Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed Liel Abada’s contract extension after receiving “significant interest” in the Israel winger from elsewhere.

Abada has signed a new four-year deal after netting 29 goals in 105 appearances and winning five major trophies since joining the Hoops from Maccabi Petah Tikva in July 2021.

Rodgers told Celtic’s website he was delighted with the news, which follows extended deals for Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi earlier this summer.

“We know there was significant interest in Liel from other clubs so we’re delighted that he has committed his future to Celtic,” Rodgers said.

“Already he has made a great contribution to Celtic, delivering some great performances and making a real impact. His energy and ability are real assets to us and his delivery in terms of goals and assists from wide areas has been excellent.

“He is a fantastic young player and now we hope he can build on what he has achieved so far and develop even further.”

Abada added: “Every time I score for this club is really amazing. To score in Celtic Park is always special and the atmosphere is amazing.

“Hopefully I can show more this season for everyone and I will try and get better for the team.”

Rodgers has been keen to keep the core of his team together towards the end of the transfer window and earlier insisted Matt O’Riley was going nowhere after a reported £10million offer from Leeds.

Rodgers said at a media conference: “When you have good players, there’s always going to be interest but definitely Matt is a player that I want to have here and part of what I’m doing.

“I have been really impressed with him. We look forward to continuing working with him.

“We are trying to put strength into the squad rather than deplete it.”

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from September 1.

Another busy transfer deadline day.

Ange Postecoglou made light of his Robbie Williams-inspired terrace song.

Birthday wishes.

Ricky Gervais set up a game of hide and seek.

Karen Bardsley was – mostly – happy to be home.

Liverpool turned the clock back.

Does a retweet mean yes?

Happy birthday Carlos Sainz.

George Russell had the floor.

New helmet for Max Verstappen.

Haas took in some Milan sights.

Robert MacIntyre enjoyed a lucky break.

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Former Dundee skipper Charlie Adam played a key role in their latest signing after informing Burnley winger Marcel Lewis he was on his way to Dens Park.

Boyhood Dundee fan Adam is Burnley’s loan manager and helped secure a deal for the 21-year-old former Chelsea youth player.

After his first training session, Lewis told Dundee’s website: “Charlie Adam at Burnley gave me a phone and said I was coming up to Dundee which I was over the moon about.

“Charlie told me that the club is a great place to be with great players and a really good set-up.

“I want to get as many games as I can and pitch in with goals and assists to help the team.”

Lewis moved from Chelsea to Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and had a loan spell at Accrington before making a permanent switch to Burnley 12 months ago.

Manager Tony Docherty said: “He is a very productive attacking player who likes to drive at defenders.

“He is also a technically-gifted footballer, who has real ability on the ball and will help us be creative in that final third.

“He has been recommended by Jody Morris and Charlie Adam as an extremely-creative player and has been brought in to enhance an already-strong squad.

“Marcel gives us another young hungry player who wants to impress and prove himself in this league and I am delighted we have been able to bring him in.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has no doubts about his formula for success as he looks to put some teething problems behind him ahead of their first meeting of the season with Rangers.

The treble-winners go to Ibrox on Sunday on the back of a Viaplay Cup defeat by Kilmarnock and goalless home draw with St Johnstone.

It was the first time Celtic have failed to score in consecutive domestic games since May 2018, when they did so immediately after clinching the title for a second time under Rodgers.

Attacker Daizen Maeda last week admitted he was taking time to adjust to a new style of player after previous manager Ange Postecoglou’s tactics were instilled in him.

Celtic’s Daizen Maeda during a training session at Lennoxtown )Andrew Milligan/PA)

Although Celtic embarked on a 69-game unbeaten run before Rodgers suffered the first defeat of his first reign, he feels the adjustment might take some time. But he is adamant his project will come good.

“I think it will do (take some time),” he said. “Listen, I’m not here to jeopardise the strategy of the team or lock the team and myself into anything that would fail or not work. It’s just time. It’s just time.

“I don’t really want to go on about injuries but there’s injuries to key players that can really make the system function.

“But I have absolutely no doubt… I know how to win. I know what it takes to win, and I will show the players how to win.

“It might not be in the first game of the season but over the course of the season and over the course of my time here I believe we will do that.

“But there’s just little details of what will improve with the players as we work forward.

“But my teams have always been based, and my body of work hopefully shows that, my teams have always been aggressive, on the front foot, attacking, creative and fast, powerful. And this team will be that over time as well.

“But in the meantime we need to continue to get results and look to improve.”

Rodgers feels the rivalry and pressure of Sunday’s occasion – in front of 50,000 home fans only – will ensure his side are up to speed.

“It’s an iconic game, a fantastic game to be involved in,” he said. “You certainly don’t need to motivate the players.

“Our opening three (league) games, we have won two and drawn one.

“More for me it’s the performance level. But when I analyse the game last weekend, we could have won the game four or five nil, if we get the early goal. The keeper makes a great save.

“But the performance level, I look at the speed of the game and the position of the game, it needs to improve, but I analyse the game and the fix of the things that we need to improve on, I have seen already over the course of the week. So I think we are only going to get better.

“You certainly don’t win a league in August. But it’s something we will improve on for sure.”

Lewis Hamilton finished only 17th in practice for the Italian Grand Prix as Sergio Perez crashed out.

Carlos Sainz provided Ferrari’s home fans with reason for cheer by posting the fastest time at the Italian team’s home track in Monza.

The Spaniard, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday, edged out McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.019 seconds with championship leader Max Verstappen in fifth place, two tenths back.

But seven-time world champion Hamilton, who signed a new £50million-a-year contract with Mercedes earlier this week, ended up only 17th of the 19 drivers who set a time after bemoaning the lack of straight-line speed.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell finished ninth, 0.821sec slower than Sainz.

While Verstappen has romped to 11 wins from 13 this season – and could become the first driver in history to seal 10 consecutive victories on Sunday – his team-mate Perez has endured a turbulent campaign.

And the Mexican faced more misery here after he lost control of his Red Bull machine through the high-speed Parabolica.

Perez ran on to the gravel on the exit of the corner leading into the main straight and skidded across the sandtrap before nudging the wall.

Perez was able to limp back to the pits but team principal Christian Horner was left grimacing on the Red Bull pit wall.

Before his spin, Perez had displayed encouraging pace – finishing third, 0.185 behind Sainz – and unusually ahead of Verstappen.

Verstappen, 138 points clear in the world standings on his unstoppable march towards a hat-trick of titles, ended the opening running at the top of the time charts. But his best effort in the day’s concluding running was scuppered by traffic.

The 25-year-old wanted to go for another timed lap, only for his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to tell him “it isn’t qualifying”.

The Dutch driver was also fined 500 euros (£428) for breaking the 50mph pit-lane speed limit by 3mph.

However, given his crushing dominance this year, he will head into the remainder of the weekend as the favourite to land another win and better the record he shares with Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren have bounced back from a poor start to the year following an upgrade at June’s Austrian Grand Prix. Behind Norris in second place, Oscar Piastri finished fourth.

Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc, who won here to the delight of the Tifosi in 2019, was sixth, one place ahead of the ever-impressive Alex Albon in his Williams, with Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll failed to set a lap after he broke down with a fuel system failure in the opening moments.

Geoffrey Soupe was the surprise winner of stage seven of the Vuelta a Espana as the Frenchman edged out Orluis Aular in a chaotic sprint after a crash-strewn finish in Oliva.

A late corner on the 201km stage from Utiel put favourite Kaden Groves and several other quick men out of position and set up a messy finale, in which TotalEnergies’ Soupe just hung on to beat Caja-Rural’s Aular in a photo finish.

The battle for position had already been significantly disrupted by a big crash a little over six kilometres out which left Thymen Arensman of the Ineos Grenadiers needing lengthy medical treatment before leaving the race in an ambulance.

Earlier in the stage, the Ineos team leader Geraint Thomas had also gone down, and continued to receive treatment to his left knee as the Welshman looked uncomfortable for much of the day, losing another 24 seconds on the line after the crashes contributed to splits in the bunch.

Sepp Kuss, winner of Thursday’s mountain stage to Javalambre, was also caught up in a late incident but quickly got back into the peloton to stay second overall, eight seconds behind 20-year-old Frenchman Lenny Martinez, who retained the red jersey he took on Thursday.

The rest of the main favourites finished in the front group to mean no major changes ahead of Saturday’s return to the mountains.

The Frankie Dettori farewell tour will hit Budapest on Saturday where the Italian will take centre stage on one of the biggest days in the Hungarian racing calendar.

Dettori will have six rides on the nine-race card but will be linking up with some familiar faces at the capital’s Kincsem Park as officials prepare to welcome British-trained raiders for the first time.

All four horses making the journey from the UK are owned by Fitri Hay and her husband Jim, whose connection with Hungarian minister of defence Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky – also a key figure on the Hungarian horse racing scene – has led to this somewhat unexpected leg of Dettori’s international swansong.

The 52-year-old is set to partner Ian Williams’ Silent Film in a local Group Two contest before getting the leg-up aboard Paul and Oliver Cole’s Splendent in the feature Kincsem Stakes, a race which carries local Group One status.

Andrew Balding’s Sceptic and David Simcock’s Tides Of War are the other Hay-owned runners in action and their racing manager Alex Cole is hoping he has selected the correct squad for a fruitful venture to eastern Europe.

He said: “It’s very difficult to gauge the level for which they race, but I hope I’ve picked the right ones out of the stable rated around the 90s mark to be highly competitive.

“Horses can make days or ruin days, but fingers crossed.

“We’re all here now, Jim and Fitri are here, Frankie is here and the trainers are here. It all revolves around the Hays’ business interests, which ties in with the minister of defence who is also in charge of horse racing in Hungary.”

Dettori is no stranger to winning major contests around the world but a win in Bratislava in the Slovakian Derby is the closest the well-known racing figure has come to stepping foot on Hungarian turf, with officials hoping the Italian’s visit will provide a shot in the arm for racing in the country.

They also hope the ‘Dettori factor’ will see a bumper crowd in attendance for the feature of their Autumn International Meeting, which also sees greyhound racing and trotting take place at Budapest’s Kincsem Park.

“There are four major stakes races and Dr and Mrs Hay have four horses running, two in the mile race and two in the mile and a half,” said Botond Kovacs, international liaisons officer at Kincsem Park.

“It is the first time we are hosting English-trained horses here in Budapest and we are absolutely thrilled and over the moon, especially that Frankie Dettori is here. It is a huge privilege to have both Frankie and the Hays. It is his last season and he was gracious enough to accept our invitation.

“Frankie has arrived and he says our racecourse is 10 out of 10 and hopefully we will get a good crowd, we are hoping for a number around 6,000 to 7,000, perhaps more.

“The meeting is part of a horse and greyhound festival and the Autumn International Meeting is the highlight of the year, with obviously the Kincsem Stakes the feature race of the day with 55,000 euros in the pot up for grabs.

“We are very hopeful that this meeting can put Hungarian racing back on the map of racing in Europe.”

Rasmus Hojlund is fit to make his debut this weekend and Erik ten Hag says Sergio Reguilon could feature at Arsenal after his deadline-day loan switch from Tottenham.

Denmark international Hojlund joined United at the start of August for a fee rising up to £74million from Atalanta, but the 20-year-old has yet to feature due to a back complaint.

However, Ten Hag says the striker is fit to face Arsenal on Sunday, when goalkeeper Altay Bayindir – signed from Fenerbahce on Friday morning – and fellow deadline day arrival Reguilon will also be available for selection.

“Yes (Hojlund will be available),” the United manager said. “He had a good training week so tomorrow we have the final training.

“But he is doing well, responding well, so, yeah, he will be available for Sunday’s game.

“(Bayindir) will be in the squad as well, Altay, so happy. Now we have the keeper group fully there. We covered every position so I think we have a very good keeper group with the arrival of Altay.”

Asked if Reguilon could be involved at the Emirates Stadium, the United boss said: “He is here, he trained. Yes (he will also be available for Sunday).”

Ten Hag confirmed Reguilon’s arrival before the announcement was made confirming his loan switch from Tottenham.

The 26-year-old has joined on a season-long loan to help deal with United’s issues at left-back after Luke Shaw’s muscle injury compounded the absence of Tyrell Malacia and recent exits.

“In life you have to be ready for everything and the chance to represent this great club with such an illustrious history is one that I could not turn down,” said Reguilon, who could return to Spurs in January due to an option in the deal.

“Having spoken to the manager, I know what he needs from me, and I am ready to play my part in helping the team to achieve success.”

“I know that I can contribute to Manchester United this season; I am ready to fight for this group and show everyone my qualities.”

Reguilon spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid and three years ago was linked with a move to Old Trafford, where Ten Hag believes the Spain international will succeed.

“He’s a very experienced player, played for big clubs, played already a lot of games in LaLiga, Premier League, so, yes, I think very good background,” Ten Hag said.

“We have seen he can play very intense football, so we are happy while we had a problem with Luke Shaw injured, Tyrell Malacia injured, therefore long-term out. So I think we responded very well on that emergency situation.”

On top of deadline-day moves for Bayindir and Reguilon, progress has been made in United’s move for Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat.

A loan deal has been struck for the 27-year-old midfielder, who starred at the World Cup for Morocco and previously played under Ten Hag at Utrecht.

“There are so many rumours, but it’s nice, eh?,” the United boss said when asked about Amrabat.

“I think we have done good business, we constructed a strong squad and we are ready to go in to the fight.”

Pushed again on Amrabat, he said: “I can’t tell (you much) because I don’t know if he can sign, so if we have news, we will report it immediately.”

The PA news agency understands academy product Jonny Evans could also sign a deal for the rest of the season.

The Northern Ireland centre-back, 35, joined on a short-term contract in pre-season and has impressed Ten Hag.

There could be outgoings as well as incomings before the day is out, with multiple clubs looking at Eric Bailly, Donny Van De Beek and Mason Greenwood.

United announced last week that the latter would not recommence his career at the club, with teams in Germany, Spain, Italy and Turkey among those to express interest.

Marc Jurado joined Espanyol on a permanent deal on Friday and Alvaro Fernandez could return to Spain, but Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay look set to stay having been subject of interest this summer.

“If you see the schedule, it’s tough, it’s really condensed,” United boss Ten Hag said.

“When you see last season the World Cup, crazy season, the season takes longer, two weeks longer. We played (the) FA Cup final one week longer.

“We had a short break, we had a really condensed pre-season again, so we need numbers. But also we need not only numbers, the numbers have to be quality.

“I think, yeah, with this squad we have depth and we have quality players and we can be in a variety of systems and we are happy with it.

“We are ready to go into the fight.”

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is “excited” to get back in front of the home fans as his side look to make it four consecutive wins when Getafe visit the Bernabeu on Saturday.

Ancelotti’s side have picked up maximum points from their opening three matches, which have all been away from home while renovations were carried out at the Bernabeu.

Madrid are the only team in LaLiga to have picked up three wins from three but will face a challenge from Getafe, who have already taken a point off Barcelona this season.

Ancelotti told a press conference: “We’re really excited to be back at the Bernabeu, it looks quite different now.

“It’s important to get back to our stadium in front of our fans after some good performances in the opening three games. We can’t wait to return and pick up the three points.”

“I’m not in the mind of the fans. I am very excited about the season.

“Every single one of us, when the season starts, we are hungry to have an incredible campaign.

“It’s happened many times in the past and could very well happen again this year.”

Madrid will be without their playmaker Vinicius Jr for the clash after he was brought off in the 18th minute of their 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo with a hamstring injury.

The 23-year-old is likely to be missing for several weeks and Ancelotti understands he will be a big miss.

He continued: “Being without Vini Jr means we lose a hugely decisive player for the next few games.

“Our approach won’t change but we’ll replace him with a player who has different attributes, so we’ll try to adapt our attacking movement.”

“We can replace Vinicius with Joselu and Brahim (Diaz). We don’t have to play with three forwards but I might well play with someone coming inside.

Despite losing Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema to Al-Ittihad and Marco Asensio to PSG, Real have reinforced their squad with other options, including Jude Bellingham, who has made a fast start to life in Spain.

The 20-year-old has scored four goals in his opening three matches, becoming the first person to do that in Real Madrid colours since Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Ancelotti thinks the fans will be happy to see Bellingham play in front of the home crowd for the first time.

He added: “The fans will be delighted to see Bellingham play live at our ground. He’s got such a strong personality, he’ll love playing at the Bernabeu.

“I’m very happy with the squad. As I said before, we did all the work we had to do early on and when the season got underway, we were all sorted.

“It’s a competitive squad because we have a mix of quality, strength, energy and experience.

“We’re in good shape, despite having some real problems, which is always the way over the course of the season.

“It’s a good squad and we can replace our injured guys without many issues.”

Napoli manager Rudi Garcia highlighted Lazio’s quality despite the Biancocelesti losing their opening two Serie A matches ahead of their meeting on Saturday.

Maurizio Sarri’s side, who were beaten 2-1 at Lecce before a 1-0 home defeat to Genoa, find themselves in 18th place and travel to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in search of their first points of the season.

Garcia will look to extend Napoli’s flawless start despite failing to predict how Sarri’s side will set up when the two face off.

“They’re a quality side that need points having lost their first two games,” Garcia said.

“I don’t know what we should expect in tactical terms – maybe they’ll keep it tight.

“I always try to manage games by looking at my team. In this regard, we aren’t at 100 per cent yet in terms of fitness because some of the players started preparing for the season later than others.

“This is a match between two teams, Napoli and Lazio, rather than a match between coaches.

“Tomorrow is a match that we want to win. Our aim is to keep up our 100 per cent record as that would allow us to take points off Lazio, who are a direct rival of ours.”

Garcia, who replaced Luciano Spalletti in June, credited his side’s start which included a 3-1 victory over Frosinone and a 2-0 win over Sassuolo.

The French manager encouraged his team to be more clinical in front of goal and provided an injury update for 2022/23 Serie A player of the year Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who returned to action last week.

“We did well to give very little away against Frosinone and Sassuolo,” Garcia added.

“The win over Frosinone took on greater significance after they beat Atalanta. We stood our ground for the first hour against Sassuolo when it was still 11 against 11.

“We certainly need to improve in terms of finishing.

“We’re carving out plenty of chances but we’re not making the most of them. What matters to me giving little away because we need to get the balance right in order to achieve our target.

“He’s doing well (Kvaratskhelia). He’s had a busy week of training and we’ll see if he plays tomorrow.”

Garcia admitted he is pleased to face Real Madrid in Group C of the Champions League – with Napoli also due to face Braga and Union Berlin.

“The draw could’ve been better and it also could’ve been worse,” he said.

“I’m really pleased to be playing against Real Madrid, first of all because they’re a great side and it’s also a fitting return for me as when Roma qualified for the last 16 in 2016, I was supposed to face Real Madrid but I wasn’t allowed to.”

Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel insists his side head to bogey-side Borussia Monchengladbach for Sunday’s Bundesliga clash as favourites.

Tuchel’s side sit joint top after winning their opening two league games – 4-0 at Werder Bremen and 3-1 at home last week against Augsburg.

But Bayern have failed to beat historic rivals Gladbach in their five previous meetings, which included a 5-0 thrashing in the DFB-Pokal in 2021.

Tuchel joked at a press conference: “As soon as a streak goes against us, we don’t believe in streaks.

“We need a good performance. We have to build on the things we did well against Werder Bremen and in the second half against Augsburg.

“(Winning) our duels, being active, working hard out of possession and creating chances – we have to stick to them.

“We go to Gladbach as favourites and with the demand to win there. That’s absolutely our goal.”

Bayern’s rivalry with Gladbach stems from the mid-60s when both clubs won promotion to the top flight and they shared nine successive Bundesliga titles in the 70s.

“We know what’s coming, Tuchel added. “It’s emotional, a special game, a lot of history – and that’s what you’re up against.

“We have to play to our principles and know that we aren’t alone, are doing this as a team and that our own game is the focus. I’m confident there.

“Obviously you always need some luck in games, but it’s in our own hands.”

Gladbach, who have won three and drawn two of their previous five encounters with Bayern, are bidding for their first league win of the season.

They drew 4-4 at Augsburg on the opening day before losing 3-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen last week.

Swiss head coach Gerardo Seoane, who replaced Daniel Farke in June, said: “We have to be brave, defend from the front, so the gaps are smaller.

“If we manage to squeeze the field, we have the chance to contest more physical challenges than we managed against Leverkusen. We have to improve in that area.”

Former Leverkusen and Young Boys boss Seoane said his side will have to pay particular attention to new Bayern fans’ favourite Harry Kane.

The England captain has scored three goals in his first two league appearances since completing his £86.4million move from Tottenham.

Seoane added: “He’s a centre-forward who’s extremely good at finishing. He doesn’t need many chances to score. That doesn’t make defending against him any easier.”

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi feels an overwhelming duty to help Barcelona loanee Ansu Fati realise his potential of becoming a “great” player.

Spain international Fati has joined Albion on a deal until the end of the season, having been linked with Premier League rivals Tottenham.

De Zerbi, who recently lost Julio Enciso to a long-term knee issue, says he “can’t make mistakes” as he bids to develop the exciting 20-year-old forward during his temporary stay at the Amex Stadium.

“I’m very pleased, it’s a big player,” the Italian coach said of Fati. “We lost Enciso and we needed one big player.

“We are lucky because we have a lot of young players, potential top players and it will be one responsibility more.

“If you work with this talent, you have much responsibility because it’s our football heritage and we can’t make mistakes with these players because football needs this talent and you have to manage it in different ways.

“I’ve always thought like this. Especially for the big, big talent, I feel the responsibility to help this talent to become great players.

“Sometimes the coaches think only of the result, only of their career but football needs to have great players. It’s a big responsibility and I feel it.

“I think our style is very close with his characteristics, with his qualities.”

Fati, who has nine Spain caps and travelled to last year’s World Cup in Qatar, will not be involved when Brighton host Newcastle in the top flight on Saturday evening.

His arrival came on a landmark day for Albion after they were drawn to face European giants Ajax and Marseille in the group stage of their maiden Europa League campaign.

Greek champions AEK Athens complete Group B, with the first round of fixtures scheduled for Thursday, September 21.

“Ajax, Marseille and AEK are all good teams but we are a good team too,” said De Zerbi.

“It will be a very tough group but we have the enthusiasm of the first time Brighton play in the Europa League and you can imagine what will be our attitude, behaviour and passion to make points and to qualify for the next step.

“You can (only) be proud for two or three minutes – not too much – and then you have to think, Newcastle first of all because tomorrow we don’t play in the Europa League, we play in the Premier League.”

Forward Danny Welbeck will miss out against the Magpies due to a muscular injury.

Cameroonian midfielder Carlos Baleba – bought from French side Lille on Tuesday for a reported £23million – will join Fati in having to wait until after the upcoming international break for a debut.

In a positive week for the Seagulls, Pascal Gross received his first call-up from Germany, while captain Lewis Dunk was included in England’s squad.

“Both were incredible news for us,” said De Zerbi. “We are a small club, we are not used to this news and for us it’s like winning a trophy.

“They deserve it, I think and I am working to help my players to reach this target.”

Mike Tindall has urged England to pick Alex Mitchell or Danny Care for their critical World Cup opener against Argentina in the hope it will ignite their misfiring attack.

A dire build-up to the tournament that begins next weekend has led to a run of five defeats in six Tests, plunging Steve Borthwick’s team to eighth in the global rankings.

One of the few positives to emerge from a calamitous loss to Fiji last Saturday was the dynamism visible at scrum-half from Mitchell, a late call-up to the squad because of Jack van Poortvliet’s ankle injury.

Tindall, a 2003 World Cup winner, believes either Mitchell or veteran Care must start even though that means dropping England’s most-capped player in Ben Youngs.

“Alex Mitchell did a fantastic job of lifting the pace,” Infinity Sports Travel ambassador Tindall told the PA news agency.

“The pace we play at has become a problem. If you look at every nation around the world now, speed of ball is the key.

“You need fast ball so you play Alex Mitchell or Danny Care with the other one on the bench because you need to keep the tempo that high.

“No disrespect to Ben Youngs, he’s been one of the great servants to English rugby but that’s something he doesn’t do well now.

“He slows the ball down a lot because he’s trying to make decisions. With the type of athletes we have, you want them getting fast ball on the front foot.

“The team since 2019 hasn’t fired in attack. Every game we’ve played since 2020 it’s looked like we’ve tried to beat South Africa in the final again.

“England are at their best when playing high tempo, trusting in their skill set and varying their attack. That’s disappeared over the last couple of years.”

England’s qualification from a group that also includes Japan, Samoa and Chile was considered a formality until a series of warm-up fixtures that produced a solitary win against Wales at Twickenham.

A pivotal opener against Argentina on September 9 has now take on even greater significance but Tindall is convinced if the players take ownership, they can turn the ship around.

“Expectation has dropped to the point no one is expecting anything of them. The players have got to feel that hurt. They’re the only ones who can change it,” the former Bath and Gloucester centre said.

“You can see there’s still a good camaraderie off the field, which is half the battle given where they are.

“They are one performance away from turning the corner and getting some self-belief back. Hopefully that’s against Argentina. That’s their World Cup final.

“Don’t just scrape the win, they need to back themselves to the hilt and put in a performance.

“You never expect England to be ranked eighth in the world but that’s where they are and World Cups are very unpredictable.

“They’re two big performances away from being in the semi-finals and then anything can happen. There are lots of things in their favour if they can just find some form.”

* Join Mike Tindall on an exclusive Rugby World Cup cruise with Infinity Sports Travel. Trips for the quarter-finals with match tickets are still available at www.infinitysportstravel.com