Max Verstappen is on course to take a record-equalling 10 consecutive victories after putting his Red Bull on pole position for the Australian Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s third pole in as many races appeared under threat with Ferrari threatening to knock the all-conquering Dutchman off his perch.

But Verstappen upped the ante in front of a record Saturday crowd at Melbourne’s Albert Park of just shy of 131,000, to see off Carlos Sainz, who missed the last round in Saudi Arabia with appendicitis, by 0.270 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton holds a record eight pole positions here, but the British driver was eliminated in Q2, leaving him a disappointing 11th on the grid – his lowest starting position in Melbourne for 14 years.

Hamilton failed to progress to Q3 after he finished 0.059 seconds behind George Russell in the other Mercedes.

Russell, who will start seventh, holds a 3-0 qualifying lead over Hamilton who will leave the Silver Arrows at the end of the season to join Ferrari.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez qualified third, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who aborted his last lap after he made a mistake.

Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell switched codes to union and signed for Saracens on this day 19 years ago.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) confirmed Farrell’s three-year contract with Sarries on March 23, 2005.

Current Ireland head coach Farrell had enjoyed 13 heavily-decorated years at Wigan, winning 34 caps for Great Britain and 11 for England.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: “Andrew is an outstanding player who has been a superb ambassador for rugby league on and off the field and we believe that he will do the same in rugby union.

“Wigan and Saracens have been very co-operative and I’d like to thank them for all their help over the last few weeks.”

A string of injuries delayed Farrell’s Saracens debut until 2006 but he went on to make his England bow in the Six Nations the following year.

Injuries continued to hamper Farrell at every turn and he only managed eight caps, although he did go to the 2007 World Cup where defending champions England were beaten finalists.

A successful coaching career followed, with Farrell impressing with Saracens before joining England’s backroom staff in 2012.

Farrell helped the British and Irish Lions to a series win in Australia in 2013 but lost his England job after the 2015 World Cup, where head coach Stuart Lancaster’s side became the worst-performing hosts in tournament history.

The 48-year-old became Ireland defence coach in 2016.

He succeeded Joe Schmidt as head coach following the 2019 World Cup and has led Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam in 2023.

Jaylen Brown scored 33 points to lead the NBA-leading Boston Celtics to their eighth straight victory, 129-102 over the short-handed Detroit Pistons on Friday.

Payton Pritchard had 20 points and Derrick White added 19 with 11 assists for Boston, which has won 18 of 20 games to continue cruising toward the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Leading scorer Jayson Tatum sat out to rest an ankle for the second time in five days.

James Wiseman scored a season-high 24 points for the Pistons, who have lost five in a row overall and the last nine meetings with the Celtics.

Detroit was missing its top post players in Jalen Duren (back), Stanley Umude (ankle), Simone Fontecchio (toe), Isaiah Stewart (hamstring) and Ausar Thompson (illness).

Pelicans roll over Heat

CJ McCollum scored 30 points and the New Orleans Pelicans exacted a measure of revenge on the Miami Heat with a 111-88 rout.

Jose Alvarado added 17 points and Trey Murphy had 14 with eight rebounds as the Pelicans had no trouble in the first meeting between the teams since four players were ejected in the most recent matchup in New Orleans last month.

Zion Williamson was limited to only four points in 25 minutes, but the Pelicans won their eighth in 10 games.

Jimmy Butler scored 17 points as the Heat dropped to 17-16 at home, the 19th-best mark in the league. Miami dropped four games behind Southeast Division-leading Orlando.

Thunder down reeling Raptors

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in his only regular-season trip to his native Canada and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away to defeat the Toronto Raptors, 123-103.

Jalen Williams added 20 points and Kenrich Williams and Cason Wallace scored 12 apiece as the Thunder won their fourth straight and remained on top of the Western Conference.

Rookie Gradey Dick scored 21 points for the Raptors, who lost their ninth straight game. Toronto was without seven players, including five regular starters.

Red-hot Mikko Rantanen scored two more goals and Nathan MacKinnon extended a pair of streaks as the Colorado Avalanche won their eighth consecutive game, 6-1 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

Cale Makar had a goal and an assist and Ross Colton also scored for the Avalanche, who have won 10 of 11 to remain tied with Dallas for the top spot in the Central Division.

Rantanen had a hat trick in Tuesday’s win over St. Louis and has eight goals in his last five games.

MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to extend his home point streak to 33 games. He also has 11 goals and 23 assists during a 17-game overall point streak.

Elvis Merzlikins stopped a season-high 44 shots for the last-place Blue Jackets.

Milano has hat trick in Capitals’ shootout win

Sonny Milano notched his first career hat trick and Dylan Strome scored the lone shootout goal to lift the Washington Capitals to a wild 7-6 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Strome had three assists in regulation and Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Ivan Miroshnichenko also scored as the Capitals won their fourth in five games to get within one point of Detroit for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Sebastian Aho scored three goals and Jake Guentzel had three assists for Carolina, which had won four straight. The Hurricanes moved to 7-1-1 in their last nine games and are within one point of the Rangers for the lead in the Metropolitan Division.

Benn lifts Stars over Penguins

Jamie Benn scored two goals in a 77-second span in the second period and the Dallas Stars topped the sliding Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2.

Joe Pavelski and Sam Steel also scored and Jake Oettinger stopped 20 shots for the Stars, who have won three in a row to tie Colorado for first place in the Central Division.

Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell tallied for Pittsburgh, which fell to 0-6-1 in its last seven road games.

The Tennessee Titans are finalising a deal to acquire cornerback L’Jarius Sneed from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a pair of draft picks, according to multiple sources.

The Chiefs are expected to receive a third-round pick in next year's draft and swap picks with the Titans in next month's draft. The two sides are working on a new contract to make Sneed one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in NHL history.

After the Chiefs placed the nonexclusive franchise tag on Sneed earlier this month, he was allowed to talk to other teams, who could then work out a deal with Kansas City.

The 27-year-old Sneed has developed into one of the best cornerbacks in the league since he was drafted in the fourth round in 2020. He was a key part of a defence that helped Kansas City win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

Sneed allowed a passer rating of just 55.9 on throws when he was in coverage in the regular season, ranking fifth best among cornerbacks.

Often tasked with following the opponents’ top receiver all over the field, Sneed didn’t allow a single touchdown pass until the playoffs against Buffalo and only Davante Adams of the Raiders had more than two catches in a game when Sneed was in coverage.

He had two interceptions and 14 passes defended in 16 games last season, giving him 10 picks and 40 passes defended in his four-year career.

Steve Clarke spoke of his pain after Scotland lost 4-0 to the Netherlands in their friendly encounter in Amsterdam which served as the start of preparations for Euro 2024.

The visitors started well and hit the goal frame through Ryan Christie but the Dutch took the lead five minutes from the break with a Tijjani Reijnders drive.

Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland hit the bar in the 62nd minute with only goalkeeper Mark Flekken to beat and they were made to pay 10 minutes later when Georginio Wijnaldum headed in a second.

Goals from substitutes Wout Weghorst and Donyell Malen in the 84th and 86th minutes then made it six games without a win for the Scots, with 18 goals conceded ahead of the friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.

Scotland have not gone six matches without a win since a run from October 2007 to September 2008 and Clarke said: “We lost 4-0 which is painful.

“The players are suffering and I am suffering but there was lot of good stuff, we were very competitive with a good Dutch team for 70 minutes.

“It’s a lot of goals (18) and if you concede that amount of goals you are not going to win games.

“We spoke about it before so obviously we know we have to tighten up.

“The reaction to the second goal so probably something we need to think about, how we dig in and show we are hard to beat and if it finishes 2-0 it finishes 2-0.

“We have to be a bit more streetwise against the top teams and they are a top team.

“I didn’t say a lot after it, when emotions are as high as they are after a sore defeat it is better to go back to the hotel.

“I will sit with my staff, analyse the game and try to prepare something that we can show to the players tomorrow.

“No wins in six so we have to stop that on Tuesday night.

“But there is a lot to be positive about. People can look at the scoreline and go negative, that’s up to them.

“For 70 minutes… really competitive against a top side, we can take a lot from that. We have to analyse the last 20 minutes or so and look to do better.”

There had been a clamour for Shankland to start and despite his glaring miss, Clarke gave his backing to the Hearts captain.

He said: “He’s a striker, people forget strikers miss a lot as well as score a lot of goals, they gave to be in the right position and do the right thing.

“Lawrence will score goals in the future.

“I thought his all-round play was good, he didn’t let his side down.”

Michael O’Neill praised the attitude of his young Northern Ireland players after watching them take the game to Romania in an encouraging 1-1 draw in Bucharest.

Having spoken this week about a “rebirth” for Northern Ireland, putting a disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign behind them and looking to the future with a new generation of players, O’Neill picked a starting XI with an average of just 23.5 and revelled in their performance.

Debutant Jamie Reid was the oldest player in the first XI at the age of 29, yet the Stevenage striker was only seven minutes into his international career when he put Northern Ireland in front early on, before Dennis Man levelled for the Euro 2024-bound hosts midway through the first half.

“I’m very pleased with a lot of aspects of our performance,” O’Neill said. “It was a very good start, a great goal and it typified what we have in our team which is energy and legs and athleticism, and quality in terms of the quality of our play.

“I thought the attitude was excellent. We had (four) players who were 20 years of age and started and finished the game. We didn’t have a player over 30 on the pitch.

“Jamie Reid was our oldest player and it was his first cap so to come here against an experienced Romania team that have qualified for the finals and play as we did is very encouraging.”

Reid, who is eligible through his maternal grandmother, had earned his call-up with 21 goals in 44 games. It is more than 10 years since he made the second of his two appearances for Northern Ireland Under-21s, but he was given his chance from the start.

“I liked the look of him in training, he had a good energy about him, a real enthusiasm to do well,” O’Neill said. “He asked a lot of questions. I just had a good feeling about it, I thought, ‘why not?’

“We ask an awful lot of our strikers, especially away from home. They have to do a lot of work, they have to understand what’s expected of them when the team is out of possession. They have to understand, they have to be able to retain the ball and help us on the counter-attacks and I thought he did that.

“He was up against (Tottenham’s Radu) Dragusin, a very physical centre-back and he more than held is his own, this is a lad that’s coming from League One football with Stevenage and if you watched the game you certainly wouldn’t have thought that.”

While Reid claimed the headlines, it was the performance of Northern Ireland’s youngsters that felt significant as build for the future.

Conor Bradley and Shea Charles, both 20, combined to set up Reid for the goal, while Isaac Price, also 20, Brodie Spencer, 19 and the 22-year-old Trai Hume all turned in strong displays.

“It’s brilliant,” O’Neill said. “That right-hand side of the pitch, Trai, Conor, Shea Charles, Isaac Price – they could have all played for our under-21s last night.

“They have real quality, real athleticism. and they showed brilliant temperament. Isaac did a huge amount of work without reward but he gave us great balance. Conor, every time he steps on the pitch he demonstrated what his potential is as a player and again he demonstrated that as well.”

Aryna Sabalenka claimed a straight-sets victory over Paula Badosa to progress into the last 32 of the Miami Open days after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka returned to the tennis court after Koltsov died at the age of 42 on Monday in what police described as an “apparent suicide” in Miami.

Koltsov’s death led Sabalenka to reveal her “heart is broken”, but she was able to show incredible composure and poise to beat good friend Badosa by a 6-4 6-3 score after an emotional few days.

Wet weather in Miami resulted in a lengthy delay before play on day three could finally get under way, with Sabalenka welcomed onto the Grandstand court to warm applause.

Dressed in black and with a baseball cap on, the Belarusian looked up to the sky before she gave Badosa a fist pump at the coin toss with her opponent also kitted out in all-black.

After a cagey start with the pair exchanging double-faults, Sabalenka forced two break points opportunities in the fifth game but Badosa fought back to hold.

It was brief respite for the Spaniard, with Sabalenka able to eventually clinch the first break point of the match to move 4-3 up when Badosa sent her return long.

Sabalenka sealed the first set when her fierce backhand was returned wide to claim a 46-minute opener in windy conditions.

The pair shared a smile during the second game of set two when a big gust of wind forced Sabalenka to abandon her serve which sparked laughter from the crowd and the world number two.

It was soon back to business for the 25-year-old and she broke Badosa again to move 2-1 up.

Badosa was able to force a break point opportunity of her own in the eighth game of the second set, but Sabalenka responded with a sumptuous winner that earned applause from her opponent.

There was no looking back for Sabalenka now and she broke Badosa again to secure a 6-4 6-3 victory before the good friends embraced at the net as the second seed opened her account for the tournament with an emotional win.

Next up for Sabalenka is a third round clash with Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina after she beat Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday.

Coco Gauff joined Sabalenka in the last 32 with a rapid 6-1 6-2 triumph over Nadia Podoroska.

Crystal Palace defender Daniel Munoz scored a stunning first international goal as Spain’s build-up to Euro 2024 began with a surprise 1-0 defeat by Colombia.

Right-back Munoz acrobatically converted Luis Diaz’s cross in the 61st minute to earn his side a morale-boosting result moving towards this summer’s Copa America in the United States.

Three-time European champions Spain enjoyed plenty of possession at the London Stadium but lacked a cutting edge as their eight-match winning run ended.

Former Real Madrid man James Rodriguez played an instrumental role in his country’s success, which stretched their unbeaten run to 20 games, after coming off the bench following a forgettable first half.

Spain will look to bounce back on Tuesday night when they host Brazil at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

The Spanish – unfamiliar in yellow shirts against a nation renowned for wearing them – opted to leave influential Manchester City midfielder Rodri on the bench for the evening, while Liverpool’s Diaz captained Colombia.

Luis de la Fuente’s side started in the ascendancy but without seriously threatening in a tight opening period of few chances.

Athletic Bilbao defender Daniel Vivian nodded narrowly over on his international debut following a fine cross from Alex Grimaldo, who earlier fired straight at opposition goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.

Colombia, backed by a sizeable support at the home of West Ham, were aggressively pressed by a team monopolising possession.

Mateo Cassierra forced a save out of Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya following a well-worked free-kick routine but the South Americans were restricted to little as they largely sought opportunities to counter.

Colombia manager Nestor Lorenzo turned to James in search of a much-needed spark for the second period, while Spain keeper Raya was replaced by debutant Alex Remiro of Real Sociedad.

Lorenzo’s men improved significantly after the restart, albeit Vargas had to be alert to deny Gerard Moreno a 49th-minute opener.

Minutes after skying well over when well placed, ex-Everton player James played a key role in what proved to be the winner.

His fine pass released Diaz down the left and, after twisting and turning Vivian, the skipper delivered an inviting centre which bounced before Munoz, winning his 24th cap, dispatched the ball high into Remiro’s net with an eye-catching scissor kick.

The thumping finish sparked wild scenes of celebration among the healthy Colombian contingent in a crowd of more than 43,000.

Spain introduced striker Alvaro Morata as part of a triple change.

But they could not find a leveller as they slipped to a first defeat since a shock 2-0 European Championship qualifying loss to Scotland last March.

Jordan James has revealed how a passionate speech from actor Rhys Ifans inspired Wales to a Euro 2024 play-off victory over Finland.

Ifans rose to worldwide fame in the 1999 comedy film hit Notting Hill – alongside Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts – and is also known for roles in Harry Potter and Marvel’s Spider-Man movies.

The 56-year-old Welsh actor spoke to Rob Page’s squad before their 4-1 play-off semi-final win against Finland on Thursday, telling them that “nothing unifies us in the way you do and makes us safe to show our pride and our sorrow”.

“It was unbelievable,” said Birmingham midfielder James. “I got goosebumps when he was talking.

“All the lads would say the same thing. It really touched the heart and showed how much this means to the fans and every Welsh person around the world.

“To have the backing of the fans is unbelievable and it helps us a lot.”

Wales return to the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday to play Poland with a place at Euro 2024 at stake.

Victory would see Wales qualify for a third-successive European Championship and a fourth major tournament out of five, having not played in one between 1958 and 2016.

“We want to get to these big tournaments. We’re one game away and we can’t wait for it,” said James.

“The next game is massive, for everyone and the whole country. The manager told us to trust ourselves. We are good players.

“If we trust ourselves, play together, work hard for each other and use the fans to our advantage then it makes it easier. We can always get to the other side.”

James does not turn 20 until July but the teenager – who was heavily linked with Serie A club Atalanta during the January transfer window – has become a mainstay of the Wales midfield alongside Ethan Ampadu over the last six months.

He will win his 10th cap against Poland, but admits he did not even consider the prospect of playing at Euro 2024 during the last European Championship, three years ago.

“I was at home watching that on TV with my parents,” said James. “I wasn’t even hoping I’d be at the next one. It wasn’t even in my head, so to be here and one game away is unbelievable.”

On playing alongside Ampadu, James added: “Ethan’s a top player, I’m inspired to be like him. To get 50 caps at 23 is something that I want to do.

“Hopefully I can follow in his footsteps and have the career that he is going to have.

“The more games you play with each other the better you are going to be.

“I’m starting to know what he is going to do with the ball so I can react off that.

“We work really well with each other which is really good.”

A late collapse by Scotland saw Steve Clarke’s side lose 4-0 to the Netherlands in their friendly encounter in Amsterdam.

The visitors controlled much of the first half and hit the goal frame through Ryan Christie but the Dutch took the lead five minutes from the break with a Tijjani Reijnders thunderbolt.

Scotland continued to create and miss chances in the Johan Cruijff ArenA – as did the Netherlands – before Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland hit the bar in the 62nd minute with only Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken to beat.

It was a glorious chance for Scotland and they were made to pay 10 minutes later when Georginio Wijnaldum headed in a second and then goals from substitutes Wout Weghorst and Donyell Malen in the 84th and 86th minutes turned a good performance on its head as Clarke now looks to get back on track against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.

Many of the Tartan Army had clamoured for in-form Hearts striker Shankland to be handed a start and he will know he should have scored to cap off a good performance.

Keeper Angus Gunn was back after injury along with several familiar faces such as captain Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney, with the visitors backed by around 2,400 travelling fans.

Ronald Koeman’s side had a mixture of youth and experience but included top names such as captain Virgil Van Dijk and another former Celtic defender, Jeremie Frimpong, with Memphis Depay leading the line.

But the Scots started with confidence, Shankland’s touches were assured, full-back Nathan Patterson stretched the Dutch down the right-hand side with Robertson working the left flank.

However, there was danger when Cody Gakpo went clean through on the Scotland goal but he failed to finish and was eventually flagged offside.

After midfielder Scott McTominay was booked after just nine minutes for fouling Xavi Simons, Shankland headed a Patterson cross over the bar.

Then, in the 18th minute, midfielder Billy Gilmour raced down the right and his cross was met by the head of Christie but Netherlands keeper Flekken tipped the ball on to the bar and it did not fall kindly for Shankland.

Gakpo’s blatant dive inside the Scotland penalty area did not fool Belgian referee Erik Lambrechts and moment later at the other end McGinn flicked a Christie cross over the bar.

However, the Scots walked into a sucker punch just before the break when AC Milan midfielder Reijnders took a pass from Gakpo and, with little pressure on him, measured his shot from 25 yards and arrowed it high past the helpless Gunn.

McTominay had a shot blocked by Reijnders inside the Netherlands box at the start of the second half but Gunn had to make a great save from Depay’s shot on the turn.

More excitement followed at both ends.

McGinn’s shot was parried by Flekken before Christie headed a cross from the Villa player past a post and then Gunn saved from Gakpo’s 20-yard drive.

When Shankland found himself through against Flekken with the goal beckoning, his shot clipped the bar on the way over and he was soon replaced by Che Adams, with John Souttar and Lewis Ferguson also coming on.

However, the Netherlands doubled their lead with a simple goal, Gakpo’s cross being headed in by Wijnaldum from eight yards out.

McTominay headed a cross from substitute Anthony Ralston over the bar to continue the theme of missed chances before Scotland folded as Weghorst headed in a corner and fellow substitute Malen ran through to grab a fourth – and the damage could have been greater.

Jamie Reid scored just seven minutes into his international debut as Northern Ireland earned an encouraging 1-1 draw away to Romania.

Stevenage striker Reid, getting his first taste of international football at the age of 29, gave Michael O’Neill’s men a dream start in Bucharest.

Euro 2024-bound Romania hit back when Dennis Man beat Conor Hazard for power in the 23rd minute, but O’Neill’s men will take confidence from the way they faced up to a side now unbeaten in 12 games as Conor Bradley shone on his return to Northern Ireland duty.

Northern Ireland suffered a miserable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign last year, but this result – a repeat of the 1-1 draw in this stadium during Nations League play in 2020 – comes on the back of an encouraging 2-0 win over Denmark in their final Group H fixture in November.

They will head into Tuesday’s friendly against Scotland in Glasgow in buoyant mood.

O’Neill’s team selection reflected the “rebirth” he had spoken about on Thursday, with experience in short supply in the absence of Jonny Evans.

Reid may have been making his debut more than a decade after featuring for Northern Ireland Under-21s, but he was still the oldest player in a starting XI with an average age of 23.5.

His goal was created by two 20-year-olds, with Bradley bursting down the right before slipping the ball inside for Shea Charles on the edge of the box.

The shot was potentially on for the Southampton man, but Charles saw the run of Reid to his left and squared the ball. Reid, earning his chance after scoring 21 goals in 44 games for Stevenage this season, lifted it over Florin Nita and in off the underside of the crossbar.

Bradley was back in the side for the first time since June following injury, but the intervening period has seen him go from a loan spell at Bolton to a starring role for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and his confidence was obvious as he proved a constant menace linking up with Isaac Price.

But, for all the promise going forward, Northern Ireland let themselves down when Romania levelled.

Man was able to slip between Brodie Spencer and Eoin Toal to bring down a raking long ball from deep and then cut back inside to create an angle. His shot was straight at Hazard, starting for the fourth time in five internationals, but it went straight through the goalkeeper’s hands.

Man then cut inside from the right to hit another powerful left-footed shot, but this one was blocked by his own team-mate George Puscas in front of goal.

Romania threatened again in first-half stoppage time as the ball came in to Vasile Mogos inside the box, but this time Spencer nicked the ball away just in time.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell, masked up after breaking his nose playing for Aarhus earlier this month, replaced Hazard at the break and after a quiet start to the second half Conor McMenamin replaced Paddy Lane – making his first appearance in almost two years – just after the hour.

Both teams had lost their zip. Reid ran out of legs as he charged at goal in the 70th minute and it was his last act before being replaced by Josh Magennis, while Ali McCann came on for Jordan Thompson.

There were late chances for Northern Ireland, but Paddy McNair’s shot was straight at Nita in the 79th minute before Price’s effort was turned wide for a corner.

At the other end, Ianis Hagi shot straight at Peacock-Farrell from the edge of the area, but the draw was a fair – and promising – result.

England boss Gareth Southgate says he will not speak to any interested parties until after Euro 2024 and called speculation linking him to Manchester United “completely disrespectful” to Erik ten Hag.

This summer could well prove the 53-year-old’s fourth and final tournament in charge of the national team with his Football Association contract expiring in December.

Southgate says contract talks are on the back burner with his full focus on glory in Germany, but the background noise dialled up this week following reports of Manchester United’s potential interest.

“I think there are two things from my point of view,” Southgate said.

“One is that I’m the England manager. I’ve got one job, basically, to try and deliver a European Championship. Clearly before that, two important games this week.

“And the second thing is Manchester United have a manager and I think it’s always completely disrespectful when there’s any speculation about a manager that’s in place.

“I’m president of the LMA so I don’t have any time for that sort of thing, really.”

United’s ambitious new co-owners Ineos are understood to admire Southgate, who has a good relationship with Sir Dave Brailsford as well as potential incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth.

But he would not be the only candidate if the job came up and the Red Devils are planning for next season with Ten Hag as things stand.

And irrespective of whether that role comes up in the coming months, Southgate says he will not speak to anyone until after the Euros.

“I think I’ve answered this every time I’ve sat with you,” Southgate said. “Yeah, my focus is a European Championship.

“If we did something, a contract, here before everybody would be saying, ‘why are you signing a contract before a Euros where you’ve got to prove yourself?’.

“I’m certainly not going to speak to anybody else ahead of that. I never have.

“I’ve been eight years in the job. I wouldn’t entertain speaking to anybody else when I’m in the job.”