Joey Votto had a home run and three RBIs in a triumphant return from a 10-month absence, and the Cincinnati Reds remained Major League Baseball's hottest team with Monday's 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.

The resurgent Reds posted their ninth consecutive victory, the franchise's longest winning streak since a 10-game run in July 2012, and moved a half-game ahead of Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central following the Brewers' 9-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Votto gave Cincinnati a 3-1 lead with a solo homer off Colorado starter Austin Gomber in the fifth inning, then put the Reds back ahead with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth after the Rockies scored three times in the top of the inning to take a 4-3 edge.

The six-time All-Star first baseman was making his first MLB appearance since August after spending the season's first two-plus months rehabbing from left shoulder surgery. 

Kevin Newman and Nick Senzel also homered to help the Reds extend Colorado's losing streak to six games. 

Giants rally late to stun Padres, earn eighth straight win

The San Francisco Giants kept their own long winning streak alive when Mike Yastrzemski's three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning produced a dramatic 7-4 win over the San Diego Padres.

San Francisco trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth but scored twice to force extra innings, and after putting two on with one out in the 10th, Yastrzemski launched a 3-1 pitch from Ray Kerr into McCovey Cove for his second homer of the night to give the Giants their eighth consecutive win.

Yastrzemski had a solo homer in the sixth inning and singled and scored during the ninth-inning rally while ending the night 3 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Keaton Winn aided the Giants' comeback by allowing just one run in five innings of relief.

The Padres had built a 4-1 lead after 4 1/2 innings on a pair of Juan Soto solo homers and a two-run single from Ha-Seong Kim, who went 3 for 4 in the loss.

San Diego starter Michael Wacha surrendered just four hits, including solo homers by Yastrzemski and David Villar, in six innings of work.

Lindor, Scherzer help Mets extend Astros' skid to five

Francisco Lindor homered and drove in five runs to back a splendid start from Max Scherzer as the New York Mets extended the Houston Astros' June swoon with an 11-1 rout of the defending World Series champions. 

Scherzer bounced back from two straight subpar starts by yielding just one run and four hits while striking out eight over a season-high eight innings. The three-time Cy Young Award winner got all the support he needed from Lindor's three-run homer off Hunter Brown in the third inning and a solo shot from Daniel Vogelbach earlier in the frame.

Vogelbach finished with two hits and three RBIs as the Mets ended a seven-game overall losing streak to the Astros and an eight-game skid at Houston's Minute Maid Park, where their last victory occurred in May 2011.

Houston has now lost a season-high five straight and is 3-10 since June 6. Yainer Diaz accounted for the Astros' lone run with a solo homer off Scherzer in the seventh inning.

England and Australia are poised for a thrilling conclusion to the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston after Stuart Broad rocked the tourists with two huge wickets late on day four.

Broad stepped up deep in the evening session to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith – the top two Test batters in the world rankings – and leave the tourists 107 for three chasing 281.

Despite the threat of rain on the final morning there should be enough time to avert a draw, with England hunting seven wickets and their rivals needing 174 runs to get over the line.

Memories of ‘the greatest series’ loom large

The fervour of the build-up to this series drew comparisons to the unforgettable series 18 years ago, when England reclaimed the urn after an 18-year wait. Key to that result was a nail-biting two-run win here in Birmingham, where Steve Harmison had Michael Kasprowicz caught behind just as Australia looked to have won it. The target that day was 282, just one more than today’s magic number. The tourists were much worse off on that occasion, ending on 175 for eight overnight, but could it possibly go as close again?

What they saidTweet of the day

Comedian and author Mark Steel attempts to paint a picture of ‘Bazball’ for the uninitiated.

Joe Root 2.0

Joe Root’s knock on the fourth morning exemplified his willingness to adapt towards a more high-risk, high-reward style under the current regime. He surprised everyone in the stadium by attempting to reverse scoop Pat Cummins over slip from the first ball of the day. The shot did not come off on that occasion but in the next over, he hit Scott Boland for six and four in successive deliveries with the same stroke. Root’s innings of 46 in 55 balls featured five boundaries and ended in unexpected fashion…

Stats corner

In England’s second innings, Root came charging down the pitch to Nathan Lyon and was out stumped for the first time in a career spanning 131 games and 240 innings. In the space of three months, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has now stumped Root and Virat Kohli for the first time in their careers.

England target Boland

Scott Boland was a thorn in England’s side in the 2020/21 Ashes in Australia, picking up six wickets for seven in a stunning debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He finished the series with 18 wickets in three Tests and arrived at Edgbaston with an impeccable record. His effectiveness has been built around his meanness – with an economy rate of 2.31 prior to this week. England appear to have made a point of knocking him off stride, scoring at 5.61 against him over the course of the Test. It was telling that Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey began to stand up to the stumps to Boland to prevent the English batters from charging down the pitch.

Top five fourth-innings chases at EdgbastonMo blow

The final day of a Test frequently means bringing a spinner into play but concerns abound about Moeen Ali’s index finger – the digit he uses to spin the ball which is blistered because of his increased workload in his first red-ball appearance since September 2021. The all-rounder was described as “fine” by team-mate Stuart Broad but Moeen bowled seven unexceptional overs on Monday. His effectiveness is set to be tested by his problematic finger and will place question marks over his involvement through the series. There is just eight days’ rest between the end of this Test and the start of the next one at Lord’s, a match he will be doubtful to play unless the injury settles down.

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has insisted “nothing is impossible” as he plots Euro 2024 qualifying victories over European superpowers France and the Netherlands in September.

Kenny’s men belatedly opened their Group B account with a 3-0 victory over Gibraltar at the Aviva Stadium on Monday evening to ease at least a little of the disappointment of Friday night’s 2-1 defeat in Greece.

Ireland’s hopes of securing one of the top two spots look forlorn unless they can pull off a series of shock results, but that is exactly what Kenny intends to do.

Asked what his message was to the players, he replied: “It’s a seven-day window just, it’s a short window. It’s France on a Thursday night in Paris and Holland on a Sunday night here in the Aviva Stadium, so it’s a really, really exciting window.

“They’re two really tough games, there’s no doubt about it, but very exciting games. We’ve just got to make sure we’re well prepared for them. They’re epic games.

“At the same time, nothing is impossible, that’s how we feel about it.

“Obviously we pushed France very close [at home]. I know this is different in Paris, but it will be an interesting game for us and very exciting, the two games.”

For 45 minutes, Ireland hammered away at the visitors, but without the craft, pace or guile to break them down, although it took a fine reaction save from goalkeeper Dayle Coleing to deny Jamie McGrath seconds before the break.

The game changed, however, with Celtic winger Mikey Johnston’s half-time introduction and he had already sparked terror in the Gibraltar defence on three occasions when he ran on to Will Smallbone’s half-blocked free-kick and stabbed into the empty net for his first senior international goal.

Evan Ferguson increased the lead within seven minutes and substitute Adam Idah finally opened his Ireland account in stoppage time to secure the first points of the campaign at the third attempt.

Asked if Johnston, whose four caps to date have come from the bench, could make a similar impact over 90 minutes, Kenny said: “He’s been terrific. Definitely he can start matches. I had it in my head that probably he was going to start, but it didn’t happen for him in Greece.

“We’re still obviously a bit disappointed about Greece, we’re not getting away from that, we were disappointed with that. It wasn’t his night, certainly, when he came on, but he has terrific talent, I really appreciate his talent.

“He’s a Celtic player and it will be interesting if he goes back there or not, we’ll see how his career goes over the summer.”

Victory over the team ranked 201st in the world – Gibraltar have now lost 3-0 to all four of the other teams in the group – is unlikely to silence Kenny’s critics, but it at least gets them off the mark.

Kenny said: “We obviously made life difficult for ourselves after Friday night. But Greece are a good team. They have to play Holland twice, we have to play Holland twice, and France in France.

“In my opinion, France will win the group, so we just have to have good September and October windows.

“The return game with Greece will be a different game, and obviously tough games against Holland and France. But we still have every chance and we just have to back ourselves in those windows.”

Gareth Southgate lauded Bukayo Saka after the England star scored a tremendous treble against North Macedonia and enjoyed one of the best nights of his life.

Having followed up March’s wins against Italy and Ukraine by beating Malta 4-0 on Friday, the side put on a show on Monday as their Euro 2024 qualification cakewalk continued.

Harry Kane’s brace was complemented by Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips efforts at Old Trafford, where Saka was the star of the 7-0 annihilation of North Macedonia.

A fierce strike from a tight angle was followed at the start of the second half by a stupendous second, before then quickly wrapping up the first hat-trick of his career.

Saka was given a standing ovation after a sparkling performance made all the impressive by the fact Southgate revealed he has been dealing with an Achilles issue.

“He’s had it for a few weeks and it’s an injury that just needs managing, but it would have been easy not to appear,” the England boss said.

“I think when you then have probably one of the best nights of your life, it’s a reminder to everybody that it’s worth going through those things.

“To see the joy on his face, he’s such a popular member of the team and so humble, works incredibly hard and, of course, talented.

“He’s been finishing like that all week, so, yeah, it was outstanding performance.”

Asked how close Saka is to being at an elite level, Southgate said: “Yeah, I think he’s there.

“When he broke into the team at Arsenal, what struck us was that in a team that were having a difficult time he was performing at a really high level.

“Then when the team were playing well he was still a key player and performing at a really high level.

“So, that says a lot about his mentality, his ability to deal with pressure and that’s the environment that we’re in all the time. He’s exceptional to work with.”

Saka’s goals in the final match of this unprecedented season mean it is a matter of when rather than if England wrap up qualification for next summer’s Euros.

There were few signs of fatigue at a rocking Old Trafford, where Macedonia suffered their heaviest ever defeat.

“The scoreline is outrageous, really,” Southgate said. “That wasn’t really how you were expecting the game to be because there’s no evidence that Macedonia would suffer like that.

“There’s no evidence that the game in the end would be as straightforward as it was and certainly in the opening 20 minutes it didn’t look that way, so it’s huge credit to (the group).

“I think our senior players have set a brilliant tone all week and Jordan Henderson on the pitch tonight.

“He won’t get the headlines but the way he set the tone for winning the ball back and running forward and mixing the game up I think was really important.”

Macedonia were blown away at Old Trafford, where they were a far cry from the side that shocked Germany and Italy in recent years.

Head coach Blagoja Milevski said: “Before we start the press conference, I want to apologise to the whole of the Macedonian nation for our performance and what we did tonight.

“I make decisions for every player who plays and the responsibility is just mine so I have to apologise for the whole of the Macedonian nation.

“It happens that these disastrous moments happen and we are all involved in it. I take all the responsibility for today’s game.”

Gareth Southgate lauded Bukayo Saka after the England star scored a tremendous treble against North Macedonia and enjoyed one of the best nights of his life.

Having followed up March’s wins against Italy and Ukraine by beating Malta 4-0 on Friday, the side put on a show on Monday as their Euro 2024 qualification cakewalk continued.

Harry Kane’s brace was complemented by Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips efforts at Old Trafford, where Saka was the star of the 7-0 annihilation of North Macedonia.

A fierce strike from a tight angle was followed at the start of the second half by a stupendous second, before then quickly wrapping up the first hat-trick of his career.

Saka was given a standing ovation after a sparkling performance made all the impressive by the fact Southgate revealed he has been dealing with an Achilles issue.

“He’s had it for a few weeks and it’s an injury that just needs managing, but it would have been easy not to appear,” the England boss said.

“I think when you then have probably one of the best nights of your life, it’s a reminder to everybody that it’s worth going through those things.

“To see the joy on his face, he’s such a popular member of the team and so humble, works incredibly hard and, of course, talented.

“He’s been finishing like that all week, so, yeah, it was outstanding performance.”

Asked how close Saka is to being at an elite level, Southgate said: “Yeah, I think he’s there.

“When he broke into the team at Arsenal, what struck us was that in a team that were having a difficult time he was performing at a really high level.

“Then when the team were playing well he was still a key player and performing at a really high level.

“So, that says a lot about his mentality, his ability to deal with pressure and that’s the environment that we’re in all the time. He’s exceptional to work with.”

Saka’s goals in the final match of this unprecedented season mean it is a matter of when rather than if England wrap up qualification for next summer’s Euros.

There were few signs of fatigue at a rocking Old Trafford, where Macedonia suffered their heaviest ever defeat.

“The scoreline is outrageous, really,” Southgate said. “That wasn’t really how you were expecting the game to be because there’s no evidence that Macedonia would suffer like that.

“There’s no evidence that the game in the end would be as straightforward as it was and certainly in the opening 20 minutes it didn’t look that way, so it’s huge credit to (the group).

“I think our senior players have set a brilliant tone all week and Jordan Henderson on the pitch tonight.

“He won’t get the headlines but the way he set the tone for winning the ball back and running forward and mixing the game up I think was really important.”

Macedonia were blown away at Old Trafford, where they were a far cry from the side that shocked Germany and Italy in recent years.

Head coach Blagoja Milevski said: “Before we start the press conference, I want to apologise to the whole of the Macedonian nation for our performance and what we did tonight.

“I make decisions for every player who plays and the responsibility is just mine so I have to apologise for the whole of the Macedonian nation.

“It happens that these disastrous moments happen and we are all involved in it. I take all the responsibility for today’s game.”

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has insisted “nothing is impossible” as he plots Euro 2024 qualifying victories over European superpowers France and the Netherlands in September.

Kenny’s men belatedly opened their Group B account with a 3-0 victory over Gibraltar at the Aviva Stadium on Monday evening to ease at least a little of the disappointment of Friday night’s 2-1 defeat in Greece.

Ireland’s hopes of securing one of the top two spots look forlorn unless they can pull off a series of shock results, but that is exactly what Kenny intends to do.

Asked what his message was to the players, he replied: “It’s a seven-day window just, it’s a short window. It’s France on a Thursday night in Paris and Holland on a Sunday night here in the Aviva Stadium, so it’s a really, really exciting window.

“They’re two really tough games, there’s no doubt about it, but very exciting games. We’ve just got to make sure we’re well prepared for them. They’re epic games.

“At the same time, nothing is impossible, that’s how we feel about it.

“Obviously we pushed France very close [at home]. I know this is different in Paris, but it will be an interesting game for us and very exciting, the two games.”

For 45 minutes, Ireland hammered away at the visitors, but without the craft, pace or guile to break them down, although it took a fine reaction save from goalkeeper Dayle Coleing to deny Jamie McGrath seconds before the break.

The game changed, however, with Celtic winger Mikey Johnston’s half-time introduction and he had already sparked terror in the Gibraltar defence on three occasions when he ran on to Will Smallbone’s half-blocked free-kick and stabbed into the empty net for his first senior international goal.

Evan Ferguson increased the lead within seven minutes and substitute Adam Idah finally opened his Ireland account in stoppage time to secure the first points of the campaign at the third attempt.

Asked if Johnston, whose four caps to date have come from the bench, could make a similar impact over 90 minutes, Kenny said: “He’s been terrific. Definitely he can start matches. I had it in my head that probably he was going to start, but it didn’t happen for him in Greece.

“We’re still obviously a bit disappointed about Greece, we’re not getting away from that, we were disappointed with that. It wasn’t his night, certainly, when he came on, but he has terrific talent, I really appreciate his talent.

“He’s a Celtic player and it will be interesting if he goes back there or not, we’ll see how his career goes over the summer.”

Victory over the team ranked 201st in the world – Gibraltar have now lost 3-0 to all four of the other teams in the group – is unlikely to silence Kenny’s critics, but it at least gets them off the mark.

Kenny said: “We obviously made life difficult for ourselves after Friday night. But Greece are a good team. They have to play Holland twice, we have to play Holland twice, and France in France.

“In my opinion, France will win the group, so we just have to have good September and October windows.

“The return game with Greece will be a different game, and obviously tough games against Holland and France. But we still have every chance and we just have to back ourselves in those windows.”

Coventry Stakes contender Givemethebeatboys was bought for £1.1million at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of his Royal Ascot run.

The Bungle Inthejungle colt changed hands for €11,000 at the autumn yearling sales back in November, but after winning each of his two starts in the colours of Theresa Marnane, he topped the sale when bought by Bronson Racing.

Trained by Jessica Harrington, Givemethebeatboys is set to be partnered by Frankie Dettori in Tuesday’s juvenile Group Two.

The select sale also featured Norfolk Stakes entry No Nay Mets, who was a Gulfstream Park winner for trainer George Weaver last month, and he went to Tuckernuck Stables for £800,000.

Australian training team Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott bought last year’s top lot Hoo Ya Mal for £1.2m and they were in action again, picking up two lots in conjunction with Johnny McKeever.

Cuban Dawn, placed in two of his three starts for Jim Bolger, cost them £300,000 while they paid £260,000 for New Endeavour, winner of two his seven starts for Roger Varian.

The first-named runner is in the Golden Gates Stakes, while New Endeavour is entered for both the Britannia and Buckingham Palace Stakes.

A delighted Venus Williams fought for more than three hours to defeat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham and post her best victory for nearly four years.

Two days after her 43rd birthday and with a right knee problem restricting her  movement, the former world number one showed that her competitive spirit has not diminished as she ground out a 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (6) win.

Williams plays sparingly these days, returning at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week for her first tournament since January, and this was only her second victory since Wimbledon 2021, and her first over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Giorgi is a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist and a player very much at home on grass but Williams still possesses a fearsome strike, while her serve touched 120mph.

A heavy fall in the first set did not help her knee and she noticeably limped but she kept her nose in front, putting aside the disappointment of failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider to take her second match point in the tie-break.

Williams held her arms aloft and repeatedly pumped her fist as the crowd, who had been drowned out at times by the support from the Ashes Test down the road, cheered.

“This one is especially sweet because I have been away from the tour for so long,” she said. “The last couple of years I’ve had little to no matches and long stretches between matches and that’s very challenging.

“I almost feel like when I’m on the court I’m reminded of things I used to do that worked really well, so there’s a lot of memories and deja vu – I’ve never had that experience before. I felt like I played well the whole match and that felt great.

“Tennis is awesome. There’s so many people that would love to do what I’m doing right now so I don’t take it for granted. I faced some huge challenges in the match. I thought I didn’t do much wrong and I found myself still not winning. I think that brought the emotion out.”

There were different emotions for another former top-10 player returning to grass, with Elina Svitolina beaten 6-2 6-0 by Czech 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova in less than an hour.

Svitolina made a brilliant comeback on clay following the birth of daughter Skai last October, reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open, but was unable to find her feet on the grass.

Wearing the colours of her native Ukraine, the 28-year-old quickly lost the first four games and made far too many errors against a much steadier opponent.

“Linda played really well today, from the start until the end,” said Svitolina. “I don’t think she did anything wrong at any point.

“I was struggling at the beginning and obviously on the grass you have no time to adjust. For me, it didn’t happen today but I’ll go on the practice court and try to do better next time.”

Svitolina chose not to use her protected ranking from before her pregnancy to enter Wimbledon so must wait to find out whether she will receive a wild card.

Third seed Magda Linette had to battle her way into round two, coming from a set down to defeat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 3-6 7-5 6-4.

Nottingham champion Katie Boulter begins her campaign on Tuesday against China’s Lin Zhu while Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart play each other.

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 June 19.

England looked back 20 years ahead of tonight’s match.

Ronald Koeman looked ahead after Nations League disappointment.

David De Gea was relaxing.

Charlie Adam was heading back to school.

George Russell paid the price over the weekend.

Red Bull recorded their 100th win.

Fernando Alonso was still celebrating.

KP had a difficult choice to make.

Katie Boulter was fighting off nature.

It was time to celebrate Father’s Day.

Georgia boss Willy Sagnol feels all the pressure is on Scotland in Tuesday night’s 2024 European Championship qualifier at Hampden Park.

The Scots go into the game top of Group A and with nine points from a possible nine following their dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Norway in Oslo on Saturday.

Georgia are five points behind after their 2-1 win over Cyprus on the same day but have played a game less.

Sagnol believes Scotland have to cope with the expectations of victory over the Georgians, who have lost twice in two visits to Glasgow.

“I just have to say congratulations for winning their first three games,” said the 46-year-old former Bayern Munich and France full-back, who described a chance meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf earlier in the day in Glasgow when the Georgia squad went for a walk as a “bit surprising but a nice moment. He was very nice to us”.

“If you win the first three games in a five-team group then you are on the best way to qualification.

“But I feel all the pressure is on not on our shoulders but it is on Scotland’s shoulders because they are playing at home against Georgia and they have to win. It would be normal for them to win.

“That’s why we can go out there without any pressure. We just want to play the best match we can as we also have to keep going with our positive evolution from the last two years.

“We have shown recently against big teams when it wasn’t expected, sometimes it was deserved.

“I have a group of players, who, on a good day, can beat anybody. The key is how to keep the discipline and the intensity.

“I trust my players and I have a very high opinion about their motivation to become known across Europe. They love their country and we have a lot of dreams.

“I hope Glasgow is part of a nice trip that brings us to our dreams.”

Sagnol was impressed by the way Steve Clarke’s side came back from 1-0 down against Norway to win 2-1 with late goals by Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean.

The former Saint-Etienne and Monaco player said:  “We just have to watch the last 10 minutes in Norway. Scotland is a great team with fantastic spirit.

“When they start gaining confidence they are really such a strong team.

“To go to Norway and win after being 1-0 down is not easy. Not a lot of teams can do it. That is why we have a lot of respect for this team.

“But, each match is its own story and we hope to write another very positive one for Georgia.”

Sagnol has seen Hampden Park at its raucous best.

In 2006 he was in the France side which lost 1-0 to Scotland in a 2008 European Championship qualifier at Hampden.

And while he stressed that the “the past doesn’t have any impact on the present and future” he is looking forward to a packed-out national stadium on Tuesday.

He said: “I also came here with my club to play against Celtic and Rangers.

“If you ask any player or coach from Western Europe where they enjoy the most for football and they always say the same thing – Scotland for the atmosphere in the stadium.

“What happened in 2006 doesn’t impact anything but I am very excited to feel the atmosphere tomorrow, my players are excited to feel that and I hope it is going to be a great match where both teams will play very good and then maybe the best team will win at the end.”

Callum Roberts has left Aberdeen to join Scunthorpe following an injury-hampered spell in Scotland.

The former Newcastle youth player joined the Dons from Colchester last summer but only played four times.

The 26-year-old spent a long time out with a hamstring injury and his final two matches were in Jim Goodwin’s last games with the club – a Scottish Cup defeat by Darvel and a 6-0 defeat by Hibernian.

Scunthorpe signed Roberts on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The midfielder told his new club’s website: “I am looking to get back playing football again on a weekly basis and enjoying it at training and match days.”

Scotland meet Georgia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers at Hampden on Tuesday.

Steve Clarke’s men lead Group A after beating Norway in Oslo on Saturday to make it three wins from three.

Here are some of the main talking points ahead of the match.

Halfway to Germany?

A Scotland victory would put them eight points clear in Group A and leave them needing a maximum of five points from their final four matches to finish ahead of Georgia and Norway, their most realistic rivals in the race to seal automatic qualification for the European Championship finals in Germany along with group favourites Spain. With a trip to Cyprus to follow in September, the Tartan Army would be starting to plan their 2024 summer holidays with Scotland halfway through their campaign.

The best start ever?

Scotland have never won their first four matches in a qualifying group. They last won their opening three qualifying games in the Euro 2008 section, beating Faroe Islands, France and Lithuania before losing in Ukraine. They missed out on qualification after losing to Georgia and Italy, twice, despite winning eight games in total. They also won their opening three games in the World Cup 1974 qualifiers, defeating Denmark twice and Czechoslovakia to make Germany with a game to spare.

Six of the best?

Scotland’s impressive run stretches back before the current campaign. They are unbeaten in seven competitive games, and have won six of them, and are looking for a sixth consecutive victory at Hampden. Steve Clarke’s men have won 13 out of their last 16 competitive matches.

Leaders on and off the pitch

Georgia manager Willy Sagnol got a high-powered welcome when he took his squad for a walkabout in Glasgow city centre on Monday. The former Bayern Munich and France defender bumped into First Minister Humza Yousaf.

Keeping the momentum

Scotland boss Clarke hinted that his team selection would be relatively unaffected by the rigours of Saturday’s clash with Norway in 30-degree heat. Georgia also had a tough game in Cyprus the same evening, winning 2-1. Clarke has the same players to choose from, including Ryan Porteous, who picked up a second booking in Oslo but suspensions only kick in after three yellow cards.