AC Milan winger Alexis Saelemaekers has joined Bologna on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

The Belgium international joined the 2021/22 Serie A winners in 2020 and made 98 appearances, scoring five times.

Saelemaekers becomes Thiago Motta’s eighth signing of the summer window and could feature in Bologna’s next league match against Cagliari on Saturday.

An AC Milan club statement said: “AC Milan can confirm that Alexis Saelemaekers has joined Bologna FC on loan until 30 June 2024, with an option to make the deal permanent.

“The club would like to wish Alexis all the best for the coming season.”

Manchester City have reached a verbal agreement with Wolves on a fee for Portugal midfielder Matheus Nunes.

The PA news agency understands City have agreed to pay Wolves 55million euros (£47million) without add ons, but the deal has not yet been finalised.

In a separate deal, City’s 21-year-old midfielder Tommy Doyle will join Wolves on loan with a £5million option to buy, and City retaining a significant sell-on clause if the move becomes permanent.

City last week saw a bid for Nunes rejected, with the 25-year-old subsequently choosing not to train with Wolves in a bid to force through a move in the final days of the transfer window.

Speaking after Tuesday night’s 5-0 Carabao Cup win over Blackpool, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said he was unaware of any improved bid from City and expected the player to remain at the club beyond Friday’s deadline, but that situation has quickly changed.

Nunes became Wolves’ record signing when he joined from Sporting Lisbon for an initial £38million last summer, signing a five-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.

He made 34 appearances last term, scoring one goal and proving one assist.

England under-21 international Doyle, grandson of Manchester City greats Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe, impressed on loan at Sheffield United last season, scoring four goals and seven assists in 38 appearances as he helped the Blades earn promotion to the Premier League.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has begun his recovery since undergoing surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The Belgium international sustained the serious injury to his left knee in a training session and has now returned back to the Real Madrid setup to begin his first steps in rehabilitation.

Courtois took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to give supporters an update on his fitness, he said: “Thank you to everyone for the support and the energy!

“Little by little I’m taking the first steps in my recovery.”

Since the injury to Courtois, Real Madrid have signed Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan deal as a replacement and the Spain stopper kept a clean sheet on his debut, a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo on the weekend.

Kepa, 28, has previously spoken of his intention of making the move permanent and could compete with Courtois for the number one jersey when the Belgian returns to the fold.

Wales boss Rob Page has backed Brennan Johnson to fill the striker void at Tottenham left by Harry Kane’s departure.

Record Spurs goal-scorer Kane moved to Bayern Munich in a £100million deal earlier this month and Tottenham have yet to replace him ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.

But Tottenham are leading the chase for Wales forward Johnson with Nottingham Forest ready to listen to offers around the £50m mark.

“I wouldn’t even talk about the Harry Kane situation and going in to fill that,” Page said after naming a 25-man squad for the September 7 friendly with South Korea and the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia four days later.

“He’s his own person and player, a different type of player. I think he’s just got to go.”

Page saw Johnson play for Forest on Saturday in their 3-2 defeat at Manchester United.

Johnson came off 20 minutes from time, but Page said the 22-year-old was “fully fit” for international duty.

“Young players today – and Brennan falls into this category – are a confident breed and he’s more than capable of playing at that level (for Tottenham),” said Page.

“I think Brennan has a good support network around him. I know his dad (David), who used to play so he’s been through all this himself.

“You need that network as a young lad. I don’t believe he will get carried with it. He will stay grounded and won’t change.

“You don’t go into a club expecting to fill somebody’s else’s boots.

“He’s a very different player to Harry and, if he goes there, it is on his own ability and what he can offer to the team.”

Leeds winger Daniel James is sidelined by an adductor injury while Joe Morrell and Kieffer Moore – who are available for the Cardiff friendly with South Korea – are suspended for the trip to Riga after receiving respective red cards against Armenia and Turkey in June.

Tom Lockyer is in the squad for the first time since collapsing in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley in May.

Lockyer underwent an operation to address an irregular heartbeat but has since returned to action to lead Luton in their first Premier League campaign.

Page said: “It’s a great story. We all watched the events unfold in the play-off final. We were all concerned, but there has been nothing but positivity since that day.

“He has had some great news, he is back to normal and is now playing in the Premier League, which is unbelievable for him as well.

“It is always going to be a challenge when you get promoted to the Premier League, Luton have done really well to be where they are at with the resources they have available to them.

“But for him personally he should be very proud of how he has recovered after it. A dream for him was to play in the Premier League and he has achieved that.”

Josh Sheehan and Wes Burns earn recalls as Ollie Cooper and Luke Harris drop out of the squad.

Fulham midfielder Harris, 18, has been in and around the squad for the past 12 months but has yet to be capped.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?,” said Page. “Luke’s not been involved for Fulham and the day I announce the squad the night before he’s on the bench and comes on.

“The plan might be that Luke still goes out on loan to play games at a lower level.

“We see potential in him, but it hasn’t quite gone how I anticipated if I’m being honest.

“But like with Rubin (Colwill) and JJ (Jordan James) we’ve wanted to see them play more games.

“It’s about managing Luke and he’ll drop back down to the Under-21s now.

“It benefited Harry Wilson when Ryan (Giggs) was manager and, although it’s good we can expose him to this environment, there’s nothing like playing games and getting caps.”

The Republic of Ireland are looking for a new manager after opting not to renew Vera Pauw’s contract despite seeing her guide her team to the World Cup finals for the first time.

Pauw’s departure brings an end to a four-year reign which has seen the nation’s women scale new heights, but the Dutchwoman’s tenure has not been without controversy.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look Pauw’s time at the Irish helm.

What is Pauw’s background?

A former defender who was capped 89 times by the Netherlands, Pauw’s coaching career includes spells with Scotland, the Dutch, who she led to the semi-finals of the 2009 European Championships, Russia and South Africa, as well as National Women’s Soccer League side Houston Dash in the United States. The 60-year-old was appointed to succeed Colin Bell as Ireland boss in September 2019.

How did Ireland fare under her charge?

Having finished third in Group I after a 3-1 home defeat by Germany, Ireland missed out on qualification for the Euro 2022 finals. Defeat by eventual Group A winners Sweden in their opening World Cup qualifier did not deter the Republic, who went on to finish second and then, courtesy of Amber Barrett’s lone strike, beat Scotland in a play-off to book their ticket to Australia and New Zealand. Ultimately they did not progress after narrow defeats by co-hosts Australia and Olympic champions Canada, as well as a draw with Nigeria.

What place does she hold in Irish football history?

Pauw is one of only three coaches, along with Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy, to lead Ireland to the finals of a senior World Cup. Along with Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O’Neill, who took the men’s team to Euro 2012 and 2016 respectively, they are the only five people to send out a senior Irish team at the finals of any major tournament.

Where did it go wrong?

Rumours of disquiet within the camp have grown in recent months and several players notably declined to support their manager when asked during World Cup press conferences amid speculation that a conservative approach on the pitch was unpopular in the dressing room. Suspicions of a fracture grew amid a public spat between Pauw and skipper Katie McCabe after the Arsenal winger appeared to call for a substitution during the Nigeria game. The manager later offered a “she’s not the coach” riposte; McCabe responded on social media with a zipped mouth emoji. Pauw had gone into the tournament against the backdrop of a renewed focus on allegations – which she strongly denies – of bullying and belittling behaviour during her time in Houston, for which she was sanctioned by the NSWL earlier this year.

How have supporters reacted to the news?

Not well. Many fans have taken to social media to claim Pauw has been treated poorly after what she has achieved with Ireland, many pointing out that the men’s team has not reached the World Cup finals since 2002.

Who could replace her?

The FAI’s head of women and girls’ football Eileen Gleeson has been placed in interim charge for next month’s Nations League openers against Northern Ireland and Hungary and could be considered for a longer-term role. Like Gleeson, Tom Elmes is highly regarded in the women’s game in Ireland, but as a member of Pauw’s coaching team, may suffer if the FAI decide to make a clean break. Liverpool boss Matt Beard has been touted as a potential replacement, as has former England captain and Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, currently in charge at San Diego Wave.

The draw for the group stage of the Champions League will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday evening.

Here the PA news agency explains how it will unfold.

When is the draw?

The draw is due to start at 5pm UK time on Thursday evening.

How will it work?

The 32 teams will be split into eight groups of four, with the four seeding pots not set to be confirmed until Thursday morning. The identity of the final qualifiers will not be known until Wednesday evening.

Pot 1 will feature European champions Manchester City, Europa League winners Sevilla and six domestic champions. Pots two to four will be based on the UEFA club coefficient rankings.

As usual, teams from the same country will be kept apart until at least the quarter-final stage. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw.

What else do we need to know about the format?

The teams play each other home and away between September and December as usual, with the top two progressing to the Champions League last 16.

The teams finishing third enter the Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the runners-up from the Europa League group stages for a place in the last 16 of that competition.

What else should we expect on Thursday night?

UEFA plans to announce the four winners of its 2022-23 awards – men’s player and coach, plus women’s player and coach – during the draw ceremony. There will be particular focus on the women’s awards amid the unfolding crisis in Spanish football – two of the country’s World Cup-winning team, Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona, are nominated for the player award while Jorge Vilda is nominated for the coach award.

What else should we look out for this season?

This season marks the final year of the group stage as we have come to know it. From next season the 32-team group stage will be replaced by a 36-team league phase, with each team playing eight matches on a seeded basis.

It will be worth keeping an eye as the season progresses on the country coefficients, which are based on the collective performance of a country’s clubs in the three UEFA men’s club competitions. One team each from the two best-performing countries will secure additional places in the league phase, under changes agreed at UEFA Congress in Vienna last year.

Raphael Varane has been ruled out for a few weeks as Manchester United’s injury issues pile up ahead of the Premier League trip to Arsenal.

Erik ten Hag’s side head to north London on Sunday for their final match before the international break without several key players.

Luke Shaw and Mason Mount picked up issues in the first week of the season, while summer signing Rasmus Hojlund has yet to make his debut due to a back complaint.

Tyrell Malacia, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo and Tom Heaton have missed the start of the season and now experienced Varane faces a spell on the sidelines.

A club statement read: “Raphael Varane will be missing from the team when Manchester United face Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday due to injury.

“The France international came off at half-time in our 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on Saturday due to the complaint, which is expected to keep him out for a few weeks.”

The PA news agency understands that United are expecting Varane to be back in less than the six weeks reported by some outlets.

The 30-year-old has dealt with a number of injuries since moving to Old Trafford in 2021 and, having retired from the France set-up in February, will have the international break to work towards his return.

Wales will be without Daniel James for their crucial Euro 2024 qualifier against Latvia next month.

Leeds winger James has been sidelined with an adductor injury and misses the crunch clash in Riga on September 11, as well as the Cardiff friendly against South Korea four days earlier.

The 45-times capped James has been a regular since making his debut in 2018, starting 34 consecutive competitive games before the run came to an end last November.

Wales boss Rob Page has named a 25-man squad for the September double-header as he seeks to revive the Dragons’ Euro 2024 qualification hopes.

Back-to-back defeats against Armenia and Turkey in June have left Wales with an uphill task to secure an automatic route to the tournament in Germany next summer.

Nottingham Forest forward and Tottenham target Brennan Johnson is included, and Tom Lockyer returns to the squad for the first time since his heart scare in May.

The 28-year-old Luton captain collapsed just a few minutes into the Hatters’ Sky Bet Championship play-off final win over Coventry at Wembley.

Lockyer underwent an operation to address an irregular heartbeat but has since returned to action to lead Luton in their first Premier League campaign.

David Brooks is also present after scoring for Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, his first senior goal since returning to action earlier this year following treatment for stage two Hodgkin lymphoma.

Tottenham defender Ben Davies is available after missing the 2-0 Euro qualifying defeat to Turkey in June due to the birth of his first child.

Page has named four goalkeepers in his squad – Danny Ward, Wayne Hennessey, Adam Davies and Tom King – but none of them have had any game-time this season.

Kieffer Moore and Joe Morrell are both suspended for the Latvia qualifier after picking up red cards in June.

The pair received two-game bans, with Bournemouth striker Moore serving the first part of his suspension in Turkey after being sent off against Armenia.

Portsmouth midfielder Morrell saw red against Turkey in Samsun and will also miss the October qualifier with Croatia.

Both players have been included in Page’s squad and can feature against Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea in Cardiff on September 7.

Bolton midfielder Josh Sheehan returns to the squad for the first time since September 2021 and Wes Burns is also included. Midfield pair Luke Harris and Ollie Cooper drop out.

Full squad: W Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), D Ward (Leicester), A Davies (Sheff Utd), T King (Wolves), B Davies (Tottenham), M Fox (QPR), J Rodon (Leeds, on loan from Tottenham), B Cabango (Swansea), C Mepham (Bournemouth), T Lockyer (Luton), N Williams (Nottingham Forest), C Roberts (Burnley), W Burns (Ipswich), E Ampadu (Leeds), J Sheehan (Bolton), J James (Birmingham), J Morrell (Portsmouth), H Wilson (Fulham), A Ramsey (Cardiff, captain), K Moore (Bournemouth), N Broadhead (Ipswich), B Johnson (Nottingham Forest), D Brooks (Bournemouth), T Bradshaw (Millwall), L Cullen (Swansea).

Tottenham are braced for a busy end to the summer transfer window with Ange Postecoglou eager to bring in reinforcements.

Spurs made nine changes for their Carabao Cup second-round tie at Fulham on Tuesday, but Hugo Lloris, Djed Spence, Eric Dier, Japhet Tanganga, Sergio Reguilon and Tanguy Ndombele were all absent from the matchday squad.

A much-changed starting line-up suffered a 5-3 penalty shoot-out defeat and while the club will attempt to shift the absent six players before 11pm on Friday, Postecoglou has not ruled out further incomings.

He said: “Well, I think my view around that hasn’t really changed. We need to trim the squad and get it to a more manageable state.

“Then see what is available for us to then bring in players to strengthen the squad in a couple of areas that we may need.”

Developments around right-back Spence gathered pace this week and he will join Leeds on a season-long loan with no obligation to buy, while Serie A outfit Torino could offer Tanganga regular football after they registered an interest in signing the centre-back on loan.

Ex-Spurs captain Lloris has been linked with Roma in recent days and Genoa were reported as an option for Ndombele on Tuesday but Manchester United no longer appear to be a viable suitor for Reguilon.

Reports in Germany have suggested Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are interested in Dier, who has a year left on his deal at Tottenham.

Davinson Sanchez and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg started at Fulham but could depart before Friday’s deadline with Tottenham looking to trim their bloated squad ahead of September 13 when a 25-man list will be submitted to the Premier League.

Incomings have not been ruled out and Spurs appear to have no direct competition for Nottingham Forest attacker Brennan Johnson, who had attracted interest from Brentford but they have turned their attention elsewhere.

It opens the door for Tottenham to move for the Welsh international with Forest ready to listen to offers around the £50million mark.

Any potential arrival of Johnson, who can play across the front three, would ease the burden on Richarlison following Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich earlier this month.

Richarlison opened his account for the season with a second-half header at Fulham, but Postecoglou said of the £60million forward: “I guess because everyone has been talking about it, it is great for him to score a goal.

“I think he has played better for us in the other games. I get why other people look at it (the goals) and I understand it, but for me it is about contributing to our football and how we want to play.

“I think the goals will come. The way we play, our strikers, our attacking players, all our players will all have an opportunity to score.”

Meanwhile, Fulham boss Marco Silva was able to laugh about his old forward scoring against him after his team progressed into the third round.

Silva admitted: “It is life but Richarlison is a top guy, a top professional.

“I know and Richarlison knows as well how he has been working so, so hard to achieve and reach what he already reach in his football career.

“Of course all strikers they need goals. A striker that is replacing a player like Harry Kane probably needs to score quick to start to be more confident as well but Richarlison is already the number nine of the national team.

“He is a hard worker, a top quality player and I wish the best for him in the future.”

What the papers say

Ivan Toney is looking rather popular right now, with The Independent reporting that Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has his eyes set on the banned Brentford star.

Toney’s forced football hiatus for betting breaches runs out in January, and it seems Chelsea are keen to snap up the one-cap England striker.

Word on the sideline is that a deal could be struck in the frantic final days of the transfer window but Brentford would want a cool £80 millionfor the 27-year-old, who has two years left on his current deal with the Bees.

Speaking of Chelsea, the Daily Mail reports that Arsenal has rebuffed an approach from the Blues for 23-year-old attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe. But Chelsea are said to still be eager for his signature, and may be willing to include players as a sweetener in any deal.

Just across the road from Chelsea, there has been transfer activity at Craven Cottage. It is now up to Sevilla forward Lucas Ocampos to decide on a move to Fulham after The Telegraph reported that the two clubs have agreed on a deal for his switch.

And the i says that Turkish side Besiktas may be willing to give Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood a chance to revive his career after United announced last week that club and player had mutually agreed his future lies away from Old Trafford.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Hugo Ekitike: Sky Sports says West Ham are in talks with Paris St Germain over the 21-year-old striker.

Nicolas Tagliafico: Manchester United have chased Lyon over a loan move for the 30-year-old defender, reports French outlet Le Parisien.

Manchester City signed Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg, on this day in 2015.

City paid a then club-record fee, reported to be in the region of £54million, for a man who has been at the heart of what they have achieved since.

The 24-year-old, who arrived in the Premier League as Germany’s footballer of the year, signed an initial six-year contract to launch the latest, spectacularly-successful phase of his career.

Born in the Drongen district of Ghent, De Bruyne began his professional career at Genk and was a Belgian title-winner in 2010-11, prompting Chelsea to invest £6.7million in his services in January 2012, although he remained at his first club for the remainder of that campaign before joining Werder Bremen on a season-long loan deal.

The midfield schemer finally made his Blues debut in a 2-0 Premier League victory over Hull in August 2013, providing the assist for Oscar’s opening goal in an impressive display.

However, that proved to be one of only nine senior appearances for the club and he was sold to Wolfsburg in the January of the following year.

Speaking shortly before his £18million departure for the Bundesliga, then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said: “We know that Kevin didn’t adapt very well to the difficult life a Chelsea player has.”

If English football had proved testing for the blossoming Belgian, he found his feet in style in Germany and returned to the Premier League as one of the most promising talents in the world game when he arrived at the Etihad Stadium.

He said at the time: “I just want to win. I won two cups at Wolfsburg and I just want to keep on winning and I think here’s a good chance to win some titles with a team who have a lot of quality players.”

That has proved something of an understatement.

Since making his City debut as a substitute in a 1-0 league win at Crystal Palace on September 12, 2015, De Bruyne has helped the club win the Champions League, five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the League Cup on five occasions.

Twice named PFA footballer of the year, he has also been capped 99 times and scored 26 goals for Belgium, whom he has represented at three World Cup finals tournaments.

Phil Parkinson branded Bradford’s penalty a “nothing incident” as he expressed frustration at the officials in their Carabao Cup second-round exit but was pleased with his Wrexham players.

Tyler Smith’s spot-kick inside three minutes put Bradford ahead but Will Boyle’s header took the game to a shoot-out.

Mark Howard saved Dan Oyegoke’s effort, but Luke Young missed and Harry Lewis saved James Jones’s penalty as the Bantams won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Parkinson was frustrated with the decision to penalise Aaron Hayden’s challenge on Jamie Walker and doubted if referee Ben Speedie saw the incident.

He said: “For an absolutely nothing incident, the ref has given a penalty. He’s got four players in between him and the incident and he’s told me it was him who gave it, but there is absolutely no way he can see it so he’s clearly guessed.

“The linesman has got the best view of all and is mic’d up and is supposed to communicate and the officials are supposed to work as a team. I feel a little bit aggrieved by how that decision has come about, but we have to take it on the chin and we had to respond and I thought the lads responded really well.”

Bradford boss Mark Hughes said: “I think apart from one good save in the first half when Harry saved with his shins and the goal, we tried to keep that one out but it’s difficult with the big lads and we were lacking a little bit of size and weight tonight, but I thought the lads were excellent.

“In my view we fully deserved to win the game in normal time. Obviously you worry when you get to penalties because it can go either way but it was the right result.”

Ipswich assistant manager Martyn Pert praised his side for “doing the simple things” as they overcame League One Reading on penalties after a 2-2 draw to progress to the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Reading went ahead in the second minute courtesy of a Brandon Williams own-goal but Cameron Humphreys levelled in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage-time.

Freddie Ladapo gave Town the lead near the hour mark but Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan equalised in the 87th minute.

Reading missed three of their spot-kicks in the shootout to help ease Ipswich’s passage.

“I’m really happy and delighted to get through,” Pert said. “It was exciting in the end and, with Reading scoring early, they made it a real challenge for us.

“They were really well organised and didn’t give us much opportunity. It was so difficult for us to create any chances that were open.

“We were wondering where we were going to get a goal from but we just kept doing the simple things and then eventually we got the equaliser.”

Reading’s Charlie Savage, Caylan Vickers and Ben Elliott all failed from the penalty spot.

“It was a very tough game but we made it a tough game,” Reading manager Ruben Selles said. “But the boys did an exceptional job and they showed what they can do.

“In the end, unfortunately, we didn’t get it in the penalties. For some of our players, it was the first time in professional football that they were in front of that situation.

“We have to take that as a learning process and next time will be more ready for those situations.

“Yes we always practise penalties but it is very difficult to replicate the stress under pressure in those moments.

“We didn’t make it but hopefully next time we will be better.”

Leicester manager Enzo Maresca hailed the contribution of veteran striker Jamie Vardy as the Foxes continued their flying start to the season with a 2-0 Carabao Cup victory at Tranmere.

Second-half strikes from Wilfred Ndidi and former England international Vardy proved the difference as the Championship side ran out 2-0 victors against their League Two opponents.

It was a sixth win out of six for Leicester in all competitions this season and saw 36-year-old Vardy open his account for the campaign after returning to the starting line-up.

Maresca said: “I’m happy to continue in this competition and I’m happy for the players, especially the young players who don’t play every week.

“I’ve been really happy with Jamie Vardy because when a striker scores they are always happy for them as well as the team.

“He’s been performing well when he starts and as well when he’s been on the bench and his contribution has been amazing.”

The Foxes enjoyed large amounts of possession in the opening stages of the second-round clash at Prenton Park and had a number of chances to open the scoring with Harry Winks coming the closest after seven minutes.

But the 2016 Premier League champions did not have it all their own way with Rovers growing in confidence and, after defending resolutely for half an hour, created some decent openings through Dan Pike and Josh Hawkes.

The deadlock was finally broken nine minutes after the break when Ndidi’s effort from the right side of the box found its way into the net via both posts, and just four minutes later Vardy put the result beyond doubt with a close-range header from an Ndidi cross.

Further chances fell to the visitors as Rovers pushed forward with Vardy and Ndidi who were both foiled by Joe Murphy, a veteran of the meeting between these two in the final of this competition at Wembley 23-years ago.

Maresca added: “I was not happy at half-time so made some changes and we’ve played six games in around 20 days and we have one more to go before the international break.

“We’ve won six from six now and all the attention now turns to the game on Saturday before the international break when some of the players can conserve their energy.”

Despite the defeat, Tranmere manager Ian Dawes was keen to focus on the positives from the encounter.

He said: “We knew going into the game today that they don’t make many changes, they go really strong and the manager takes the competition seriously.

“We knew we had to get our defensive organisation right and we knew we needed to limit their chances on goal and push up as the game went on.

“We had to stifle the game a little bit, keep possession and then make opportunities ourselves and I thought we did that really well and it all went to plan and they probably scored the first goal when we were on top.

“We’ve got to be positive at the end of it, it still hurts getting beat and we obviously wanted to go through, but you’ve got to look at what they’ve got on the pitch.

“You look at their team and they’ve still got Premier League players in their team and taking things into context we can be nothing but positive and we have to take that into Saturday against Wrexham.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho refused to blame Joe Morrell and Abu Kamara after their missed penalties sent his side crashing out of the EFL Cup at the hands of 10-man League One rivals Peterborough.

Kamara had the chance to send Pompey into round three but blazed his penalty over the bar before Wales international Morrell sent his crashing against the post as Posh triumphed 5-4 in the shootout after a 1-1 draw.

Mousinho said: “I have no problem with that, I’ve been in those situations, it’s really difficult and you have to have a lot of steel to step up and take one.

“We’re obviously disappointed at not getting through to the next round.

“We had plenty of chances but couldn’t put them away.

“Christian Saydee was excellent tonight. A massive presence and a thorn in their side throughout and I was delighted he got the goal.”

Posh took the lead after 29 minutes when an in-swinging corner caused Pompey problems and David Ajiboye bundled the ball home from close range.

It took only six minutes of the second half for Pompey to equalise as a cross from Paddy Lane fell to Saydee who, with his back to goal, swivelled to fire superbly past goalkeeper Fynn Talley.

Peterborough’s Charlie O’Connell saw red after a second yellow card for a foul on Terry Devlin in the 59th minute, having already been booked for kicking the ball away in the first half.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson said: “I was so proud of the team tonight. They’ve brought on half the team who will start on Saturday, we’ve gone down to 10 men and we’ve managed to dig it out.

“If we had lost in the last minute or on penalties, I would have still been proud of them. They gave everything.

“This was as important a game as any other game this season. I need to see who can step up to the first team and there were some good performances out there tonight.

“We scored a really good goal, had other chances and should have had a penalty as well.”