Victor Wembanyama wants to be part of "greatness" after his San Antonio Spurs team overcame Jalen Brunson's 61-point effort to beat the New York Knicks on Friday.

Brunson became just the third Knicks player to ever score more than 60 points in a game, 38 of which came in the second half to lead his team on a 21-point comeback, but it ultimately counted for little as the Spurs took a 130-126 victory after overtime.

Wembanyama had a career-high effort of his own, scoring 40 points and collecting 20 rebounds to lead his team to a win that moves the Spurs to 18-56 on the season, still bottom of the Western Conference, while the Knicks slip to 44-29.

Wembanyama managed 13 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter to hold off the Knicks' comeback before scoring five points and collecting two rebounds in overtime to ensure Brunson's huge game was in vain.

The Spurs rookie was appreciative to have prevailed in the face of Brunson's brilliance, telling reporters: "I've never seen so [much] greatness before this season.

"I've just witnessed so much greatness and I want to be a part of it.

"I always wanted to, but more and more seeing that [I am] already able to compete with those guys. I'm not near [them] but I'm on the right path. I know it and I'm going to get there one day soon."

Brunson has full faith that Wembanyama will go right to the top, also stating that he would only enjoy having had the second-highest scoring game in Knicks' history when he retires due to coming out on the losing end.

"He's going to be one of the greatest players this game has seen," Brunson explained. "[It is] just the way he's built and what he's been able to do so far.

"I've got a lot of respect for him, and it's definitely tough to get a shot up and in over him."

Having watched Brunson and Wembanyama go blow for blow before his team ultimately came out on top, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich stated he had never seen a game quite like it, while heaping praise on his star player.

"It just shows what [Wembanyama] is going to be when he understands all the physicality that's coming at him all the time and what to do about it," Popovich said.

"Fortunately, he's also a hell of an instinctive passer and he's willing to do what he needs to do in that regard. So, he's pretty special."

Jalen Green scored 30 of his 34 points in the second half, including a pair of late free throws, and the Houston Rockets edged the Utah Jazz for their 11th consecutive NBA win on Friday.

Fred VanVleet added 22 points and Amen Thompson had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who have won 12 of 13 games to remain one game behind the Golden State Warriors for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.

Houston trailed the entire first half but swung momentum their way during a third-quarter scoring outburst from Green.

He had five of the Rockets' first six baskets of the second half to power a 20-7 run that put Houston up 61-54.

Green scored 20 of his team's 28 points in the quarter and Houston ultimately edged it 101-100.

Timberwolves win showdown with Nuggets

Anthony Edwards scored 25 points and Mike Conley added 23 with eight assists as the surging Minnesota Timberwolves moved atop the Western Conference with a 111-98 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 11 rebounds while Jaden McDaniels contributed 17 points as the Wolves won their fourth straight and seventh in eight games to tie Oklahoma City for first place in the West.

Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who lost their second in a row and were without star point guard Jamal Murray for a fourth consecutive game.

Lakers' winning streak ends at five

Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton thrived as the Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 109-90 in a game which had playoff implications for both teams.

The Lakers came into the game having won their last five, but Siakam finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Haliburton added 21 points, eight assists and eight rebounds for the victorious hosts.

Indiana has won four of six to retain the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, while the Lakers are trying to improve their playoff positioning from the No. 9 seed in the West.

All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis both started despite being injury doubts.

Davis finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while James had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. But the Lakers struggled from deep, going five of 29 on 3-pointers and committing 16 turnovers. five of which came from James.

The Pacers led for almost all the game and it was a sweet result for coach Rick Carlisle after his team had previously lost to the Lakers in the final of the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament and again been beaten 150-145 in Los Angeles five days before this contest.

Dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle has given birth to her first foal, a filly by Walk In The Park.

The news was announced on social media by Peter Molony, racing manager to Honeysuckle’s owner, Kenny Alexander, who said: “It’s a girl! Honeysuckle has foaled a bay filly by @coolmorestud @grangestud Walk In The Park at 11:30 last night!! Mother & daughter reportedly doing well.”

Honeysuckle was trained expertly by Henry de Bromhead to win 17 of her 19 races including the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2021 and 2022.

She met with the only defeats of her career at the beginning of the 2022-23 in the Hatton’s Grace and Irish Champion Hurdle but went out in a blaze of glory when winning the Mares’ Hurdle last March.
Now 10, Honeysuckle is slated to visit Blue Bresil for her next covering, the sire of Constitution Hill.

Ben Whittaker revealed he missed his grandmother’s funeral in the lead up to Tokyo 2020 and feels his sacrifices are paying off ahead of his light-heavyweight clash with Leon Willings.

The 26-year-old, who continued his unbeaten start to his professional career with a stylish victory over Khalid Graidia in February, returns to action on the undercard of Fabio Wardley v Frazer Clarke at the O2 on Sunday.

Ahead of his seventh professional bout, Olympic silver medallist Whittaker revealed some of the difficult choices he has had to make in his life away from the spotlight.

“Not many people have seen the sacrifices I’ve made,” Whittaker told the PA news agency.

“The little things like when I ran before school, my dad would wake me up in the morning for swimming.

“Even more recently leading up to the Olympics I had to miss my grandmother’s funeral and not a lot of people see that. It’s a sacrifice and it’s paying off.”

Whittaker has amassed over 1 million Instagram followers after his showboating antics last time out gained the attention of supporters.

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He reiterated that despite wanting to entertain, he is looking to “win by any means” this weekend.

“I’m professional so I know when and when not to do it and at the end of the day a win is all that matters,” Whittaker added.

“If I start hopping on one leg, doing flips and I lose, the fans will be entertained. You’ve got to win and that’s what I’ll do. Anything else is a bonus.

“I predict a win. A win by any means.”

The undefeated Whittaker faces Widnes fighter Willings, who has a 7-1 career record, in what will be his second fight of 2024.

The Midlands man believes his ability will be too much for his opponent in London.

“I’m as confident as ever,” he said.

“He’s young and hungry and he’s got a winning mentality but I believe I’m just levels above and that will show on Sunday.

“If you don’t have confidence in this game there’s no point being in it because it’s a dangerous sport. I get my confidence from the work I put in and I make it look so easy because I train two to three times a day and cut no corners.

“I’m better than him in all compartments.”

Musselburgh’s Premier meeting, due to feature the £100,000 Virgin Bet Queen’s Cup, has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Despite only 3mm of rain falling in the early hours, that came on top of already saturated ground which tipped conditions over the edge.

Musselburgh’s general manager Bill Farnsworth said on social media: “Unfortunately racing today has been abandoned. We had 15mm of rain yesterday and we had a further just over 3mm this morning.

“The ground is very wet, it has been an incredibly wet winter. Normally Musselburgh would take this rain no problem but just because it is so wet and the water table is very high it hasn’t taken it so well and the ground is saturated in places.

“Next to the running rail the ground is just soft and fine but just a few strides away from that line it is much softer and we would regard it as unfit for racing, it is saturated.

“The most important thing is we put the safety of the jockeys and horses first. We’ll be back another day, it’s not the end of the world but it is very disappointing.”

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool must give “absolutely everything every game” and ignore the surrounding talk heading into the season’s climax, with the matches ahead “all finals”.

Having already won the League Cup in what is their final campaign before Klopp steps down as boss, the Reds’ bid to add the Premier League title sees them currently second in the table behind leaders Arsenal on goal difference and a point ahead of third-placed Manchester City with 10 rounds of games to go.

They are also through to the Europa League quarter-finals, playing Atalanta over two legs next month.

Liverpool host Brighton in the league on Sunday, just before City and Arsenal meet at the Etihad Stadium.

And when asked at his pre-match press conference what was key for success in the final push, Klopp said: “Give absolutely everything and ignore the mess you try to create, with after each game ‘you won it, you lost it, now you are champions, now you are out, now you have no chance any more, now you have to do it’. Just ignore that, just dig in and go.

“We have to give absolutely everything in each and every game – home, away, in England, in Italy, wherever we go.

“It’s for us 12 games for sure, maybe 14, maybe 15. That’s not the biggest number but it’s only a short period of time.

“It’s all tricky and we need luck, with injuries we didn’t have that so far. Hopefully we have it now with boys coming back. We need them.

“And then it’s in each game to find a way to win. We found a way how it’s good for us to play, and that’s what we have to do.

“Before the (international) break we had two games – (Manchester) United (a 4-3 extra-time defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals) and City (a 1-1 draw in the league). In parts of these games, it was the best games we played this season. Now we are back… and now let’s go.”

Klopp added: “These are all finals for us – it is like that. It does not mean you cannot lose one or whatever. We have to play them like normal football games.

“I think everybody is excited about it, and rightly so. Anfield will be rocking on Sunday. We have not only home games unfortunately but we have still a few, and there we must make the difference.

“(If) you want to win anything, you need to play top, top, top football, you need to be lucky – what I hope we are from now on with injuries – and then let’s see what we can do.”

Klopp’s men face a Brighton side whose manager Roberto De Zerbi has been linked with Liverpool.

The Italian’s first game in charge of Brighton was a 3-3 draw at Anfield in October 2022, and the meetings since have been 3-0 and 2-1 victories for the Seagulls and a 2-2 draw earlier this term.

Klopp said: “Roberto is doing an incredible job there. It was quite impressive how quick he got the team in his way, and since then, it only got better, it’s really impressive. He’s a top coach, he’s doing really well.

“On their day, they can beat any team. But, good news – we can do that as well, and so we will try.”

While Liverpool are assessing Andy Robertson, they are set to have Ibrahima Konate back available on Sunday and possibly Curtis Jones.

Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota are “not too far away” in their recoveries, Klopp has said.

Gary Neville was sacked by Valencia on this day in 2016 after spending only four months as the Spanish side’s head coach.

The former Manchester United and England defender, who at the time was part of Roy Hodgson’s England coaching staff, was dismissed just 28 games into what was his first management role.

That featured 10 wins, seven draws and 11 losses, including a 7-0 thrashing at Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

Neville said in a statement on Los Che’s website: “I would like to thank Valencia, the fans, staff and the players.

“I would have liked to have continued the work I started. But I understand that we are in a results business and in the 28 games they have not been to my standards or to those which are required by this club.”

In LaLiga, Neville did not oversee a victory until his 10th attempt, and there were only three wins in total across 16 league matches.

Valencia had been ninth in the table when Neville was appointed as successor to Nuno Espirito Santo at the club, where his brother Phil was already on the coaching staff – their position was 14th when he departed.

The then 41-year-old’s final game in charge had been a 2-0 home loss to Celta Vigo – a third straight defeat.

Neville returned to the role of Sky Sports pundit – having left the position to take up the Valencia job – at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

Leeds manager Daniel Farke declared himself delighted with a point from a 2-2 draw at Watford in the final act of a dramatic day of Championship action.

Leeds required a 85th-minute equaliser from substitute Mateo Joseph to preserve his side’s unbeaten league start to 2024.

The Spanish striker, 20, netted just 25 seconds after coming on but a point was not enough to reclaim the Championship summit from Ipswich, 1-0 winners at Blackburn earlier in the day. Before that, Leicester – 1-0 losers at Bristol City in a lunchtime clash – had dropped out of the top two altogether.

Watford led twice in the first half through Vakoun Bayo and Emmanuel Dennis, who scored either side of a fine strike by the game’s outstanding individual, Crysancio Summerville. Watford looked like they might hang on for the win but Joseph had other ideas.

It was a point gained rather than two lost as far as Farke was concerned and the German outlined exactly why.

“I will take this point all day long,” he said. “I am really happy and proud of the boys. We played this game at the worst possible moment. Watford, they have a new manager and there is new belief, he knows the players inside out and they were unleashed and had a great start.

“We had the worst possible international break. For us three players came back injured and three Welsh players had the disappointment of not being allowed to go to the Euros. We had not one first team training session as a team.

“We had to play this game by just pressing a button and we were not at our best rhythm. Then to play such a second half, I’m pretty happy with the outcome.

“We found our rhythm and our confidence. If training didn’t matter we would just turn up for the games – it matters.”

“The coach said we have to be ready make an impact,” Joseph added. “I’m happy to help the team get a valuable point and we are happy still to be unbeaten in the League this year.”

Watford interim manager Tom Cleverley, whose first game in charge was a 1-0 win at Birmingham before the international break, was delighted with his players.

He said: “I thought it was a much stronger performance even though we have not got the three points. For the first 65 minutes we were excellent, I’m really proud of the players tonight.

“What pleased me most was the focus of the players, not one switched off

“Now my job is to create a game plan to win every game and I thought the players absolutely nailed it.”

Watford were more attacking than they had been in the last days of previous manager Valerien Ismael, which pleased the home fans.

Cleverley added: “Everyone wants to play front foot football but you have to be structured especially against a team like Leeds.

“The work that we put in in the last two weeks showed today. It was a big ask to come up against the league leaders but we more than held our own.

“We have got the personnel to do it and I thought it was the right opposition to do it against. We just tired a little bit at the end.”

Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea’s owners are suffering along with supporters as the team labours in the bottom half of the Premier League table, after fans accused the club of becoming a “laughing stock” since Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital took charge.

A letter written by the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust to senior management on March 8 described a “critically low mood” amongst fans that it felt could not be ignored if a situation of “irreversible toxicity” was to be avoided.

The team are 11th in the league and face the likelihood of a second successive season out of Europe if they fail to overcome Manchester City in next month’s FA Cup semi-final and go on to win the competition.

Pochettino’s tenure has been badly marred by a persistent and lengthy injury list, with nine players confirmed absent for Saturday’s meeting with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.

However, it has not stopped fans turning on the former Tottenham boss in recent weeks, including during the FA Cup win over Leicester before the international break.

A section of supporters sang “you don’t know what you’re doing” before Chelsea edged past the Championship side 4-2 with two stoppage-time goals, and at previous home games were heard singing the names of former manager Jose Mourinho and ex-owner Roman Abramovich.

“I’m going to support the owners that invest and that arrived to the club in a very difficult situation,” said Pochettino.

“The intention is very good. The owners are trying to develop a different project to before. Fans need to understand that it’s a new project with different ideas.

“What we cannot say is they’re not investing and that they don’t have good intentions. They are suffering.”

Despite supporter ire, there have been signs of promise in recent results and performances.

Chelsea have not lost in the league in almost two months since a 4-2 defeat to Wolves at the start of February, and dominated an albeit inexperienced Liverpool team in the Carabao Cup final before losing to a goal in the last minute of extra-time.

Victory over the Clarets on Saturday and at home to Manchester United on Thursday would likely drag them into contention for a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.

“If you look at all the data, in the table we should be in fourth position,” said Pochettino. “But for different reasons, we are not there.

“What the data means is that we are in a good way. In which area do we need to improve? It’s things (that will come) with time. We need to compete better, small details. You can only get this with experience with time playing together.

“It’s easy to find the data when you want to kill someone. But when the data is good and reflects the team is doing well but for different reasons we’re not getting the results we deserve, (we should) trust in the process.

“We know really well what we are doing. That’s why I laugh. I don’t take it personally when the fans say that.”

Erik ten Hag says he does not care about speculation regarding his future as Manchester United manager.

A promising first season saw Carabao Cup glory followed by finishing third in the Premier League and runners-up in the FA Cup, but things have gone off track this term.

United face a fight for Champions League qualification as the campaign enters the final straight, with the stunning 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final extra-time win against rivals Liverpool breathing new life into the team.

A Wembley semi against Coventry is the reward but that result did not stop talk about Ten Hag’s future during the international break as ambitious Ineos consider their options.

England boss Gareth Southgate was linked to the United job but said such talk was “completely disrespectful”, although the Dutchman appears unmoved.

“You know when you are working at Man United there will always be noise, rumours around the club, the manager, the players, whatever,” Ten Hag said.

“There will always (an) issue – you like it, to talk about. Of course we have different interests, but we are not focusing on that.

“We are focusing on the process, we are focusing on the team to play better, to improve the way of play, so I don’t care about (it).”

Ten Hag came through intense pressure in the early stages of his time at United.

Having lost to Brighton in his first match after joining from Ajax, the Red Devils went on to suffer a chastening 4-0 away defeat to Brentford.

Ahead of returning to the Gtech Community Stadium for the first time since, Ten Hag said of the outside noise: “I was trainer at Ajax. Similar.

“You get used to it, so we don’t care. Players don’t care, I don’t care. We are together in the boat and we know we have to perform and get the right results.”

Before the recent Liverpool win, one of the only positives in a forgettable season was the development of youngsters like Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo.

The latter was named man of the match on his full England debut against Belgium on Tuesday, just four months after making his first Premier League start.

Ten Hag had planned Mainoo’s opportunity to come far sooner, only for the midfielder to sustain ankle ligament damage in July’s pre-season friendly against Real Madrid.

“It was the plan, it was the intention,” the Dutchman said. “We thought he was capable of adjusting very quickly to high levels, so we had to delay that moment but for him and for us it’s good.

“Later in the season he proved that he can contribute highly to our team.

“We are happy we have a player like him who can really contribute and make us play the way we want to play.”

Ten Hag is hoping Mainoo is available to face Brentford having reported sick on Thursday.

“(Thursday) he skipped the training because he was ill,” he said.

“I don’t know (about Brentford) but of course we hope. (Friday) he is there, not fully recovered but we have still many hours I would say as we have a kick-off at 8pm.”

Mainoo’s performances have bolstered his chances of making England’s Euro 2024 squad but team-mate Marcus Rashford’s position looks more precarious.

“Of course he knows there is a lot of competition in his position,” Ten Hag said.

“And of course he will have a lot of credit because he contributes so many times fantastically for England and for us.

“Of course, he wants to be there but also he wants to win with us. He is in a position to win a trophy and he wants to be in the Champions League.

“Absolutely he wants to contribute and he wants to perform.”

Rodri admits Manchester City cannot afford a single slip-up as they bid to secure a second consecutive trophy treble.

City head into Sunday’s showdown with Arsenal a point behind the Premier League leaders and will then face eight games in April, including a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid and FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea.

Victory over Mikel Arteta’s side could go a long way towards securing an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title and would also extend Rodri’s remarkable unbeaten run in all competitions to 62 matches.

“It’s a very, very important match,” said the Spain midfielder, whose last defeat came for his national side against Scotland on March 28 last year.

“I’m not saying it’s going to be decisive, but it will be very important for the mental fight in the sense of if we are able to beat them it will be very important for our confidence, and we will show them that we are here again.

“It’s not just this game that’s like a final, it’s all of them from now until the end of the season. We’re still in every competition, but any game that you lose can practically leave you out of the running.

“Really that’s the level that this league demands from you, to reach between 90 and 100 points to be able to win the league.

“So, we have to win practically every game and that starts against Arsenal, who are currently the league leaders.”

Liverpool are the only side apart from City to lift the Premier League trophy in the last six seasons, while Arsenal’s most recent title triumph came 20 years ago.

“Of course we have the experience from previous years in managing these situations of being in multiple competitions,” Rodri added.

“When you get into the dynamic of playing every three days at the highest level you enter this competitive rhythm which can help you reach a very high level – it’s true with very high physical demands – and we’re going to have to manage that well.

“That’s why the whole team will be important from now until the end of the season and it’s one of the keys to success.

“We have to play with confidence like we have in the last years and be humble enough to run more than the opponent and do more than the opponent if we want to win.

“The target for us is to put ourselves into a position where we can fight until the end, and this is something we have been working on and to arrive in this moment.

“Now is the moment that we have to do the last push. The goal is to fight for everything. Our objective is basically this; if we were able to show that we could win everything we won last season, then why can’t we do it again?”

Ange Postecoglou has labelled Tottenham’s post-season friendly in Melbourne as a “unique opportunity” but admitted it is unlikely to become a regular occurrence.

Spurs announced earlier this month they would visit Australia after the Premier League season concludes to take on Premier League rivals Newcastle in an exhibition fixture.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground clash on May 22 has been roundly criticised due to player welfare concerns and for a lack of regard for the environment, a matter of weeks after Green Football Weekend.

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Postecoglou defended the merits of the post-season friendly, which will see the 58-year-old return to his home city.

“We leave straight after the last game (at Sheffield United) and we’ll be taking everyone who’s fit,” Postecoglou revealed.

“We thought that with our season being so disrupted and not a lot of games, this was a unique opportunity for us.

“I wouldn’t see this as something that would happen on a regular basis unless we felt the benefits would outweigh the costs.

“On this occasion when we balanced everything up, we felt it was a good opportunity to take the club to the other side of the world and help us continue to grow the football club.”

England boss Gareth Southgate was recently asked about the friendly, which will involve Euro 2024 hopefuls Kieran Trippier, Anthony Gordon and James Maddison, and predicted post-season fixtures will happen more often.

Southgate expressed his hope that none of his players would suffer injuries.

But Postecoglou insisted: “I’m sure Gareth will be a club coach one day and he’ll get a different perspective, as he has been in the past.

“I don’t think Gareth has said anything, or any other national team manager.

“I was a national team manager. I used to sweat over it at the weekend when the players were playing whether that was a normal game, a friendly game, whatever game it is.

“The flip side of that is there were quite a few club coaches on edge with national team duty this week so it’s the world we live in.

“There has to be a balance. We’ve thought it through as a football club and it’s fair to say if we’d been in Europe and had a really big season, we probably would have made a different decision.

“We weighed everything up and felt like there was a real benefit to playing this game.”

Before the trip Down Under, Spurs will aim to get their Champions League qualification hopes back on track at home to Luton on Saturday.

Tottenham are boosted by the return of Micky van de Ven after a recent muscle injury, while Richarlison is fit despite a knee issue preventing him from getting minutes for Brazil this month.

Richarlison has made headlines after opening up about his mental health struggles during an interview with ESPN Brasil this week.

The Brazil forward, who back in September expressed his intention to seek “psychological help”, revealed he was in a state of depression after the 2022 World Cup and “wanted to give up”.

Postecoglou knows Richarlison is not alone in feeling that way as a footballer, adding: “It’s not that uncommon. It’s not, not in my experience.

“They’re human beings, but for the most part it’s always dealt behind closed doors.

“I guess it’s striking because players or managers or people involved in football haven’t come out publicly before.

“But I can assure you…there are problems that players and people involved in our industry deal with. The amount of money you have in the bank balance or your fame doesn’t shield you from that.

“It’s a credit to him. He could have dealt with this privately obviously but I think the public aspect of it, it’s a brave decision for him.

“More importantly it’s hopefully a great conduit for others to reach out and seek help when it’s required.”

Jarell Quansah is relishing playing alongside Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool’s defence in a breakthrough season he admits has “exceeded all expectations”.

Twenty-one-year-old Reds academy product Quansah, who was on loan at Bristol Rovers last season, came off the bench to make his Liverpool first-team debut in August.

He has played a further 24 times for the Merseysiders in all competitions, and started each of the last four games, including the 1-1 Premier League draw with Manchester City and 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final loss at Manchester United, partnering Van Dijk at centre-back in both matches.

Quansah – also a League Cup winner in the past few weeks – has been referred to as “Virgil 2.0” by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, and the England Under-21 international said: “A massive compliment.

“I think what he (Van Dijk) has been doing over the past five or 10 years has been unrivalled, especially in the Premier League. He’s had flawless seasons, he’s been a vital part of what Liverpool’s identity has been. So to play next to him is so good and I can learn so much from him.

“There’s times where he’s constructive and just says it how it is and tells me what I need to improve on, and there’s times where, especially on the pitch because the crowd’s loud, he needs to shout and make examples in different ways.

“You can’t go much wrong if you just listen to what he’s saying! He’s always in your ear, always talking, which is so helpful.”

Quansah has also expressed his gratitude to Klopp, who is departing at the end of the season.

He said: “I think you’ve got to see it as what he’s done for you and not the fact that he’s leaving, the opportunity he has given you, how much you’ve learnt from him.

“For me Jurgen is leaving, probably too early, but I get to play under a new manager and take his advice, and I’m thankful for everything he’s done for me.”

Quansah has been with Liverpool since he was five years old, while his international experience, prior to being called up to the Under-21s this season, included helping England Under-19s become European champions in 2022.

Asked about his emergence this term, Quansah said: “It’s been a lot of games, a surprise from what I expected really – it’s exceeded all expectations, to say the least.

“I probably haven’t had a ‘pinch myself’ moment – I think for me it’s just all about playing football, and it’s what I’ve been doing since I was five.

“Although the level has increased it’s just what I’ve been doing and what I enjoy. I’ve been striving for it and waiting for the opportunity and I’m thankful it’s come.

“When you’re younger you have all these aspirations, sometimes stupid aspirations of being the best player in the world.

“I think just being able to be in the position I’m in at the minute and learn from some of the best managers and players in the world hopefully puts me in good stead for the future. That is the goal, to be a starting centre-back for Liverpool and be in contention for England.

“I’m just learning the whole time. Hopefully in the summer I’ll get that moment where I’ll be like ‘it’s been a good year-and-a-half’. But I’m not the finished product. I’m not really reflecting on my career and thinking how good I’ve been because I can be so much better.”

On going up against Erling Haaland in the City match, Quansah said: “I think you sleep better after the game, you’re mentally drained! You have to just be on top of everything at every moment really. I was really, really focused.”

After the subsequent frustration of the “massive opportunity missed” in the cup tie at United, Quansah played in England Under-21s’ 7-0 Euro 2025 qualifying win over Luxembourg on Tuesday ahead of Liverpool resuming their league title push with Sunday’s home clash with Brighton.