Brave Emperor could eventually travel even further afield in search of more Group-class glory after his conclusive victory in the Premio Vittorio Di Capua at San Siro.

The Archie Watson-trained gelding is incredibly well-travelled and has had a remarkable season, winning six times in four different countries.

He has scored three times at Group Three level, taking the Dr Busch-Memorial at Krefeld, the Prix Daphnis at Deauville and the Grosser Preis der Landeshauptstadt Dusseldorf.

He then stepped up to Group Two level in Italy at San Siro on Sunday and again did Middleham Park Racing proud when striding to a four-length win under usual pilot Luke Morris.

“You wouldn’t quite believe the season he’s had. We’ve kept on pitching him in and giving him another inch of rein and he’s just kept on giving and kept on winning,” said Tom Palin of the ownership group.

“Any task Archie seemed to throw at him, he’s just been able to respond, he is an absolute dude of a horse. We’ve sent him to Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, he doesn’t know how to run a bad race. He’s a credit to everyone around him – and more importantly to himself.

“Every time he goes racing, Luke keeps getting off and saying ‘he’s feeling faster’, he’s just improving all the time. Luke got off him this time in Italy and said ‘he’s really starting to feel like a good horse now’.

“Usually with good horses you get the impression that they’re good quite quickly, but this horse is a bit quirky in that he’s getting better as he goes along. The more we run him, the better he’s getting.”

Brave Emperor will have a break now and return to action next year with some targets in the Middle East and Hong Kong to get him started before the domestic campaign.

Palin said: “He deserves a bit of a break now, then we’ll look at a Group Two out in Qatar and we’ll see if Hong Kong might like him, that’s an invite only so we’ll see if they’re interested in having him run over there.

“Maybe we could look at the Godolphin Dirt Mile, that’s on World Cup night, then maybe something like the Lockinge. He’s got Group Two penalties now, and Group Three penalties, so he is going to have to roll some big boy dice. He’s probably going to be (rated) 113 or 114 next Tuesday, so he deserves a crack at something like that.

“He just loves it, wherever he goes he takes it in his stride and runs his race. I’ve run out of superlatives to describe him to the owners!

“He is so much fun and such a cool horse to manage because we don’t have to. Archie picks the races, I tell the owners where they’re going, they travel out there, he travels on the box and then he just seems to win! He’s a manager’s dream and an owner’s dream.”

Rohit Sharma insisted India are unfazed by past near-misses and will retain the demeanour that carried them to nine wins from nine in the World Cup group stage into their semi-final against New Zealand.

The 1983 and 2011 champions have endured a decade-long trophy drought on the global stage, eliminated in the semi-finals of the last two 50-over World Cups as well as at last year’s T20 equivalent.

Accused of failing to show up when it matters most, India have nevertheless thrilled their home fans in recent weeks by sweeping all before them, by far the dominant side heading into the knockout rounds.

Rohit therefore sees no reason to alter the game-plan ahead of a Mumbai showdown against perpetual underdogs New Zealand, who upset the odds to defeat India at the same stage four years ago.

“In India, if you are an Indian cricketer, then whatever the format, whatever the tournament, there is always pressure,” the 36-year-old batter said. “But we have handled that pressure very well in the last nine games.

“What happens from outside will always continue. We don’t really have to change too much, being that same mindset as we were before the start of the World Cup. We will focus on playing good cricket.

“This current crop of players are very much into what is happening today, what can happen tomorrow. I don’t see them talking about how we won the last World Cup, how we won our first World Cup.

“Half of the guys were not even born when we won our first World Cup. And then when we won our second World Cup in 2011, half of the guys were not even playing the game. The focus is on the present.”

Rohit and several team-mates who will play at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday featured in the 2019 defeat to the Black Caps, who also beat India in the inaugural World Test Championship final in 2021.

“In the back of your mind, you know what has happened in the past,” Rohit added. “But what has happened in the past is the past. It’s not going to determine too much about what will happen.

“I don’t think there’s much debate or much talk about what happened 10 years ago or five years ago or the last World Cup as well.”

Protektorat is in rude health as he builds up towards the defence of his Betfair Chase title, which trainer Dan Skelton describes as a “lifetime race”.

The first Grade One of the National Hunt season in the UK, Haydock’s feature event has a history of multiple winners, with Silviniaco Conti winning two, Cue Card and Bristol De Mai three apiece and the incomparable Kauto Star four.

Skelton was involved in those Kauto Star victories as Paul Nicholls’ assistant and winning with Protektorat 12 months ago gave him great satisfaction to get on the roll of honour in his own right.

Protektorat came up short in two subsequent runs, in the Cotswold Chase and the Gold Cup, and with that in mind, Skelton is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring he is at concert pitch for his reappearance.

“He’s in good form. We’ve managed to get him to our grass gallop this year, which is vitally important to him because we have to train him slightly different to the others, he’s not a horse we can train on the hill. He’s predominantly on the soft sand gallop,” said Skelton on a call organised by Jockey Club Racecourses.

“I wouldn’t say he’s completely unique, there’s a few we train the way we train him, but basically he puts way too much effort into the early part of his work, so you have to taper into it.

“If we worked him up our hill, he’d give us a terrible read as he’d do too much along the bottom and then feel the incline and not perform as well as those who are relaxed at the bottom.

“His health and his well-being is good, his fitness is right where we want it and it doesn’t hurt that there’s been plenty of rain all over the UK because that will suit him.”

Skelton has fond memories of Kauto Star’s exploits on Merseyside and feels the race is one of jumps racing’s crown jewels.

He added: “Obviously, I worked for Paul when Kauto Star was winning them. The Betfair Chase is one of the biggies of the year, up there with the King George and the Gold Cup and it was fantastic to win it last year.

“It’s one of those lifetime races and it is very hard to get a horse good enough to run in it, so when you get your chance, you’ve got to try and take it.”

Getting back to Protektorat, Skelton said: “He spends his summers with Lisa Hales (daughter of part-owner John Hales) and he does well through the summer, we then start with him in the first or second week of July.

“He’s very enthusiastic about his work – if anything, he actually gives too much and you are always trying to calm him down as he is so keen to please, which is why he’s a great horse fresh.

“Sometimes, towards the end of the season, his early exuberance, while you don’t not appreciate it, everything he puts in at the start, it has to empty somewhere. He has won a Grade One in April, though.

“A week on Saturday is the big plan. He does have a King George entry and we’ll consider all options, but the Betfair Chase is his big target pre-Christmas.

“You can’t go to the Betfair half soaked, you’ve got to be ready for it.

“I wouldn’t call it a home match for us as he’s only done it once, but he’s answered the questions before, in those conditions at that trip. By their own admission, the trainers of the likes of Shishkin and Bravemansgame are looking at the King George.

“By our own admission, our number one target is the Betfair. I’m training him for the Betfair, which is giving me confidence he’ll put up a good defence.”

While Haydock is very much the big aim, come the spring, a tilt at the Grand National has not been ruled out.

“We rode him in the Gold Cup as if he’d stay four miles and because we were so aggressive, we gave him the opportunity to weaken going to the last and that is what happened,” said Skelton.

“We half talked about a National entry last year. While it’s not headline-worthy that we’ll enter him in it, and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before entries are even considered, but we thought about it last year.

“By the same token, we also discussed dropping him back in trip. That is what happens when you get beat, you think of things you can do different. When you win, you just do the same thing.”

One man who has helped Skelton in the difficult discussion after a defeat is part-owner Sir Alex Ferguson.

“First and foremost, he’s a sportsman, he knows the difference between winning and losing. He copes with losing because it used to happen to him in his professional life,” explained the trainer.

“It is comforting being around people who understand how to lose and try to get better from it. I’ve asked him questions and he’s always willing to answer. He’s an intelligent man who sees things in ways normal people don’t.

“He’s a great man to have on your side because he just gets it. No one was ever under more pressure than he was, no one ever felt worse than him after a bad result or better than him after a good result, he’s been there and done it all.

“It’s a great quality to have, being able to dust yourself down and go again.

“He’s never questioned, he would only question how we are going to do it better.”

Percussion will be readied for a second tilt at Aintree’s Becher Chase following a third excellent effort over the Grand National fences on Saturday.

Laura Morgan’s charge was a widely unconsidered 40-1 shot for his first attempt over the famous obstacles in last season’s Grand Sefton, but ran a fine race to finish third.

He proved that performance was no fluke when third again in the Becher the following month and he further advertised his liking for the track when filling the runner-up spot behind Gesskille on his second appearance in the Grand Sefton last weekend.

Morgan feels the extra five furlongs of the Becher suits Percussion better than the shorter trip of the Grand Sefton and she is looking forward to seeing him head back to Merseyside on December 9.

“He ran a screamer on Saturday and I’ve put him in the Becher, as he obviously loves the place,” said the Melton Mowbray handler.

“His jumping kept him in it the other day and I do think going that bit further will help him – two-mile-five is probably his minimum.

“Hopefully going back there for the Becher should be exciting.”

The Grand National itself is a dream long-term target for connections, but Morgan is well aware he is going to need to climb considerably from his current mark of 130 to make the cut, particularly now the number of runners in the race has been reduced from 40 to 34 as part of a slew of significant changes to the race to improve safety.

Morgan said: “I don’t know if we’re going to be rated high enough (for the Grand National), he’d have to go and run a screamer in the Becher to give us a chance of sneaking in.

“We’ve got options. Last year it was a struggle getting in the Topham and it might even be worth going for the Foxhunters’, I don’t know.

“The course and those fences are what he loves, so fingers crossed.”

The in-form Freddie Gingell will look for even more big-race success when he partners Paul Nicholls’ Il Ridoto in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Gingell, 17, enjoyed the biggest win of his career so far when landing the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter last week aboard his uncle Joe Tizzard’s Elixir De Nutz.

A Grade Two success for his own family will take some beating, but Il Ridoto could do just that, as he brings course and distance form to the table and was fourth of 14 in the contest last year when ridden by Harry Cobden.

Cobden, who is engaged to ride Stage Star this time, is the stable jockey for the Nicholls team, with Gingell also attached to the same yard as a 7lb claimer.

“Paul said to me after the Haldon Gold Cup that I’ve got a nice one for you on Saturday,” he said.

“It gave me a right buzz being told that I was going to ride Il Ridoto just after winning the Haldon Gold Cup. The day just got better and better.

“He is a good, honest horse and he will give me a real good spin around Cheltenham. He was pulled up over the Grand National fences on his last start, but this will be much more to his liking.

“Paul has got Stage Star in the race as well, so he has a couple of big chances in it.

“Il Ridoto was fourth in the race last year when Harry rode him but with that weight I can claim off his back, hopefully he will go even closer this year.

“I sat on him once last week and hopefully I will get to school him once or twice this week just to get to know him a bit more and go from there.

“He is quite low in the handicap and with my claim off his back, I think he has a massive chance.

“The Haldon Gold Cup was big but the Paddy Power Gold Cup is even bigger again. Thanks go to the owners and Paul for letting me have the ride and hopefully I can reward them.”

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from snooker’s Champion of Champions event on the eve of his opening match in Bolton.

O’Sullivan had been scheduled to play Zhang Anda in group one on Wednesday, with the winner facing either John Higgins or Chris Wakelin for a place in the semi-finals.

The seven-time world champion, who lost to Zhang in the semi-finals of the International Championship in Tianjin on Saturday, has been replaced in the field by Ding Junhui.

O’Sullivan wrote on X, former known as Twitter: “Hi guys, just wanted to let you know I’m unfortunately withdrawing from the Champions of champions event tomorrow.

“Mentally I feel a bit drained and stressed and I want to look after my mental health and my body. I’m sorry to all the fans but I’ll be back stronger.”

O’Sullivan is expected to return to action in the UK Championship in York later this month.

Dan Skelton is building up a strong team for The November Meeting at Cheltenham this weekend, headed by Nube Negra, who is seeking a third straight win in Sunday’s Shloer Chase.

With Unexpected Party among the favourites for Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup and Knickerbocker Glory and L’Eau Du Sud well fancied for Sunday’s Unibet Greatwood Hurdle, Skelton can approach the three-day fixture with confidence.

It was at this stage 12 months ago Skelton’s campaign really took off, with victories in the West Yorkshire Hurdle, Shloer Chase, Betfair Chase, Coral Gold Cup and Becher Chase marking him out as the most in-form yard at the time.

However, he admits this season has yet to really get going and he is hoping it ignites this weekend.

“This time last year, they just hit a vein of form and off they went. Being open and honest, I have to say it hasn’t quite been like that this season,” Skelton said in a press conference organised by Jockey Club Racecourses.

“We’ve had a few nice winners but the ground this autumn has been particularly challenging.

“Our horses have been fit but perhaps the best way to describe it is they’ve been good to soft ground fit, not heavy ground fit. A few have got to the back of the second last and they’ve needed the run a bit. I can’t say it’s been seamless, our results show that.

“Every day that goes by, they are a bit closer to where they want to be and going into this weekend, Unexpected Party is totally ready, L’Eau Du Sud is totally ready, Nube Negra has always had the Shloer on his mind, Knickerbocker Glory has already won this year.

“So, there are no excuses now and while it might be too much to hope for a run like last year, I do see a bit of plainer sailing now.”

One horse Skelton would love to see win is Shan Blue, who had the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby in his grasp two years ago until a crashing fall and he has yet to return to that form in three runs since. He is set to reappear over hurdles.

“Shan Blue will run over hurdles, bless him. Since he fell in that race at Wetherby, it hasn’t happened for him. I know he finished second at Aintree that spring, which was a nice run, but it wasn’t anything like it looked like what he was going to do at Wetherby,” said Skelton.

“I don’t want to pre-empt anything but I’m as happy with him at home as I’ve ever been. I had him declared at Market Rasen but that got called off, same at Bangor tomorrow, so our back is against the wall to run, so that is why he’s in over hurdles. He has been very well at home and I’d like to think there’s another big one in him.”

As for the feature race, one Skelton has yet to win, although he was third last year with Midnight River and second 12 months earlier with future Grade One winner Protektorat, Unexpected Party saw his form boosted in no uncertain terms by Knappers Hill at Wincanton, who finished second to him at Chepstow.

“Of course it’s comfort but in reality it is probably false because no more was achieved on the day than was expected – but it’s nice to see,” said Skelton.

“I didn’t think he should shoot to the top of the market or anything and I’m sure if you went and asked him, he wouldn’t know Knappers Hill won. He does have the right profile, though.”

Rory McIlroy insists progress is being made in talks over the future of men’s professional golf, but a fear that “loose lips sink ships” means it is being kept under wraps.

The Framework Agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which blindsided players when it was announced in June, was due to be finalised by the end of the year.

Meeting that deadline appears unlikely, with the PGA Tour also understood to be assessing potential funding from alternative private equity sources. Fenway Sports Group – owners of Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox – are reported to be one of the interested parties.

McIlroy, who is one of the PGA Tour’s player directors, knows better than most what is happening behind the scenes, but acknowledged any deal with the PIF would need to be approved by the Unites States government.

“I think if you were in the middle of it, you would see that there’s a path forward,” McIlroy said in his press conference ahead of the DP World Tour Championship.

“It’s just that no one on the outside has any details, right. Loose lips sink ships, so we are trying to keep it tight and within walls. I’m sure when there’s news to tell, it will be told.

“I think getting something done sooner rather than later is a good thing. Because you know, even if we get a deal done, it doesn’t mean that it’s actually going to happen.

“That’s up to the United States government at that point and whether the Department of Justice think that it’s the right thing to do or whether (it’s) anti-competitive or whatever.

“Even if a deal does get done, it’s not a sure thing. So yeah, we are just going to have to wait and see. But in my opinion, the faster something gets done, the better.”

Asked if he was enjoying being on the “inside” in such discussions, McIlroy joked: “Not particularly, no.

“Not what I signed for when I went on the board. But the game of professional golf has been in flux for the last two years.”

McIlroy arrived in Dubai for the season-ending event already assured of winning a fifth Race to Dubai title, leaving him three behind the record tally of Colin Montgomerie.

But despite that accolade and contributing a career-best performance as Europe regained the Ryder Cup, McIlroy was disappointed at failing to win a first major title since 2014.

The world number two birdied the first hole in the final round of the US Open to tie for the lead, but did not make another birdie at Los Angeles Country Club and finished a shot behind Wyndham Clark.

Asked to judge his season, McIlroy said: “Yeah, probably give it a seven out of 10.

“Played good golf. I had the two wins. I had my best-ever Ryder Cup, which feels like a win to me, especially coming off the back of Whistling Straits (where Europe lost 19-9 in 2021).

“So I’ve been happy with the year. If I looked back on one thing, I’ll rue that miss at LA. I had a great opportunity there to pick up another major and I didn’t.

“But I’m still not going to let that take away from the fact that it’s been another really consistent, solid year with some really good performances.

“I’m feeling like my game is in as good a shape as it’s ever been throughout my, whatever it is, 16, 17-year career.

“I’m happy with that and will try to finish this year off on a high and play well this week and reset and get ready for 2024.”

Liam Cooper insisted Scotland are intent on doing themselves justice at Euro 2024 after failing to win a game in their last tilt at the tournament.

The Scots go into their concluding two qualifiers – away to Georgia on Thursday and at home to Norway on Sunday – having already qualified for the finals in Germany next summer.

Steve Clarke’s men suffered group-stage elimination at Euro 2020 – delayed until 2021 due to Covid – after taking just one point from three games against Czech Republic, England and Croatia.

Leeds defender Cooper – speaking from the Scots’ training base in Turkey ahead of Thursday’s match in Tbilisi – feels they will be better equipped this time to make it to the knockout phase.

“As professionals, I think we put that expectation on ourselves immediately after the last Euros,” he said. “I don’t think we did ourselves justice in that tournament.

“It was a lot of lads’ first taste of a major tournament, including myself, and straight after that we agreed among ourselves that we didn’t really do ourselves justice.

“We’ve got a lot of people, including ourselves, to prove to that we belong there and we can get through the group stages.

“We’ve got an honest bunch of lads and we hold ourselves accountable. We want to be satisfied with the way we performed. We’ve done well in this qualification campaign, to qualify with two games to spare is amazing, but it can’t stop there.

https://x.com/ScotlandNT/status/1724198526597415041?s=20

“To be even more successful, we’ve got to go and do ourselves justice at the Euros. I’m lucky enough to have been at the last Euros, but if the goalposts don’t change once you’ve had a taste of that and you don’t want to go and improve on it next time, then there’s no point in you being here.”

Cooper admits it is a good feeling to go into the last two matches having already qualified but he is adamant the Scots will not be taking things easy over the next week, with top spot in Group A as well as a place in the squad for the finals at stake.

“It’s nice to have qualified with two games to spare, but there’s also that carrot there that if Spain drop points, we can go and win the group,” said the 32-year-old. “That’s our motivation right now. We’ve got to be professional and take our chance if Spain slip up.

“We’ve only got this camp and the next camp to get ourselves in the manager’s thoughts and get in the squad for Germany so that’s also added motivation. We’ve got to put ourselves forward and prove we should be on that plane to Germany.

“I had a taste of that before and it was an amazing experience albeit in difficult times for the world (due to Covid). There were limited people in the stadium so you didn’t get the full experience.

“It was still an amazing experience but I think the Euros next summer will be unbelievable. It’s something you always dream of as a kid so you’ve got to do all you can by playing well and being successful in these next couple of games and into the March camp as well.”

Excitement is building among the Scotland support and players ahead of the draw for the Euros group stage on December 2.

“We’re obviously buzzing for that,” said Cooper. “We can then get booked and our friends and families can start getting booked up.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare not knowing where we’ll be playing, every person I’ve spoken to has booked about 20 hotels on free cancellation so it will be nice to know where we’re going to be based.

“Once all the logistics of it are sorted out then you can really start to look forward to it. But we’re professionals and we understand there’s a lot of football to be played before then and there’s still a big decision to be made by the manager (regarding squad selection) so there will be no getting too carried away.”

Virgil van Dijk is hopeful Liverpool have rediscovered what it takes to push Manchester City all the way in the Premier League title race again.

The two had epic battles in 2018-19 and 2021-22, when City pipped their north-west rivals by just a single point, while in between those campaigns the Reds clinched their first championship in 30 years.

Having experienced a huge dropoff last season in finishing fifth, Jurgen Klopp’s side have bounced back after a summer midfield rebuild and will resume after the international break with a trip to the Etihad in a first-v-second clash.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Virgil van Dijk (@virgilvandijk)

It is the closest Liverpool have been to City in 18 months and Van Dijk believes with consistency in results and fitness they can mount a sustained challenge.

Asked whether he thought they were capable of running City close for the title, the captain said: “I hope so.

“You have all these aspirations, dreams, goals and you want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in.

“That is definitely the case at the beginning of the season and then you grow into a season. It’s November and there is still so much to play for.

“It’s going well, but if we had not got a result against Brentford (a 3-0 win at the weekend) we would have been in that downward spiral – from the outside world of course – because you don’t set it up nicely for the game after the international break.

“Overall this season we have been doing well but the season is not decided in November and there could be so many twists and turns, we all know that.”

Key to that will be staying injury-free. Against Brentford, Liverpool’s options were down to the bare minimum with Alexis Mac Allister suspended and Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic – plus defenders Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate – all unavailable.

Klopp fielded a bench in which only one outfield player was aged over 20 but they got the job done to move into second and set up the intriguing trip to the Etihad a week on Saturday.

“I looked in the dressing room and it felt like we were the under-23s but we still we have the quality, if you are good enough you are old enough,” Van Dijk added.

“But we need to see, we need a bit of luck, we need no injuries and need consistency.

“We finished on a positive feeling and now it is time to focus on something else (internationals).

“When we come back there is a very big one away and we will see if we are ready for that test.”

Wimbledon chiefs are hoping Wandsworth councillors will reject the recommendations of planning officers and back their expansion plans at next week’s meeting.

The project, which involves the construction of 38 new courts in neighbouring Wimbledon Park including an 8,000-seat show court, has met with significant protest from some local residents.

The All England Club achieved a major victory last month when Merton Council decided to approve the plans but a smaller section of the site lies within Wandsworth and its planning officers have recommended councillors reject it.

They will meet next Tuesday to make their decision, and an All England Club spokesperson said: “We are surprised that planning officers at the London Borough of Wandsworth have recommended refusal of the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project, particularly after the London Borough of Merton resolved to approve the application following extensive analysis and debate both in their officers’ report and at the planning committee.

“We regret that Wandsworth’s officers have taken a different view but it is for councillors on the Planning Applications Committee to make their own considered decision at the meeting on November 21.

“We firmly believe the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project will deliver substantial social, economic and environmental benefits, including 23 acres of newly accessible green space, alongside hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of pounds in economic benefits for our neighbours in Wandsworth, Merton and across London.”

The new show court drew the most concern from planning officers, who concluded that there were not the necessary very special circumstances to outweigh the harm and loss of open land.

Irrespective of the Wandsworth decision, the project will be referred to the Greater London Authority and its fate could ultimately be decided by the government.

Jude Bellingham and Levi Colwill are the latest pair to withdraw from England’s squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.

Both Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham and Chelsea’s Colwill sat out their club games over the weekend with shoulder problems and have pulled out of the camp for the final two Group C fixtures.

“Jude Bellingham and Levi Colwill will play no part in England’s forthcoming UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia,” an England squad update read.

“The pair arrived at St George’s Park for assessments on Monday but will now return to their clubs to continue their rehabilitation.

“Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips will meet up later this week owing to personal matters.”

Their withdrawals follow in the wake of James Maddison, Callum Wilson and Lewis Dunk being replaced on Monday, with the trio all staying with their respective clubs for treatment.

Three newcomers were called into the England senior set-up by manager Gareth Southgate in light of Monday’s news with Ezri Konsa, Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer stepping in.

Southgate, though, has resisted any temptation to bring in any other players to replace Bellingham and Colwill, leaving him with a 23-man squad for the home game against Malta and the trip to North Macedonia.

England are already assured on their place at next summer’s Euro 2024 finals in Germany but Southgate wants to be a top seed when the draw is made in Hamburg next month so victory in both games remains a key target.