced 5-1 at home by Everton in between victories over Manchester United and Arsenal – but with Levi Colwill expected to return to the squad after being rested on Tyneside and Alexis Mac Allister, Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson having been used only as substitutes, De Zerbi is expecting a response.

He said: “I think it will another tough game, but the characteristics, the quality of Newcastle are different. We will play in our stadium with our fans and we are able to win.”

Leeds boss Sam Allardyce said it is “do or die” for his relegation battlers in Sunday’s Premier League game at West Ham.

The Yorkshire club, third from bottom and one point from safety, have just two fixtures left in their bid to retain their top-flight status.

Allardyce, halfway through his salvage mission after replacing former boss Javi Gracia with four games remaining, agreed Sunday’s trip to the capital was effectively a ‘cup final’.

The former England manager said: “That’s it. Do or die lads. Fight. Fight to the end.

“But fight with the right temperament and have the right amount of control and don’t lose control. And certainly don’t lose the game-plan.”

Victories for relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and Everton on Saturday, against Arsenal and at Wolves respectively, would leave Leeds under severe pressure to collect all three points at the London Stadium.

Allardyce said only time will tell if his players will cope with the pressure.

“I think that it is a difficult situation if you find that the teams down there on the Saturday have picked up three points and it’s almost a near certainty that you have to get three points to stay in the race,” he said.

“So when it comes around and whatever the situation is when we get to Sunday afternoon, we have to deal with it, we have to accept it and we have to make it spur us on to the best performance we can give.

“No matter what happens on Saturday we have to deliver a three-point scenario at West Ham to try and save our Premier League status and handling the pressure that comes with that is a big question of ‘can you?'”

Leeds sacked Gracia, who had only replaced Jesse Marsch in February, after a series of damaging, heavy defeats.

Performances have improved sufficiently in the two games under Allardyce – a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City and last week’s 2-2 home draw against Newcastle – to leave fans with some sense of hope.

Allardyce, who refused to be drawn on whether he will stay at Elland Road beyond the end of the season, said he could not fault his players for effort and has challenged them now to show more quality on the ball.

“I think confidence has grown, I think application has been applied. I think that possession could get better,” he added.

“I think we’ve been so up for it and so frantic to try and do well, and close the opposition down and make life difficult, that when we’ve actually won the ball back we’ve still been so hyper that we haven’t been able to calm down and control ourselves to play the right ball and the right pass more often.

“So the difference between those two is something we’ve talked about, about being calmer when we’re on the ball.”

Rory McIlroy pledged to take an aggressive approach after surprisingly finding himself in contention for a third US PGA title at Oak Hill.

Despite continuing to struggle off the tee, McIlroy carded a second round of 69 for a halfway total of level par to lie just five off the lead shared by Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland.

First round leader Bryson DeChambeau and fellow American Justin Suh were two shots off the lead, with England’s Callum Tarren – who only secured a place in the field on Friday – another stroke back after a superb 67.

Masters runner-up Brooks Koepka was alongside Tarren on two under thanks to a 66 which included four birdies in the last seven holes.

Justin Rose hit just two fairways but somehow conjured up a second round of 70 to lie one under, with McIlroy and former Open champion Shane Lowry on level par.

“I think with how terribly I’ve felt over the ball, the fact I am only five back… I’m not saying it could be up there with one of my best performances but when I holed that (birdie) putt on the last I thought I can’t believe I’m only five back.

“If I can get the ball in play off the tee I’ll have a shot and at this point I might just tee it high and bomb it everywhere. I may as well just swing it hard and go for it.”

Quote of the day

“I feel like I’ve got the game this week to compete, to tell you the truth”

Club professional Michael Block was not content simply to make the cut after two rounds of 70 left him five off the lead.

Shot of the day

Rory McIlroy was two over par for the day and perhaps starting to worry about making the cut when he holed from 45 feet for birdie on the ninth.

Round of the day

Brooks Koepka birdied five holes on the back nine, including the difficult 17th and 18th, to card a superb 66.

Statistic of the day

Rory McIlroy may not have won a major since 2014, but he continues to pile up some impressive numbers.

Easiest hole

The reachable par-four 14th played to an average of 3.878, with 41 players making birdie.

Hardest hole

The 503-yard sixth hole was comfortably the hardest, with just three players making birdie, 24 making a double bogey and three faring even worse to lead to an average of 4.750

Weather forecast

An approaching low-pressure system and associated cold front will bring a band of rain to the area early on Saturday morning through the early afternoon before tapering off for the rest of the afternoon. Drier conditions return by Saturday evening with partly cloudy skies and mild temperatures expected for Sunday.

Key tee times (all BST)

1840 Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry
1910 Justin Rose, Michael Block
1920 Callum Tarren, Taylor Pendrith
1930 Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau
1950 Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners

Rory McIlroy admitted he was tempted to throw caution to the wind after surprisingly finding himself in contention for a third US PGA title at Oak Hill.

Despite continuing to struggle off the tee, McIlroy carded a second round of 69 for a halfway total of level par to lie just five off the lead shared by Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland.

First round leader Bryson DeChambeau and fellow American Justin Suh were two shots off the lead, with England’s Callum Tarren – who only secured a place in the field on Friday after former champion Martin Kaymer withdrew – another stroke back after a superb 67.

Masters runner-up Brooks Koepka was alongside Tarren on two under thanks to a 66 which included four birdies in the last seven holes.

Justin Rose hit just two fairways but somehow conjured up a second round of 70 to lie one under, with McIlroy and former Open champion Shane Lowry on level par.

Lowry had stormed into contention with six birdies in the space of eight holes before dropping shots on the 17th and 18th in his 67.

McIlroy was among the later starters who took advantage of unexpectedly calm conditions and a course softened by several rain showers to cover his last 10 holes in three under par.

“I need to be patient the way I’m hitting it off the tee,” McIlroy said. “I stayed really patient and I think it was rewarded with a couple of breaks and birdies towards the end.

“I think with how terribly I’ve felt over the ball, the fact I am only five back… I’m not saying it could be up there with one of my best performances but when I holed that (birdie) putt on the last I thought I can’t believe I’m only five back.

“If I can get the ball in play off the tee I’ll have a shot and at this point I might just tee it high and bomb it everywhere. I may as well just swing it hard and go for it.”

World number one Jon Rahm shot 68 to make the halfway cut on four over par, but playing partner and US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick bogeyed the last two holes to miss out by a shot.

Club professional Michael Block had earlier insisted he could contend for an extraordinary victory after a second consecutive 70 saw him on the same score as McIlroy and Lowry.

Block, who is one of 20 PGA professionals in the field in Rochester and the head pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in California, made the cut for the first time in seven majors, but was setting his sights considerably higher.

“I am having a great time,” Block, 46, said after a round containing four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on the fifth, which was the result of a dreaded shank off the tee.

“I have no pressure, I have a job and a pay cheque waiting for me at my club. I don’t have to make putts to pay for my mortgage. This is a beautiful thing I have here.

“I feel like I’ve got the game this week to compete, to tell you the truth. I feel like I could shoot even par out here every day. I feel at the end of the four days that might be a pretty good result.”

Block has the words “Why not?” stamped on the balls he uses as a reminder not to doubt his abilities when the pressure is on, something which stems from holing a putt to qualify for the 2007 US Open.

And asked what the ultimate “why not?” would be, he added: “To win, by far. As weird as it sounds, I’m going to compete. I promise you that.”

Anhelina Kalinina is into the first WTA 1000 final of her career but the Ukrainian refused to shake the hand of Russian opponent Veronika Kudermetova after a hard-fought match at the Italian Open.

Kalinina held her nerve after being taken to a decider to record a 7-5 5-7 6-2 victory in two hours and 51 minutes over the 11th seed and will next face Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the showpiece.

The 30th seed snubbed Kudermetova at the net in the latest example of a Ukrainian tennis player shunning post-match tradition towards a Russian because of the ongoing conflict between the countries.

“We didn’t shake hands because the girl is from Russia basically,” Kalinina said. “It’s no secret why I didn’t shake, because this country actually attacks Ukraine.

“This is sport, I understand, but it’s also kind of politician thing. It is nothing personal. But in general, yes, it’s not acceptable.”

Wimbledon champion Rybakina beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 in a rain-interrupted match, battling back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to win five games on the spin.

“I’m happy to win,” Rybakina said. “It was a really tough day overall with all the rain delays. I came without any expectation because I knew the other years were really tough for me playing here.

“I’m just happy that I got so many matches now before the French Open.”

Captain Kyle Steyn admitted Glasgow Warriors will take some time to recover from the disappointment of failure on two fronts after they were beaten 43-19 to Toulon in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup at the Aviva Stadium.

The defeat in Dublin came on the back of bowing out of the BKT United Rugby Championship in the quarter-finals after they slipped up against Munster at their Scotstoun fortress.

Tom Jordan’s sending off proved costly as the Warriors surrendered a 17-match unbeaten run at home when the Irish province prevailed 14-5 earlier this month.

And in Dublin, Steyn scored two tries and Sebastian Cancelliere also crossed but the game was essentially lost in the first half when the Warriors went into the interval 21-0 in arrears.

Toulon scored three tries in each half and were always in control to win the Challenge Cup for the first time.

“It’s disappointing and a pretty tough one to process,” Steyn said.

“We weren’t where we needed to be in the first 20 minutes, but credit to Toulon – we were too soft.

“To come this far, and progress the way we have, and then to come unstuck in two play-off games will take some time to get over.

“We had enough belief that we could get this done. I thought there were lessons we could have learned against Munster that would have put us in a position to win this, but we didn’t react enough to them.

“I’m proud of the way the boys kept on fighting. We created chances, but in play-off rugby you have to take your chances.

“At the start of the season we said we wanted to play rugby in a way that inspired people to follow us and support us and with the number of people following us in Dublin it felt as though we had done that to some degree.”

Toulon’s victory earned them a ticket into next season’s Heineken Champions Cup – a competition they won three years in a row between 2013-2015.

Toulon director of rugby Franck Azema said: “We learned a lot last year when we lost in the Challenge Cup final for a fourth time. This must now be the start of something and the next job is to build on it.

“We were consistent and efficient and we scored quickly. We never switched off and it was nice to finish with that final try in the last few minutes.”

The game was the last in European competition for the 39-year-old Italian number eight Sergio Parisse, who scored Toulon’s second try.

“I knew I was going into one of my last games, but I tried to treat it as just another game. I really enjoyed it,” said Parisse.

“We tried to dominate physically, played well and dominated from the first minute. We showed from the start that we wanted to take control.

“I’m just happy to be playing with this group and to be finishing my career at Toulon. It was a long day, but I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Three second-half tries from Glasgow Warriors were not enough to stop Toulon making it fifth time lucky with a 43-19 victory in the EPCR Challenge Cup final at the Aviva Stadium.

After four final defeats, the French side hit Glasgow for six with three tries in each half as they eased to victory to give retiring Italian number eight Sergio Parisse a title-winning send off.

Toulon were quickly into their stride and looked confident from the off as they chased their first Challenge Cup title at the venue where they won their first Heineken Champions Cup crown in 2013.

They lost Wales fly-half Dan Biggar with a head injury after only four minutes, then saw Australian centre Duncan Paia’Aua  go off for another HIA in the 32nd minute.

They also lost influential scrum-half Baptiste Serin in the final move of the opening 40 minutes with a left knee injury that required a third change to their starting back division.

There was a fourth alteration at the start o the second half when Mathieu Bastareaud came on to replace wing Gabin Villiers, who also failed an HIA.

By then, though, Serin has sparked his side into life with two tries as they sped into a 21-0 interval lead.

Toulon quickly recovered from the loss of Biggar and two minutes later, with Ihaia West on to replace the Welshman, Serin produced a moment of magic to get the scoreboard moving.

After taking the ball from a ruck on the Glasgow 22 he dabbed the ball through the defensive line, regathered and just managed to touch down despite the efforts of Ollie Smith to turn him on his back over the line.

The scrum half added the extras and then picked out 39-year-old Italian legend Sergio Parisse for a try at the posts after more pressure from the Top 14 outfit after Glasgow had lost a line-out.

Serin added the extras and then picked up the third try after 25 minutes. Glasgow lost another line out on their 10-metre line and Toulon skipper Charles Ollivon drove on.

Fijian centre Waisea Vuidravuwalu carried on strongly and when he was brought down on the line, Serin picked up and dotted down before adding a third conversion.

Glasgow started the second half encouragingly, but their inability to turn pressure into points cost them dearly. It was not until their 11th incursion into the Toulon 22 that they managed to break their duck and that came via a try from skipper Kyle Steyn in the 55th minute from a neat moved down the blindside of a line-out.

Before then replacement scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue had added a penalty to extend the lead to 24 points. George Horne’s angled conversion of Steyn’s score gave Glasgow hope, but two more tries slammed the door shut as far as a comeback was concerned.

The Fijian duo of Jiuta Wainiqolo and Vuidravuwalu scored them and Paillaugue converted the latter to make it 36-7 with 16 minutes to go.

Glasgow earned some respectability with later tries from Sebastian Cancelliere and Steyn, but it was never going to be enough.

West scampered over for the final try with two minutes to go and Paillaugue kicked another conversion to complete the scoring.