Harry Maguire admits he cannot keep just playing once a month for Manchester United but remains confident of winning back his place and helping Erik ten Hag’s team climb the table.
It has been a bumpy ride since the 30-year-old starred in England’s run to the Euro 2020 final, with the defender falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford and then losing the captaincy.
A widely-discussed summer move to West Ham did not materialise and settled Maguire remained at a club where he is trying to get his career back on track with next summer’s Euros looming large.
Gareth Southgate has been a staunch supporter of the centre-back throughout his ups and downs but admitted to concerns over his level of involvement, which the ex-United skipper is determined to improve.
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“I have belief in my ability and what I have done in my career as every player should,” Maguire said.
“Every player who is on the bench should believe they should be starting, otherwise they wouldn’t be playing at a high level. I am no different.
“Listen, it’s been tough. I want to play games. I want to feel important to the club and I want to feel important to the rest of the team.
“At the moment I haven’t been playing anywhere near as much as I’d like. It’s the bottom line of it.
“I’ve just got to make sure I am ready to take the opportunities when they come along.”
Asked when gametime becomes an issue and, given Euro 2024 is coming up, whether that could be sooner rather than later, said: “Yeah, of course.
“I mean, I’m not going to sit here all my life and play once every month and if it carries on then I’m sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things.
“But, honestly, at the moment I’m fully focused on two games for England, two big games.
“Then I’m fully focused on fighting and trying to get back my place at Manchester United and helping the team climb up the league to where we should be.”
England face Australia in a Wembley friendly on Friday before attention turns to the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy.
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Maguire has kept his England place despite his struggles to break his way into Ten Hag’s line-up, making his first Premier League start of the campaign in Saturday’s 2-1 comeback win against Brentford.
“It’s not my decision whether I start the next game or not,” said the defender, who provided the assist for Scott McTominay’s winner. “I’m unsure on that. I’m sure in a couple of weeks I’ll go back and find out.
“Listen, if you look back on my last 15 to 20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say ‘I’m really happy with my performances’.
“My record under this manager speaks for itself. I haven’t started as many games as I’d like, but my win percentage when I’ve played is ridiculously high.
“And of course there’s times when I can do more and times when I can improve and help the team, but, yeah, I’m just wanting to help the team.
“I’m wanting to help the team get out of this position that we’re in at the moment and hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks.”
Maguire benefitted from a string of defensive absentees as he made just his ninth Premier League start since Ten Hag arrived.
The Dutchman has always spoken positively about the defender in public, saying in August that he “has the abilities to be a top-class centre-back” and must “fight for his place”.
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“I can only do what I’ve been doing in terms of when I’ve come into the team, bringing positive performances,” Maguire said.
“I’ve started two games this season and come on in a few off the bench, but, yeah, keep working hard in training.
“The manager can only watch training and make his decision from training and the games when I get the opportunity to play.
“I’ll keep working hard, I’ll keep pushing. I have great belief in myself.”
Mark Clattenburg leaves consultancy role with Nottingham Forest
Mark Clattenburg has resigned from his role as a refereeing consultant with Nottingham Forest, saying his presence had become a "hindrance" to the club.
Retired Premier League referee Clattenburg – who oversaw the 2016 Champions League final and the showpiece game at Euro 2016 – began the role in February.
The appointment was roundly criticised but Forest – who have seen a number of debatable decisions go against them this season – said it would aid their understanding of the decision-making process and improve dialogue with refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
However, Clattenburg has continued to attract criticism for taking on the role, which intensified when Forest reacted to a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Everton by accusing Stuart Attwell – who was on VAR duty – of being a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town.
That came after Forest had seen three penalty appeals knocked back at Goodison Park, and Clattenburg avoided condemning Forest's statement in the aftermath of the controversy.
On Friday, Forest released a statement from Clattenburg, who defended his decision to take the job but acknowledged it had created unforeseen difficulties.
Clattenburg said: "It is now clear that the existence and performance of these consultancy services has caused unintended friction between Nottingham Forest and other participants, to the extent that it has become more of a hindrance than help.
"It has also led to the unmerited targeting of me, personally, by certain participants and pundits.
"Such reactions and outcomes were not expected and are regrettable, as it is my sincere belief that there is a place for and value in such a role in the modern game."
Marco Reus to leave Dortmund after 12-year-spell with boyhood club
Marco Reus will leave Borussia Dortmund when his contract expires at the end of the season, the club have announced.
Reus, a Dortmund native, first joined the club in 1995 and spent 10 years in their youth ranks before joining Rot Weiss Ahlen, who he left for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2009.
After three impressive seasons with Gladbach, Reus returned to Dortmund in a €17million deal in 2012 and has made 424 appearances for the club across all competitions.
That puts him fourth in BVB's all-time charts behind Michael Zorc (561), Mats Hummels (504) and Roman Weidenfeller (445), while his 168 goals in black and yellow have only been bettered by Alfred Preissler, who scored 177 in two spells between 1945 and 1959, before the Bundesliga was founded.
Reus, who has won the DFB-Pokal on two occasions with Dortmund and helped them reach the Champions League final in his first season upon returning in 2012-13, was also club captain between 2018 and 2023.
As news of his impending departure was made public, he said his full focus is on ensuring his final game with the club is June's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.
"I'm incredibly grateful for and proud of this special time at my club Borussia Dortmund," the 34-year-old said.
"I have spent more than half of my life at this club and enjoyed every day, even though there have of course been difficult moments too.
"I already know now that I will find it difficult to say goodbye at the end of the season, and yet I'm happy that there is now clarity and that we can focus fully on the very important final games that we still have to play.
"We have a big objective in our sights that we all want to achieve together. To do so, we will need every single one of our unbelievable fans, to whom I would like to express my sincere thanks for their unbelievable support over the years."
Reus came on as a late substitute as Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their semi-final tie on Wednesday, with Niclas Fullkrug scoring the only goal of the game.
Kompany wants to write names into the Burnley history books
Vincent Kompany challenges his players to ‘remain in the club’s history’ as they continue their fight for Premier League safety.
The Clarets are welcoming Newcastle United to Turf Moor on Saturday following an impressive run of form that has seen them lose just one of their last eight matches.
Burnley remain two points from safety with three games remaining, though that could change if Luton Town beat Everton on Friday.
Kompany was full of praise for the work his team has done to keep them within reach of the teams above them, highlighting the opportunity the next three games pose.
"It’s so rare in life that you get opportunities to have a significant moment like this, but these guys will have the opportunity in the next three games," Kompany said.
"It’s as big an opportunity as you get. Getting to the wire and having something to play for, that’s one of the most powerful things you can do in this game.
"Every season I feel needs to matter and you can make it matter by doing something special in the next three games. I want every player in the team to believe, individually, they can have a moment."
Newcastle head into Saturday’s match following an impressive 5-1 win over Sheffield United that ultimately relegated the Blades.
Eddie Howe’s team are still in the hunt for a top-seven finish but have struggled to get results away from home this season.
He said: "For me I always tried to focus on the game and not where it is played.
"I urge my players to do the same. In the last few games we have shown flashes of being back to our very best. I want to see that for 90 minutes if we can."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Burnley – Zeki Amoundi
Amdouni is Burnley’s joint-top scorer in the Premier League this season, along with Jacob Bruun Larsen and Lyle Foster with five goals each. The Clarets have the lowest scoring top scorers of any side in the competition this term.
Newcastle – Anthony Gordon
Gordon has 10 goals and nine assists in the Premier League this season – the only Newcastle players to reach double figures for both in a single campaign are Andrew Cole in 1993-94 (34G 13A) and Ruel Fox in 1994-95 (10G 11A).
MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE UNITED WIN
Following their five consecutive Premier League wins over Burnley, Newcastle United will be looking to win six in a row against an opponent for just a second time, also registering six wins against Spurs between 2006 and 2008.
However, Newcastle have lost eight of their last 11 Premier League away games; since the first match of this spell in November (v Bournemouth), only Brentford (10) and Sheffield United (nine) have lost more times on their travels in the competition.
Meanwhile, Burnley have won just two of their 13 Premier League matches against Newcastle United (D4 L7), losing the last five in a row. They have never lost six in a row against the Magpies in their league history.
Burnley, though, have only lost one of their last eight Premier League games (W2 D5), picking up more points in this run (11) than their previous 20 league matches prior (nine – W2 D3 L15).
Newcastle have scored 74 Premier League goals this season, only netting more in 1993-94 (82). Their record of 2.2 goals-per-game is their most in a top-flight season since 1951-52, when they scored 98 in 42 matches (2.3 per game).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Burnley – 25.2%
Draw – 27.9%
Newcastle – 46.9%
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