Pep Guardiola labelled Erling Haaland the “best striker in the world” after the Manchester City frontman was likened to a League Two player by Roy Keane.

The former Manchester United captain made the observation in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports after Haaland drew a blank in City’s goalless draw against Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.

Keane concurred Haaland, top of the scoring charts after winning last season’s Golden Boot, is in a class of his own in front of goal but added his all-round game is “almost like a League Two player”.

Guardiola was unimpressed by the remarks, arguing Haaland was instrumental in City’s treble success last season before insisting any blame for not scoring against Arsenal should be shared by the team.

“I don’t agree with him, absolutely not,” Guardiola said. “He’s the best striker in the world and he helped us to win what we won last season. Erling is exceptional.

“The reason we don’t create chances is not because of Erling. The standards that Erling has are unbelievable and everyone expects other things.

“There are games where he could be better but I knew during the game against Arsenal that the reason why we were not creating chances was not because of Erling.

“We needed more presence in the box. If we had that Erling would have more space. It happens sometimes. If you want to score goals, bring a lot of players to the opponent keeper, it is as simple as that.”

Guardiola, whose side welcome top-four hopefuls Aston Villa on Wednesday evening, admitted he is routinely bemused by former players offering scathing views about contemporary footballers.

However, the Spaniard accepts that criticism comes with the territory of being a high-profile professional footballer.

“If you don’t want to accept that as a football player, you have to dedicate yourself to another job,” Guardiola said. “When you are a public figure, you have to accept it.

“That’s why when you are in contract talks, you have to ask for a lot of money to accept those moments.

“I’m surprised it comes from former players. With journalists I can understand because they have never been on the pitch but the former players is always a surprise (when they are critical).”

When asked if he could see himself becoming a pundit in the future, Guardiola added: “I don’t know what is going to happen but I am not the guy who is going to criticise my colleagues when I retire.”

Guardiola sarcastically quipped his “ego” was the driving factor behind a heated on-pitch exchange with Jack Grealish following the full-time whistle after the Arsenal match.

Grealish has had a reduced role this season, partly through injuries, but Guardiola believes the England midfielder could have an impact as the season reaches the business end.

“I have the feeling that he’s back – in mood and training and desire,” Guardiola added. “Now I’m pleased.

“I’ve only asked the players to be ready and be themselves, it doesn’t matter if they perform at the highest level or less. We need everyone with the title schedule.”

Nuno Espirito Santo hailed the importance of Morgan Gibbs-White after he inspired Nottingham Forest to a vital 3-1 win over Fulham.

Gibbs-White put in a virtuoso display in a golden first half which saw Forest cruise into a 3-0 lead.

After setting up Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener, he watched as Chris Wood made it 2-0 before completing the scoring with a fine finish on the stroke of half-time.

“Morgan is a very special player for us,” the Portuguese said.

“Very important, talented, the work rate on the pitch, but to allow Morgan to have these moments a lot of things happen behind, hard work by the boys and this is very important.”

That sublime opening 45 minutes laid the foundations for just a second league win of 2024 for Forest and the first since they were deducted four points for breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules last month.

That opened up a three-point gap over Luton, who occupy 18th position and visit title-chasing Arsenal on Wednesday night, but Nuno is not getting carried away.

“Of course I am pleased, I am pleased with the performance, it was a good one, much improvement from previous games,” he said.

“After the points deduction it was very important we had some urgency of getting some good results. It’s what we fight for, it’s about points and we need them desperately.

“With all the noise that’s going on around us, it’s very hard to keep that togetherness. But the credit goes to the players because they are sticking with their tasks.

“We know it was important for us today, but let’s not get over the moon. There is still a long way to go.”

Forest had to endure a nervy time as Tosin Adarabioyo’s header gave Fulham a lifeline and the visitors spent most of the second half knocking on the door.

The Cottagers needed a late comeback to earn a point at bottom-placed Sheffield United on Saturday but they could not repeat the feat here as they paid the price for a shambolic opening half-hour.

Fulham boss Marco Silva, who made a triple substitution after 33 minutes, said: “Bad performance, disappointing evening for us, really disappointing result. When you don’t start the game the way you should of course you are going to get punished.

“In the first half we didn’t play, we were there but we didn’t play. We weren’t there, we didn’t do what we planned, we were so, so slow.

“We were not aggressive, the will was not there and this is the first time since this long journey started in 2021 that this has happened.

“Football is to play from the first minute not just the second half. When I made the triple change, at that moment the team needed much more changes than three.

“Overall we were not playing, as a collective we were not there. It is important to say it wasn’t the fault of the three at all. It was a tactical change.”

Tottenham lost more ground in the battle for a top-four finish after they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham.

Ange Postecoglou’s side could have leapfrogged fourth-placed Aston Villa with a win and made the perfect start when Brennan Johnson tapped home early on for his fifth goal of the season.

West Ham, who let a 3-1 lead slip to lose 4-3 at Newcastle last weekend, were able to respond in the 19th minute when Kurt Zouma scored from Jarrod Bowen’s corner and they could have claimed all three points.

While Spurs dominated possession throughout in east London, David Moyes watched Michail Antonio race through on the hour mark but fire straight at Guglielmo Vicario as the capital rivals could not be separated.

A light show followed by a firework display greeted the players onto a soaked London Stadium pitch and Moyes should have seen his team start with a bang.

Only four minutes were on the clock when Mohammed Kudus crossed in for Bowen, but the Hammers’ leading marksman fluffed his lines from a matter of yards.

It would prove costly as Spurs went ahead with their first attack of the match. A neat move ended with Timo Werner bursting past Vladimir Coufal before he squared for the recalled Johnson to tap home in the fifth minute.

It continued Johnson’s purple patch, after his brace of assists against Luton, but also ended a run of six first halves without a goal for Tottenham.

The visitors went close again when a Pedro Porro effort whistled past the post before Son Heung-min curled straight at Lukasz Fabianski, in for the injured Alphonse Areola.

West Ham remained a threat at set-pieces though, after Kudus had an early shot deflected over, and levelled after 19 minutes.

Bowen’s inswinging corner was diverted beyond Vicario by the back of home captain Zouma, who was inexplicably unmarked in the six-yard area.

It got the West Ham fans up on their feet and they almost had another goal to celebrate eight minutes before half-time, but James Ward-Prowse’s 25-yard free-kick was parried away by Vicario.

Spurs had responded well to the hosts’ equaliser. However, they had to survive a set-piece barrage to ensure they came in level at the break.

A sloppy pass by Rodrigo Bentancur gifted West Ham a chance at the start of the second half, but Vicario saved Antonio’s shot before the Italian made an even better stop to keep out Konstantinos Mavropanos’ header.

Antonio’s blushes were spared after he air-kicked the loose ball when the offside flag was raised.

Lucas Paqueta was next to go close for the home side when he spun away from Bentancur and curled wide from 20 yards.

Tottenham did regroup but should have gone 2-1 down on the hour mark.

Maddison wanted a free-kick after he tangled with Paqueta. Referee John Brooks waved play on and Ward-Prowse played through to Antonio, who benefited from a slip by Micky van de Ven but fired straight at Vicario.

It was a gilt-edged chance and Postecoglou reacted by bringing on Pape Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski, which gave the visitors a second wind.

Werner had an effort deflected over before both teams threatened to produce stoppage-time breakaway goals, but Destiny Udogie fired straight at Fabianski and Bowen lobbed off target as the points were shared.

Juventus kept alive their hopes of silverware this season with a 2-0 first-leg win in their Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio.

Front two Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic scored in the early part of the second half to break open a previously underwhelming encounter at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

The two sides also met in Serie A on Saturday, Lazio winning that game 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal from Adam Marusic, but Massimiliano Allegri’s side successfully turned the tables as he chases a record fifth Coppa Italia as coach to break a tie with Roberto Mancini and Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Lazio lost Mattia Zaccagni to injury just 10 minutes in after he was caught by Federico Gatti – and were grateful things did not get worse even before substitute Gustav Isaksen was able to enter the pitch.

Matias Vecino was harshly penalised after catching Andrea Cambiaso in his own area, the Juventus player leaping across him as he cleared the ball, but VAR overruled the penalty decision due to Cambiaso being offside when Vlahovic headed towards goal.

Isaksen saw one long-range effort blocked and another deflected behind by Danilo for a corner and Felipe Anderson ripped a 25-yard drive well over.

Cambiaso failed to control a deft return ball from Chiesa, costing Juve one of their few clear sights of goal in the first half, and they will be without defender Gatti for April 23’s return leg due to suspension after he was booked for a foul on Isaksen.

Luis Alberto headed Patric’s cross against the bar, with keeper Mattia Perin a touch uncertain under the looping ball, and Adrien Rabiot’s powerful 20-yard volley was straight at Christos Mandas in the Lazio goal as the half ended scoreless.

Nicolo Casale replaced Patric at half-time but the visitors soon fell behind when Manuel Locatelli did well to keep the ball alive and Cambiaso’s brilliant long pass cut the Lazio midfield and defence out of the game for Chiesa to finish clinically.

Locatelli blasted just wide after a rapid break, though a free-kick was given against Chiesa in any case, but Vlahovic soon made it 2-0 after turning Casale inside out.

Gatti headed just wide from Filip Kostic’s corner, conceded by Casale’s excellent tackle as Chiesa appealed in vain for a penalty, before Lazio boss Igor Tudor sought to change things with the introductions of Taty Castellanos and Daichi Kamada.

Juve substitutes Kenan Yildiz and Timothy Weah combined with Vlahovic to create a chance that was snuffed out by Mandas and Yildiz fired an ambitious effort well wide in the closing stages.

Lyon reached their first Coupe de France final for 12 years after beating Ligue 2 strugglers Valenciennes 3-0.

They will play Paris St Germain or Rennes in the final following a victory inspired by captain Alexandre Lacazette at Groupama Stadium.

Lacazette struck twice during a six-minute spell shortly after half-time to subdue a team 28 places below Lyon in the French league pyramid, while Gift Orban added a third.

Valenciennes went into the semi-final clash – their first last-four appearance since 1970 – as rank outsiders.

They are 11 points adrift at the bottom of Ligue 2 and had failed to score a goal in four league games since knocking out quarter-final opponents Rouen.

But it was far from plain-sailing for Lyon, who saw their opponents have a goal disallowed just before the interval.

Valenciennes found themselves under early pressure, with goalkeeper Jean Louchet forced into an early save from Said Benrahma’s shot, before Duje Caleta-Car was off-target from close range.

Although the visitors slowly grew into the game, they again found themselves in defensive mode as Lyon launched another attack, but Ernest Nuamah was wide with a header and then a shot during the space of two minutes.

Valenciennes had been under sustained pressure, yet they had a goal disallowed seven minutes before half-time when Sirine Doucoure’s effort was ruled out following a VAR review that picked up a foul on Lyon’s Jake O’Brien during build-up play.

It was a wake-up call for Lyon, but they could no find way through by half-time as their frustration surfaced when Clinton Mata collected a booking.

But the deadlock was broken six minutes into the second period when a foul by Valenciennes’ Joffrey Cuffaut gave Lacazette a golden opportunity from the penalty spot, and he made no mistake.

Lacazette was booked for excessive celebrations, yet a sense of relief swept around the stadium as Valenciennes’ impressive resistance had finally been broken.

The former Arsenal striker struck again six minutes later when his close-range shot beat Louchet and Orban then added a third as the clock ticked down.

Saarbrucken’s incredible run in the DFB-Pokal came to a disappointing end as they lost 2-0 to Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals.

Kaiserslautern failed to have a single effort on target in the first half at the Ludwigsparkstadion, but were a different side in the second period to book their place in May’s final in Berlin thanks to goals from Marlon Ritter and Almamy Toure.

Runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen face Dusseldorf in the second semi-final on Wednesday.

Third-tier Saarbrucken had claimed some huge scalps on their way to the last four, dumping reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich out in the second round before earning a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Their quarter-final against Borussia Monchengladbach saw them snatch victory with another late goal, this time from Kai Brunker in the third minute of added time.

However, Brunker was unable to reproduce such heroics in the semi-final, firstly heading straight at visiting goalkeeper Robin Himmelmann and then failing to get his diving header on target from a Marcel Gaus free-kick.

Saarbrucken goalkeeper Tim Schreiber was called into action for the first time in the 48th minute as he comfortably saved a 25-yard shot from Filip Kaloc, but the 21-year-old then committed a costly error to gift Kaiserslautern the lead.

Ritter’s glancing header from Toure’s cross appeared to lack the power to trouble Schreiber, only for the ball to somehow go through the goalkeeper’s legs at the near post.

Toure doubled his side’s lead on 75 minutes with a far better header into the far corner from Tymoteusz Puchacz’s inswinging free-kick and that always looked enough to seal victory for Friedhelm Funkel’s side.

Saarbrucken pushed forward in search of the goal needed to get them back into the tie but Brunker’s miserable night in front of goal was summed up when he blazed a half-volley over the bar from close range and beat the ground with his fists in frustration.

It is the first time Kaiserslautern have reached the final of the DFB-Pokal since 2003 – when they lost to Bayern Munich – and they will be massive underdogs if, as expected, Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Leverkusen side are their opponents.

However, Kaiserslautern’s route to the final four did include a 3-2 win against top-flight opponents Cologne in the second round before victories over Bundesliga 2 rivals FC Nuremberg and Hertha BSC.

Rayan Ait-Nouri’s third goal in four games earned Wolves a 1-1 draw at relegation-battling Burnley.

Jacob Bruun Larsen volleyed in a fine goal for the hosts in the 37th minute but Ait-Nouri levelled deep into first-half stoppage time and Burnley’s late push for a winner came to nothing.

The Clarets extended their unbeaten run to four games but Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 win over Fulham saw the gap to safety grow to six points with seven games left while Wolves remain in touch with the battle for European places.

Burnley were once again playing some encouraging stuff in the opening stages as Wilson Odobert found space between the lines and they launched a number of runs into the Wolves box but without finding a way to threaten Jose Sa’s goal.

Wolves’ threat came mostly on the break and when Nelson Semedo burst forward down the right he rolled the ball back for Ait-Nouri on the edge of the box but a poor touch from the Algerian allowed Vitinho to steal the ball away.

As Burnley fans in one block of the Jimmy McIlroy stand behind Aro Muric’s goal were being evacuated due to a strip of metal left hanging from the roof, Joao Gomes headed just wide of the target and towards the newly-emptied seats.

But Burnley were quickly back on the front foot and Lyle Foster slipped the ball for Vitinho to run at goal but his shot was too close to Sa.

However, the Portuguese goalkeeper could do nothing about Larsen’s strike as the on-loan Hoffenheim man met Dara O’Shea’s ball from deep on the volley to sweep it into the far corner.

Wolves’ 18-year-old striker Leon Chiwome, making only his second Premier League appearance, fired wide after a scramble in the area but the visitors did not have an effort on goal until equalising three minutes into stoppage time.

Burnley were upset by a soft free-kick decision against O’Shea, then failed to deal with the consequences as Pablo Sarabia’s cross was headed in by Ait-Nouri, with the goal surviving a VAR check.

Ait-Nouri might have had a second eight minutes into the second half when he latched on to a fine ball from Matt Doherty and beat Maxime Esteve to go clean through on goal but Muric stood firm to block the Algerian’s strike.

Burnley responded with one of their best moves of the game.

Foster laid the ball off for the advancing Vitinho on the right and he pulled the ball back for Josh Cullen in front of goal but Sa repelled the midfielder’s low shot.

Odobert then tested the goalkeeper with a powerful shot when a loose ball fell to him in the area.

Matheus Cunha came off the bench to make his first Wolves appearance since mid-February following a hamstring injury while Vincent Kompany sent on Jay Rodriguez as Burnley tried to find a winner.

The veteran striker did have the ball in the net in the 87th minute but the flag was up for offside and the points were shared.

Substitute Justin Kluivert bagged a late winner as Bournemouth beat shot-shy Crystal Palace 1-0 to claim a third straight win and fourth in five matches.

The game was played in torrential rain and swirling winds, which made it difficult for either side to get the ball down and play.

Palace deployed former Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma as an emergency central defender to deputise for the injured Chris Richards and the Colombian made a desperate last-ditch tackle in the 10th minute to deny Philip Billing a clean run on goal after neat interplay between the Dane and Dominic Solanke.

Jean-Phillipe Mateta then found himself in the right place at the right time to nod the ball over his own crossbar after Dango Ouattara had flicked a corner towards the Palace net.

The visitors’ first sight of goal came five minutes later when Mateta shot straight into the arms of Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto after Will Hughes had dispossessed Alex Scott on the edge of his own penalty area.

Billing guided a left-foot shot narrowly wide after linking up with Ouattara before an off-balance Jordan Ayew could only pick out Neto’s gloves after being teed up by the lively Eberechi Eze.

It took until nine minutes before half-time for Eagles goalkeeper Dean Henderson to be properly tested as he flung himself down to his left to turn away Billing’s long-range free-kick.

A minute later Henderson made an even better save to acrobatically tip Billing’s powerful header from Adam Smith’s cross over the bar.

The resulting corner found Lloyd Kelly unmarked at the far post but the defender could only head wide from close range.

Palace thought they had taken the lead in first-half stoppage time when Eze fired home at the far post via a deflection but their celebrations were cut short after a VAR review deemed Mateta was just offside in the build-up to the goal.

Bournemouth, watched from the stand by American owner Bill Foley, brought on Antoine Semenyo for Scott at half-time before introducing Milos Kerkez and Kluivert early in the second half.

Within seconds of his arrival left-back Kerkez forced a sprawling save from Henderson before Solanke, who was largely starved of service, lashed the rebound into the side-netting from a tight angle.

Palace’s stubborn resistance was finally broken in the 79th minute when Semenyo got the better of David Ozoh down the right wing before cutting the ball back for fellow substitute Kluivert to rifle home from 12 yards.

Semenyo could have doubled Bournemouth’s lead moments later but his angled drive from the corner of the six-yard box was well saved by Henderson with his legs.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin came off the bench to deny Newcastle victory but could not spare Everton an unwanted record of 13 Premier League games without victory.

The England international converted an 87th-minute penalty – his first goal since October – to cancel out Alexander Isak’s first-half opener and secure a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park as the Magpies were made to pay for missed chances.

Dan Burn had seen a second-half strike ruled out for offside after a VAR review and both sides were denied by the woodwork and ultimately neither got what they really needed.

Having lost Tino Livramento, Jamaal Lascelles and Miguel Almiron to injury and Anthony Gordon to suspension, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was forced to make changes.

Loan signing Lewis Hall was handed just a second league start as he, Emil Krafth, Elliot Anderson and Saturday’s match-winner Harvey Barnes were drafted in.

An Everton side bolstered by the inclusion of Vitaly Mykolenko, Idrissa Gueye, Ashley Young and Beto found itself under early pressure and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to make a vital block from Barnes with less than two minutes gone.

Gueye smashed a left-foot shot over after Dwight McNeil had expertly controlled Pickford’s long ball and squared, and James Tarkowski powered a header just too high from a McNeil free-kick as the Toffees responded.

However, it was the Magpies who took the lead with 15 minutes gone when Barnes lifted the ball over the top for Isak, who cut inside Jarrad Branthwaite and evaded the covering Tarkowski before drilling a low shot past the helpless Pickford.

Jacob Murphy blasted a 28th-minute drive just over as the Everton defence retreated in front of him, but Beto sliced an attempt horribly wide and Abdoulaye Doucoure curled a 43rd-minute shot into Martin Dubravka’s waiting arms at the other end.

Pickford blocked Murphy’s volley with his legs after Hall had floated a cross beyond the far post and Isak blasted just too high in stoppage time as Newcastle headed in at the break in control but knowing there was work still to be done.

Tarkowski was relieved to see his attempted clearance from a Murphy corner come back off the frame of his own goal, and the Magpies thought they had extended their lead with 58 minutes gone when Isak turned Murphy’s quickly-taken free-kick across goal and Burn fired home, but a VAR check ruled that the Sweden international had been offside.

The visitors came desperately close to an equaliser with 66 minutes gone when substitute James Garner turned smartly and fired beyond Dubravka only to see his effort come back off the foot of a post.

Mykolenko headed Isak’s goal-bound shot off the line and Barnes blazed across the face of goal in quick succession and although Dubravka palmed away Young’s well-struck shot, Pickford had to save from Bruno Guimaraes seconds later.

However, the Toffees were handed a way back into the game with just three minutes remaining when referee Tony Harrington was advised to review substitute Paul Dummett’s clumsy challenge on Young and Calvert-Lewin duly obliged from the spot.

Morgan Gibbs-White inspired Nottingham Forest to a vital 3-1 victory over Fulham which eased their Premier League relegation concerns.

Gibbs-White put in a virtuoso display in a golden first half which saw Forest cruise into a 3-0 lead.

After setting up Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener, he watched as Chris Wood made it 2-0 before completing the scoring with a fine finish on the stroke of half-time.

That sublime opening 45 minutes laid the foundations for just a second league win of 2024 for Forest and the first since they were deducted four points for breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules last month.

That opened up a three-point gap over Luton, who occupy 18th position and visit title-chasing Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Forest had to endure a nervy time as Tosin Adarabioyo’s header gave Fulham a lifeline and the visitors spent most of the second half knocking on the door.

The Cottagers needed a late comeback to earn a point at bottom-placed Sheffield United on Saturday but they could not repeat the feat here as they paid the price for a shambolic opening half-hour.

Forest made a flying start by going ahead in the ninth minute.

A fine turn from Gibbs-White created space for himself and he set Hudson-Odoi away with an audacious outside-of-the-boot pass.

The former Chelsea winger did the rest, advancing into the penalty area before cutting inside and firing into the bottom corner.

Gibbs-White was in the mood and he almost laid on a second for Hudson-Odoi with another fine piece of skill, making a fool out of Tosin, but his team-mate could not finish as Bernd Leno came out well to block.

Leno will not want to see replays of the moment Forest did double their lead in the 19th minute.

Wood received the ball with his back to goal 25 yards out, turned and seeing Leno take several steps to his left, planted a shot into the opposite corner, which was totally unguarded.

The hosts were electric and should have been 3-0 up soon after but Anthony Elanga clipped the post after a one-two with the vibrant Gibbs-White.

Fulham boss Marco Silva had seen enough and made a triple substitution after 33 minutes.

Alex Iwobi, Sasa Lukic and Harry Wilson were hauled off for Tom Cairney, Adama Traore and Willian, but the changes did not stem the tide.

Forest capped off a golden 45 minutes with another brilliant goal in first half added time as Gibbs-White played a one-two with Danilo and slotted home into the bottom corner.

What a difference 15 minutes can make as Fulham came out after the break and immediately gave themselves hope.

Tosin climbed highest from Andreas Pereira’s corner and glanced a looping header into the far post.

Willian and Cairney both had shots blocked as the visitors continued to push, but Forest came within inches of killing the game as Neco Williams cut inside and saw a deflected effort crash off the crossbar.

They needed that to go in as Fulham continued to push with Tosin denied by a fine save from Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels, with Kenny Tete heading the resulting corner against the crossbar.

Willian was a whisker away with a curling effort and Traore thundered a shot into the post, but Forest held on for a seismic victory.

Manchester United defenders Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof have been ruled out of action for at least a month with muscle injuries.

Lindelof, 29, came off with a hamstring problem during Saturday’s Premier League match against Brentford and was replaced by Argentinian centre-back Martinez.

However, the club said on Tuesday night the latter has now sustained a calf strain in training and will miss United’s next few games, starting with Thursday’s league match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

United have struggled with injuries during a largely underwhelming campaign.

Martinez, fellow defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw and summer signing Mason Mount are among the other players to spend chunks of the season on the sidelines.

England midfielder Grace Clinton is excited to “hit the ground running” as the Lionesses start their European Championship qualifying campaign this week.

The defending European champions kick off against Sweden at Wembley on Friday before facing Republic of Ireland in Dublin four days later.

England then play France at St James’ Park in May and Tottenham loanee Clinton believes the side will need to be on “top form”.

“It was drawn right after the last camp, it’s a really competitive group but that’s always going to happen when you’re in such an amazing tournament,” Clinton told a press conference.

“I think we’re all really excited to get started to be honest and hit the ground running.

“(Sweden are) another team that has amazing depth and are a really strong side, they’re very physical and quite direct, score goals. So we’re going to have to be on top form if we want to get a result against a team like that.”

Clinton has two senior England caps under her belt already having made her debut in two friendlies in Spain, which included a debut goal in the Lionesses’ 7-2 victory over Austria.

After impressing in Spain, the 21-year-old will be aiming for more minutes in this month’s qualifiers and believes she has gained more confidence since making her senior bow.

She said: “It brings so much more confidence, in the lead up to getting your first cap you’re always going to be very nervous and now that you’ve been out with the girls on the pitch and really gone in the deep end it just feels a lot more natural when you’re in training.

“You have far more confidence to express yourself each time.”

Captain Leah Williamson is aiming to make her international comeback in the upcoming matches.

A post on the official Lionesses X account confirmed the defender was following an “individualised session” on Tuesday and Clinton is looking forward to seeing Williamson back on the pitch.

“It’s my first camp with Leah back in and she’s one of the best in the sport isn’t she? So it’s amazing to have her back,” she said.

“Obviously she’s getting integrated slowly and we’re only a couple of days in, so it’ll be really nice to get her back with the team on the pitch.”

Rory McIlroy has been urged to block out all distractions to deal with the “baggage” associated with his attempts to win the Masters and complete a career grand slam.

The advice came from two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange as McIlroy prepares to contest this week’s Valero Texas Open before heading to Augusta National for the first major of the year.

Strange believes that will help McIlroy keep his mind off what he will be trying to achieve at Augusta and recounted a recent conversation with top psychologist Bob Rotella, who has worked with McIlroy on the mental side of the game.

“Bob said the main thing for Rory next week is to stay calm and cool,” Strange said in an ESPN teleconference.

“He had this phrase ‘the mind has to be stronger than the swing’ and I think in Rory’s case that is exactly right because he does have some baggage coming in here.

“He knows he could have won here a couple of times, but he knows he has the game as well.

“So do what you know how to do. Play your own game, play smart, play a little more conservative golf around Augusta and then on Sunday afternoon, if the chips fall, he’ll be in contention.

“One of the best stories I have ever heard is when Claude Harmon was the pro at Winged Foot when the US Open was there.

“They played a practice round with [Ben] Hogan, who said ‘Claude, you have a chance this week if you look at the grass all week long’. Meaning don’t make eye contact with friends, don’t speak to everybody.

“I think that relates to Rory next week. He’s been coming in here for so long with so much on his mind that it’s all about you next week, Rory. It’s all about what you can do, your game.”