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• Carsley focusing on positives after nine England drop-outs

  Lee Carsley wants the England players at his disposal to "make the most of the situation" after nine others dropped out through injury.

  Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite on Wednesday became latest player to withdraw from the Nations League games with Greece and Republic of Ireland.

  Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill have also dropped out.

  England captain Harry Kane has admitted to being unhappy with the large number of withdrawals for interim boss Carsley's final two games in charge.

  However, Carsley attempted to put a positive spin on the situation when speaking at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday ahead of facing Greece.

  "The focus all camp has been on the players that are here and it's important that we make the most of the situation," he told reporters.

  "With the amount of players that have pulled out, it gives other players an opportunity to be here.

  "We're really looking forward to the game and it's going to be a tough test for us and the focus has been purely on the players that are here.

  "With the amount of pull-outs we've had in the window, historically it's been like that in the past - November has always been a challenging window.

  "But the culture that Gareth [Southgate], Steve [Holland] and the rest of the lads created has made it a really positive environment and the players that are here thoroughly deserve to be here."

  Grealish was one of the first players to withdraw from the squad, having been called up despite not playing for club side Manchester City since 20 October.

  City boss Pep Guardiola questioned England's decision to include Grealish in their squad as he recovers from injury, but Carsley insisted he was justified in doing so.

  "The medical teams are constantly talking throughout squad selection, regardless of whether there are games or not," Carsley said.

  "We are constantly getting updates. The medical departments have brilliant communication between club and country.

  "It was always the case we were going to get the players who were potentially going to miss out in to the assessed. Jack was one of them. He was assessed and sent back and it was as clear as that."

  England trail Group B2 leaders Greece by three points with two rounds of fixtures to play, having lost the reverse fixture 2-1 at Wembley last month.

  The Three Lions have won on all four of their previous trips to face Greece, doing so by an aggregate score of 9-1 - only against Luxembourg (5/5) do they hold a better 100% win rate away from home.

  However, Greece are on the longest active winning run of any European nation in all competitions (five games) and could win six consecutive matches for the first time November 2013.

  Carsley, who will step aside for Thomas Tuchel after next week's home match with Republic of Ireland, said: "We're expecting a tough game against Greece and it’s one we have to win.

  "But we're really looking forward to it, we've had a good week's training, the players are in good spirits and it's going to be a sell out with a great atmosphere.

  "We've had to wait four or five weeks for this, but this next window is so important to us, not just tomorrow but Republic of Ireland as well, so it's a great challenge for us."

• Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big

  Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.

  Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.

  Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.

  Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.

  The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.

  Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.

  The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.

  She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.

  Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.

• 'England comes before anything' – Kane unhappy with Three Lions withdrawals

  Harry Kane has questioned the number of players withdrawing from the latest England squad, insisting the national team "comes before anything". 

  England face Greece and the Republic of Ireland in their final two matches in Nations League Group B2 this week, also their last two games under interim head coach Lee Carsley before Thomas Tuchel takes over in January.

  Eight players have withdrawn from Carsley's squad – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill.

  In an interview with ITV Sport on Wednesday, Three Lions skipper Kane appeared to question the commitment of those dropping out.

  "I think England comes before anything. England comes before club," Kane said.

  "England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn't afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players.

  "It's a shame this week obviously. I think it's a tough period of the season, maybe that's been taken advantage of a little bit.

  "I don't really like it if I'm totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation."

  England likely need to beat Greece – who claimed a 2-1 victory at Wembley Stadium last month – to have any chance of winning automatic promotion back to League A.

  Should the Three Lions finish second, they will face a third-placed finisher from League A – potentially Poland, Belgium, Hungary or Serbia – in a promotion play-off tie in March.