David Martindale is adamant there is no chance of Livingston winding down in the closing weeks of the season even though they have little to play for.

The Lions spent much of the season in the top half of the cinch Premiership and in contention for a European place but a run of six defeats in nine games before the split led them to slip into the bottom six.

Livingston have little chance of being relegated – they are 11 points clear of second-bottom Kilmarnock – but Martindale feels duty-bound to ensure his team do not take their foot off the gas as each of the five sides they will be coming up against are still threatened by the drop.

“In the last batch of fixtures we fell a bit short for the top six and we’ve only got ourselves to blame,” he said. “But when you look at the bottom six it would be hard to say there’s nothing to play for when you look at the teams that are around us.

“Our next three games are Ross County, Kilmarnock and Dundee United who are all fighting for their lives to stay in the Premiership.

“I’ve got to make sure for the integrity of the league, not just Livingston Football Club, that I’m not tinkering with my squad thinking about next season because there’s a lot at stake for teams within the bottom six.

“I’ll be trying to play my strongest team possible because I genuinely do think I’ve got to do that for sporting integrity.

“Have I got one eye on next year? Potentially. But is that going to have an impact on my decision-making just now? Probably not because of the reasons I’ve touched on, for the better of Scottish football and the teams in the bottom six.”

Livingston missed out on the top six on the last pre-split weekend last season but picked themselves up from that blow and finished a comfortable seventh in the league with three wins and two draws from their five bottom-six fixtures.

Martindale is confident his team will not be plagued by any lingering negativity this time round either.

“We did it last year and we’ll do it again,” he said when asked if it would be hard for the players to rouse themselves for the run-in. “The way I like to coach is ‘one game at a time’ so there’s not going to be a hangover.

“If we go up to Ross County (this Saturday) and don’t pick up points it will not be because of their mindset about not getting into the top six.

“That doesn’t play a part in my psyche anyway, and I’ll be making sure it doesn’t play a part in the players.”

Leeds have sacked manager Javi Gracia and appointed Sam Allardyce to take charge for the rest of the season as they bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Having already removed director of football Victor Orta, the Yorkshire club announced the departure of Spaniard Gracia on Wednesday morning along with his backroom staff.

A poor season at Elland Road sees the club languishing in 17th, and only goal difference keeps them out of the relegation zone.

Leeds have lost four in a winless run of five matches and have four games left to save themselves.

A club statement read: “Leeds can confirm Javi Gracia will leave the club after 12 games in charge.

“Zigor Aranalde, Mikel Antia and Juan Solla, who joined alongside Gracia, will also leave the club.

“We thank Javi and his team for their efforts under difficult circumstances.

“The remaining four games of the season will be overseen by experienced head coach Sam Allardyce.”

Former MK Dons, Charlton and Oxford boss Karl Robinson will be Allardyce’s assistant.

Leeds travel to leaders Manchester City on Saturday, before hosting third-placed Newcastle. A trip to West Ham and an Elland Road encounter with European hopefuls Tottenham round out the season.

Allardyce takes charge after suffering his first Premier League relegation with West Brom, when he left six months into an 18-month contract.

The 68-year-old former Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham and England boss becomes Leeds’ third permanent manager of the season after Jesse Marsch and Gracia.

Allardyce is reported to have agreed a basic salary of £500,000 for his four games in charge, with a £2.5million bonus if he can keep Leeds up.

Sam Allardyce has replaced Javi Gracia as Leeds manager with four games of the season remaining, as the club bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

It is Allardyce’s ninth managerial job in the top flight and the sixth time that he has been appointed during a season, both of which are records.

The former England boss has taken charge of 537 Premier League games in total, which is the fifth-most behind Arsene Wenger (828), Sir Alex Ferguson (810), David Moyes (654) and Harry Redknapp (641).

Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at Allardyce’s Premier League record.

Bolton

Won 80, drew 66, lost 80; 35.4 per cent win rate

Allardyce made his name at Bolton having played for the club for a decade and won promotion via the play-offs in his second season as manager in 2000-01.

Bolton initially struggled in the top flight, narrowly avoiding relegation in 2001-02 and 2002-03, before enjoying a breakthrough campaign in 2003-04. Boosted by the signing of target man Kevin Davies, the Trotters finished eighth in the league and reached a League Cup final.

The team went from strength to strength after that, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time in 2004-05 and finishing eighth again in the following season. After missing out on the England job to Steve McClaren, Allardyce announced his surprise resignation as Bolton manager with two games of the 2006-07 campaign remaining, while the club were performing well in fifth place.

Newcastle

Won 7, drew 5, lost 9; 33.3 per cent win rate

Allardyce joined Newcastle in May 2007 and began his reign with a 3-1 opening-day victory over his former club Bolton. Four more victories followed in the Magpies’ next eight games but their form deteriorated after that.

A run of two wins from 12 league games led Allardyce and Newcastle to part ways, with new owner Mike Ashley seeking to win over the fanbase by appointing Kevin Keegan as manager for a second spell.

Blackburn

Won 26, drew 21, lost 29; 34.2 per cent win rate

Succeeding Paul Ince as Blackburn manager with the club in 19th place, Allardyce – who had spent almost a year out of work – began to establish his reputation as the man to turn to in a crisis.

Blackburn immediately went on a six-game unbeaten run to move clear of danger, eventually finishing in 15th place. A 10th-placed finish followed before Allardyce was sacked by new owners the Venky’s midway through the 2010-11 campaign.

West Ham

Won 35, drew 28, lost 51; 30.7 per cent win rate

Allardyce dropped down to the Championship after his Blackburn departure by taking over at the recently relegated West Ham. Having signed several former Bolton players including club captain Kevin Nolan, he led the Hammers back to the top flight at the first time of asking by beating Blackpool in the play-off final.

He subsequently guided the club to 10th, 13th and 12th-placed finishes in the next three seasons, but his contract was not renewed amid unrest from supporters related to his perceived style of play.

Sunderland

Won 9, drew 9, lost 12; 30.0 per cent win rate

Allardyce performed the second Premier League rescue act of his career when he took charge of a Sunderland side languishing in 19th in October 2015.

Despite struggling to engineer an immediate upturn in form, the Black Cats went six games without defeat at the end of the season to survive in 17th at the expense of local rivals and Allardyce’s former employers, Newcastle.

This proved sufficient to land him the England manager’s job, but he famously lasted just 67 days in the role following allegations of corruption.

Crystal Palace

Won 8, drew 2, lost 11; 38.1 per cent win rate

Three months on from the England debacle, Allardyce joined Crystal Palace with the club hovering just above the relegation places.

The Eagles recorded just one victory in his first eight league games in charge, before winning six of the subsequent eight to climb the table. They eventually finished 14th but Allardyce decided to resign from his post, stating that he had no ambitions to manage another club.

Everton

Won 9, drew 7, lost 8; 37.5 per cent win rate

Allardyce reversed his retirement decision a few months after leaving Palace by accepting the Everton job in November 2017.

He lifted the Toffees from 13th to eighth in the table but left the club at the end of the season following further criticism over his style of play. Despite their improvement in results, Everton took the fewest shots of any team in the Premier League during Allardyce’s tenure.

West Brom

Won 4, drew 7, lost 14; 16.0 per cent win rate

After an 18-month hiatus, Allardyce returned to Premier League management with West Brom in December 2020.

Albion were counting on Allardyce’s familiar formula but his first four home games brought four defeats by an aggregate 17-0 scoreline to Aston Villa, Leeds, Arsenal and Manchester City.

A late-season improvement, including beating Chelsea 5-2 and Southampton 3-0 in back-to-back games, was not enough to dig the Baggies out of the hole and all hope was extinguished by the Gunners with three games remaining.

Allardyce stepped down as manager at the end of the campaign.

Rory McIlroy insists it was an “easy decision” to potentially forfeit £2.4million in bonus money as he spoke for the first time about how missing the cut in the Masters “sucked”.

McIlroy did not speak to waiting reporters after a second round of 74 at Augusta National brought a premature end to his latest bid to win a green jacket and complete the career grand slam.

The world number three then withdrew from the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, meaning he had missed his second ‘designated event’ of the year on the PGA Tour and was subject to losing 25 per cent of his Player Impact Program bonus.

“We certainly have our minimums, we obviously signed up for this designated-event series this year,” McIlroy said at a promotional event for FedEx ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship.

“I obviously knew the consequences that could come with missing one of those. It was an easy decision, but I felt like, if that fine or whatever is to happen, (it) was worth that for me in order to get some things in place.

“I had my reasons not to play Hilton Head. I expressed those to Jay [Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner] and whether he thinks that is enough to warrant… look, again, I understood the consequences of that decision before I made it.

“So whatever happens, happens.”

McIlroy revealed that he had allowed himself to think about his prospects of becoming just the sixth player to have won all four major titles after shooting five under par on the back nine of his Wednesday practice round at Augusta.

“Me thinking that way isn’t a good thing,” the four-time major winner said. “All I should be thinking about is that first shot on Thursday.

“You need to stay in the present moment and I feel like at Augusta I didn’t quite do a good job of that because of how well I came in playing. I maybe got ahead of myself a little bit.”

Describing his performance, McIlroy added: “It sucked. It sucked.

“It’s not the performance I obviously thought I was going to put up. Nor was it the performance I wanted. Just incredibly disappointing. But I needed some time to regroup and focus on what’s ahead.

“It’s been a big 12 months and I don’t know if I fully reflected on stuff. I never really got a chance to really think about the Open and St Andrews (where he was joint leader after 54 holes) and everything that went on there.

“It was nice to have three weeks to just put all that stuff in the rearview mirror and just try to focus on what’s ahead.”

What’s ahead on the course includes the US PGA Championship later this month and July’s Open Championship at Hoylake, where McIlroy lifted the Claret Jug in 2014.

And McIlroy hopes he will now be able to expend less energy on his role as an unofficial spokesperson for the PGA Tour in its battle against LIV Golf as the season progresses.

“I wasn’t gassed because of the golf, I was gassed because of everything that we’ve had to deal with in the golf world over the past 12 months and being right in the middle of it and being in that decision-making process,” McIlroy added.

“I’ve always thought I’ve had a good handle on the perspective of things and where golf fits within my life, but I think over the last 12 months I’d lost sight of that, lost sight of the fact that there’s more to life than the golf world and this silly little squabble that’s going on between tours.

“And I think once I disconnected from it a little bit, I could see things a little clearer and where everything fits. I guess that was a good reset.”

Scotland forward Jonny Gray is in serious danger of missing the Rugby World Cup after dislocating his kneecap.

Gray sustained the injury during Exeter’s 47-28 Heineken Champions Cup semi-final defeat by La Rochelle on Sunday.

“It’s relatively serious without being the worst it could be,” said Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter.

“From what I’ve been told unless the operation goes exceptionally well and his recovery is exceptionally quick, I would say he is very doubtful for the World Cup.

“It’s a patella tendon injury, he’s dislocated his kneecap.

“Fortunately the other major ligaments within the knee are all stable.

“It’s a relatively complex patella tendon injury, which is going to require surgery this week, and there’s a relatively long period of rehab

“We are hopeful to have him back fairly early next season, especially with the Premiership starting late next year with the World Cup first.”

Second-row Gray, 29, has won 77 caps for Scotland and his absence from the World Cup in France would be a huge blow for Gregor Townsend’s side.

Scotland start their World Cup campaign against defending champions South Africa in Marseille on September 10.

Pool B also includes Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland, Romania and Tonga.

Jenson Button believes Lewis Hamilton will sign a new deal with Mercedes because he remains “hungry” to win his record eighth world championship.

Speaking before the start of the season, Button, the 2009 world champion, suggested Hamilton will only extend his contract – which expires at the end of the year – if Mercedes can provide him with a winning car.

Hamilton finished sixth last weekend in Azerbaijan and already trails championship leader Max Verstappen by 45 after just four rounds, with the Dutchman’s Red Bull team in a league of their own this year.

However, Button, 43, said: “I don’t think Lewis is going to walk away from the sport.

“As a racing driver, if you have been winning for so long and then you are suddenly not, you want to fight back to winning ways. You are not going to retire.

“If you are in a bad car for many years, you want to retire because it just gets you down, but Lewis is not in a bad car. He is just in a car that is not as good as what he has been used to, and I get that.

“But he knows the strength of the team, he knows how quick he still is, so he is going to work with this team to get back to fighting with Red Bull, and they will.

“It probably won’t be this year, but in 2024, we will see Lewis on the grid. He is still hungry to win another world championship.”

Verstappen remains the overwhelming favourite to win his third consecutive title despite Sergio Perez moving to within six points of his Red Bull team-mate after winning the sprint race and Grand Prix in Baku.

And Button said another victory at Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix will fuel Perez with confidence that he can beat Verstappen to the title.

“I’ve been really impressed with Sergio,” added Button.

“Max has to be the toughest team-mate because he just goes out there and gets it done.

“Consistency is where Sergio has been lacking, but if he can do it in Miami, which like Baku is a street race, too, he has a chance to fight for the championship.

“I didn’t think I would be saying that, I really didn’t, but it is good for the sport. Red Bull has an advantage at the moment and we need both of them to be fighting it out.”

David Moyes compared Erling Haaland to a machine as West Ham prepare to keep Manchester City’s record-levelling striker at bay on Wednesday in the Premier League.

Haaland’s opener in City’s win over Fulham on Sunday marked his 50th goal in all competitions – a record-equalling 34 of them have come in the Premier League.

Moyes talked up the striker’s explosive debut top-flight season and admitted his physical and technical attributes make him unplayable for defenders.

“It has taken them time to get used to Haaland just like we are with a few of our players…they have needed to get used to his goals because he provides those like a machine,” Moyes said.

“You are maybe hoping he has a weakness, that he cannot run or he is not good in the air, or his touch is not good but, he is all-round, and surrounded by team-mates who can provide him with balls in the air, balls through the middle, cut-backs for finishes, he can finish with his left, right.”

“He’s the icing on the cake for them. I think they’ve got so many good players who can create chances, he’s such a good finisher and if you get him in those right positions he’s capable of scoring.”

The West Ham boss attributed parts of Haaland’s success to City manager Pep Guardiola, who has lost just once to Moyes in 13 meetings during his career.

A win on Wednesday would keep the prospect of a historic treble-winning season alive – City play Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League before taking a trip to Wembley in the FA Cup final against rivals Manchester United.

“I think he’s a super coach (Guardiola) who has got really good players, but I think he’s also made those players better and when you make players better that says something about him,” Moyes added.

“Wherever he’s been, he’s been incredibly successful and managed all the big clubs. You don’t get the big jobs if you’re not good, he’s very, very good.

“Pep, tactically, is fantastic. They have also had an awful lot of money to get the best players. You cannot take that away, but the praise could be big enough because of the way he is changing football.”

Moyes insisted pressure has mounted on both clubs with City leading the title race and West Ham four points clear of danger. He believes City’s ‘cannot afford to drop points’ mentality will make them more potent than usual.

The Scot explained: “It makes them a difficult opponent (City having the title to play for), there’s a lot of pressure for the teams at the bottom of the league but there’s incredible pressure for the teams at the top of the league.

“When you’re one of the top clubs your job is to win all the games and when you have got so much at stake, every game you’re needing to win so that’s pressure, pressure for Manchester City as well.”

Sanctions are set to be issued against six former Yorkshire players later today for using racist language.

An independent Cricket Discipline Commission panel found five individuals – John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah – had used the term “P***” about former Yorkshire team-mate Azeem Rafiq or other people of Asian ethnicity when it issued its decision in the case on March 31.

A sixth individual – Gary Ballance – had already admitted using racist and/or discriminatory language and is expected to be sanctioned at the same hearing on Wednesday.

The panel will consider any written submissions or verbal representations from or on behalf of the six before deciding on any sanctions, but the PA news agency understands a written submission had only been received on behalf of Ballance as of Tuesday afternoon.

The other five individuals had withdrawn from the proceedings and did not appear at a liability hearing held in early March, with the charges against them heard in their absence.

Among the panel’s sanctioning powers are the imposition of suspensions and fines, and ordering an education or training course be completed.

The CDC panel cleared former England captain Michael Vaughan of using racist and/or discriminatory language.

Yorkshire admitted four charges in the case, which stemmed primarily from allegations made by Rafiq and the club’s handling of the claims.

A separate hearing will deal with the sanctions the club will face on June 27.

Former England international Hoggard was found to have used the term “P***” towards Rafiq and other Asian players during the 2008 season, and the term “Rafa the Kaffir” towards Rafiq.

It also found he had used the term “token black man” or “TBM” towards former Yorkshire team-mate Ismail Dawood, and dismissed Hoggard’s assertion that Dawood had created the nickname himself.

Gale, a former Yorkshire captain and head coach, was also found to have used the term “Rafa the Kaffir” towards Rafiq and the term “P***” towards Rafiq and Yorkshire academy player Mosun Hussain.

Blain was found to have used the term “P***” in 2010 and/or 2011 while at Yorkshire, while Bresnan and Pyrah were found to have used the term “fit P***” or “FP” about Asian women.

Leeds are expected to appoint Sam Allardyce on Wednesday as they bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The club will part company with manager Javi Gracia – having already removed director of football Victor Orta – with Allardyce taking over for the run-in.

A poor season at Elland Road sees the club languishing 17th, and only goal difference keeps them out of the relegation zone.

They have lost four in a winless run of five matches and have four games left to save themselves.

Gracia only took over in February but confirmation that Allardyce is taking charge is expected a day after the departure of divisive director of football Orta.

The Spaniard took up the post at Elland Road in 2017 and helped the West Yorkshire side make their long-awaited return to the Premier League three years later.

But things have gone awry of late and embattled Leeds confirmed Orta’s exit by mutual consent.

Leeds travel to leaders Manchester City on Saturday, before hosting third-placed Newcastle. A trip to West Ham and an Elland Road encounter with European hopefuls Tottenham rounds out the season.

Allardyce would take charge after suffering his first Premier League relegation with West Brom, when he left six months into an 18-month contract.

The 68-year-old former Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham and England boss would be Leeds’ third permanent manager of the season after Jesse Marsch and Gracia.

Allardyce is reported to have agreed a basic salary of £500,000 for his four games in charge, with a £2.5million bonus if he can keep Leeds up.

Mikel Arteta watched his Arsenal team return to the top of the Premier League table with victory over Chelsea before insisting he would not let his players’ heads drop.

The Gunners were eight points clear last month but had fallen behind Manchester City following a run of four winless game – a streak that ended with a comfortable 3-1 win over the beleaguered Blues.

Captain Martin Odegaard scored twice before Gabriel Jesus wrapped up the win before half-time as Noni Madueke’s first league goal proved a mere consolation for Frank Lampard’s visitors.

Despite their recent run, Arteta had refused to rule Arsenal out of the title race and this win took them two points clear – although they have played two more games than City.

The Spaniard admitted he did not want to see morale fall after a galling loss at City last week saw their lead all but dashed.

“It is four games to go, we are at the top right now,” he said.

“We cannot do that (let heads drop), to be where we are after 10 months against the team we are fighting against, being there and having the possibility to be top – we have to enjoy it and embrace it, maximise the opportunity that we have because we don’t know what is going to happen.

“We wanted to have a very different approach to the game, and we did it right from the beginning.

“The team is back to its best. We wanted to prove we had that fire in the belly. I could see that in the last few days, and we prepared (for) the game well.

“Mentally we arrived in the right mood and with the right level of energy. Everything went for us as well, which is important.

“We’ve had a couple of difficult weeks with very different games, with a lot of emotions involved. We’re back to the top of the league – let’s see what happens.”

While it was a night to remember for skipper Odegaard, it was one his predecessor will want to forget in a hurry. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started for Chelsea for the first time since facing the Gunners on November 6 but lasted just 45 minutes before being substituted, having had nine touches – four of which were kick-offs.

Arteta was full of praise for Odegaard and the example set by the Norway international.

“He has 14 goals this season, his contribution to the team, his leadership skills, I’m really pleased with him,” he added.

“He has been exceptional for us, his contribution every single day. I think he has done that (set the tone) on many occasions. What Martin has done this season deserves a lot of credit.”

Chelsea have now lost all six games under interim head coach Frank Lampard, who believes his players are “too nice” as they remain in the bottom half of the table.

“We weren’t good enough,” he conceded.

“We were too nice to play against, too passive. In possession we weren’t playing balls over their press, or winning second balls.

“Chelsea have been a big success for 20 years domestically and in the Champions League, at the moment we’re not in that position.

“But from the moment I’ve been here it’s been evident we’re too nice as a team.

“We can’t change things overnight but we had better get there quickly because we have another game at the weekend and games to come.”

A 10-man Real Madrid faltered once again in the LaLiga title race as Takefusa Kubo haunted his former club after scoring in a 2-0 win for Real Sociedad.

Barcelona snatched a 1-0 victory over Osasuna prior to Tuesday's kick-off at Reale Arena, where Madrid offered little without the suspended Vinicius Junior or the rested Karim Benzema.

Kubo – who joined La Real from Los Blancos last July – scored just past half-time and, after Dani Carvajal received his marching orders for two cautions, Ander Barrenetxea made sure of victory for the hosts.

Next week's Champions League semi-final clash at Manchester City appears the priority for Madrid now over LaLiga, where they trail leaders Barca by 14 points with five games to play.

Alex Remiro made an expert stop to deny Eder Militao with a sixth-minute header bound for the top-right corner before La Real steadied their early nerves.

Martin Zubimendi turned Alexander Sorloth's near-post flick-on onto the crossbar from point-blank range, while Thibaut Courtois repelled a glorious David Silva chance with his feet.

Mikel Oyarzabal saw a penalty appeal for a foul by Militao rejected as Sociedad continued in the ascendancy, albeit without a first-half reward arriving.

Yet their dominance told immediately after the interval when Kubo capitalised on a stray Militao pass back to Courtois and poked into an empty net.

Matters worsened for Madrid as Carvajal was sent off for a second needless lunge on Aihen Munoz, before Barrenetxea sealed the deal in the 85th minute when he smashed a low finish into the bottom-left corner.

What does it mean? Immaculate Imanol plan has Madrid reeling…again

La Real coach Imanol Alguacil has taken more points off Madrid in LaLiga than any other manager in the competition's history, moving past Paco Lopez (10) after making it 12 in 10 games (W3 D3 L4).

While the visitors were without star winger Vinicius, Los Blancos had won all three fixtures this season when he had not featured and avoided conceding in those outings.

Then there was Carlo Ancelotti's decision to rest Benzema, displaying the Italian's obvious priority – Alguacil may have Madrid's number but Los Blancos' calling card remains firmly with the Champions League.

King Kubo

Loan spells at Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe marked an unsuccessful spell in Kubo's Madrid career, with Los Blancos showing little interest in keeping him.

But the La Real forward made his former side pay here, scoring his eighth goal in 30 LaLiga games for Alguacil's side – two more than in his previous four seasons combined (six goals in 94 outings).

More needed from Militao

Miliato went close in the opening stages to scoring his sixth headed goal this season in Europe's top-five leagues – no player can match his current mark of five either.

Yet the Brazil centre-back's momentary lapse in concentration in the second period, crumbling under the pressure of Sorloth before rolling in Kubo, will be what this performance is remembered for.

What's next?

Madrid face Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday, a week before La Real host Girona in LaLiga.

Pep Guardiola has warned that Erling Haaland’s second season at Manchester City could be even better than his first.

Haaland is on the brink of setting a new single-season Premier League goalscoring record after a sensational first campaign at the Etihad Stadium.

The prolific Norwegian netted his 34th goal of the champions’ 2022-23 league programme – and his 50th overall – in Sunday’s victory at Fulham.

That drew him level with joint competition record-holders Andy Cole and Alan Shearer and, with six games to play starting with Wednesday’s visit of West Ham, the 22-year-old looks certain to set a formidable new benchmark.

Guardiola, however, believes his best could be yet to come.

The City manager said: “Always I’ve said with Erling it will be tough when you look at what he has done – and if he doesn’t score the goals like he’s scoring now people will say, ‘Oh, he’s in a bad situation’ – but his game can improve a lot.

“I wouldn’t say in the box but in the game itself, the movements. I think he has that feeling, ‘Is that enough?’, and I think he has the desire to get better as a player.

“As long as he has that he can do it.”

Guardiola believes Haaland, who joined City last summer after plundering 86 goals in 89 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, arrived with a determination to break records.

He said: “Yes, I think so. I know him a bit and he is so competitive and positive in his mindset.

“He has this incredible, positive self-confidence. It’s not arrogance.

“It’s self-confidence to say I am going to score and to arrive in his first season and score 50 already and equal the record for two legends in Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.”

Haaland’s remarkable record has raised the prospect he could even surpass the English record 63 goals for a top-flight player scored by Everton’s Dixie Dean in 1927-28.

Comparisons have also been made with Lionel Messi, who scored 73 for Barcelona in 2011-12, but Guardiola says drawing parallels with one of the all-time greats is unfair.

Messi’s former Barca boss said: “No-one can compare with Messi. It will not help Erling.

“Messi is the most complete player I have seen in terms of vision, dribbles, passes, competitiveness, in many things that are difficult.

“Hopefully Erling can be so close (to) Leo, that will be great for us and him, but I don’t help anyone to compare them with the Argentina player.”

Haaland has established a potent partnership with playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who is hoping to overcome a knock to feature against the Hammers.

De Bruyne said: “He’s matched the record for the Premier League scoring 34 goals.

“I am just trying to help him achieve that and he has been able to do it. I just try to create as many chances as I can and he is ready to pounce in the box. We work really well together and he has been great.”