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• Lawrence Shankland earns Scotland call ahead of June double-header

  Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland and his Hibernian counterpart Kevin Nisbet have both been included in the Scotland squad for the next month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Georgia.

  The Edinburgh-based pair take the places of Stoke’s Jacob Brown, who missed the end of the Championship season with a hamstring issue, and Southampton forward Che Adams, who recently suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury he sustained in Scotland’s win over Cyprus.

  Shankland, who previously made four appearances in 2019 and 2020, was called back into the fold for the Spain game in March and he has kept his place at the end of a season in which he has scored 28 goals for Hearts.

  Nisbet, who won all of his 10 caps in 2021, is recalled for the first time since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in February 2022. The 26-year-old has scored 12 goals for Hibs since returning to action in December.

  Rangers defender John Souttar is recalled after missing much of the season through injury. The 26-year-old, who has not played for the national team since last summer’s Nations League defeat in Ireland, takes the place of Norwich City centre-back Grant Hanley, who has been sidelined with an Achilles problem since early April.

  Blackburn centre-back Dom Hyam has retained his place after earning a late call-up for the last camp in March, while Steve Clarke has opted for consistency in the goalkeeping department with Angus Gunn, Zander Clark and Liam Kelly again called up in the absence of Craig Gordon, who remains sidelined as he tries to fight back from a double leg-break sustained on Christmas Eve.

  Scotland, who are top of Group A with two wins from their two games so far, face Norway in Oslo on Saturday, June 17 before welcoming Georgia to Hampden three days later.

• Leeds squad not good enough to stay in Premier League – Sam Allardyce

  Leeds manager Sam Allardyce said the club’s players had not been good enough after Sunday’s 4-1 home defeat to Tottenham sealed Premier League relegation.

  Allardyce had been Leeds’ last throw of the dice with four games remaining, but after three defeats and a draw the 68-year-old was unable to mask the club’s systemic failings and save them.

  He said: “Most of it comes down to how good are your players? These players have tried very hard while I’ve been here and I can’t fault their effort.

  “But as a squad, they haven’t been good enough by the fact that they’re in the bottom three in the Premier League.

  “I would have hoped I could have got a little bit more out of them, so I take responsibility for that.

  “But it’s a tough old world when things start failing and when they start failing and confidence starts going then it’s very difficult to claw it back and we’ve been unable to do that.”

  Leeds’ three-year stay in the top flight is over and Allardyce made it clear poor player recruitment had been the biggest factor in their demise.

  “General recruitment is the number one factor for any manager or any coach or any head coach or any club to be successful,” he said.

  “Without top-level recruitment, a manager and a coach and the staff are only as good as the players they have available and their ability.

  “Actual quality is all about recruitment because better players and more intelligent players make you a better coach, make everybody at the club better, make it a happy club going forward.”

  Leeds’ ultra-slim hopes of avoiding the drop on the final day appeared dashed in the only the second minute against Tottenham when Harry Kane fired the visitors into an early lead.

  The Elland Road faithful responded with raucous defiance and that quickly turned to anger as they vented their fury at the Leeds board.

  Leeds wasted several first-half chances and were duly punished – as they have been all season – when Pedro Porro put Tottenham 2-0 up with a brilliant angled finish two minutes into the second half.

  Jack Harrison reduced the deficit, only for Kane to curl home his 30th league goal of the season two minutes later.

  Tottenham substitute Lucas Moura then compounded Leeds’ misery when he waltzed through to add a fourth in stoppage time.

  Leeds fans chanted ‘sack the board’ and called on chairman Andrea Radrizzani to sell his majority stake in the club to American co-owners 49ers Enterprises.

  The financial arm of NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers holds a 44 per cent stake with a deal in place to buy the remaining shares before January 2024.

  But that was contingent on Leeds being in the top flight and relegation has muddied the waters.

  Allardyce urged the club to quickly resolve their ownership issue, but it remains to be seen who will be in control as they bid to bounce straight back from the Sky Bet Championship.

  “I haven’t said I’m staying yet so there’s a lot of discussion that needs (to be had) both ways on what’s going to happen,” Allardyce added.

  “Whether that’s me or whoever that might be if it’s not me. I’m not committing myself to say I am or not staying just yet.”

• Sir Elton John sends well-wishes as Jeff Stelling signs off from Soccer Saturday

  Jeff Stelling revealed singer Sir Elton John was among his well-wishers this week as the presenter signed off from the “best job that anybody could possibly have wished for” at Soccer Saturday.

  Stelling announced last month his intention to stand down as anchor of the Sky Sports programme after almost 30 years and earmarked the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday as his last show.

  In the days leading up to his swansong, Stelling divulged he had messages of support from the likes of Gordon Strachan and Neil Warnock, plus a phone call from John, former chairman and director of Watford.

  Stelling, an unapologetic Hartlepool fan who frequently celebrated their goals on Soccer Saturday, said: “Somebody asked me the other day if I’d ever been starstruck and yeah, I was starstruck when Elton John rang me at home to say ‘Thank you very much for all you’ve done’.

  “He said ‘Every week I watch the show and every week you tell me Watford are losing and every week you tell me Hartlepool are losing so I feel like we’re kindred spirits’. There’s something in that, isn’t there?”

  After touching tributes from colleagues past and present in a video montage, Stelling was given a standing ovation by the punditry panel of Paul Merson, Clinton Morrison, Kris Boyd and Michael Dawson.

  Stelling, who had planned to quit last year before reversing that decision, briefly hid his emotions with a mask of himself and quipped: “This is tricky because I’ve changed my mind – just kidding.

  “I haven’t changed my mind this time.”

  Stelling was clearly moved by the highlights package Sky televised in the final minutes of the show after Everton retained their top-flight status and confirmed the relegations of Leeds and Leicester.

  Merson, Alan Mullery, Frank McLintock, Clive Allen, Charlie Nicholas, Phil Thompson and Matt Le Tissier passed on their congratulations, as did Chris Kamara, who in a nod to the catchphrase that has become synonymous with the pair and the show, said: “You are unbelievable, Jeff!”

  Stelling looked back fondly on his 30-plus years with Sky, in which he not only covered football but live snooker, darts, greyhound racing, pool and thanked everyone with whom he had worked.

  In his farewell monologue, he added: “It’s been the best job that anybody could possibly have wished for. My wife takes great pleasure in saying ‘You are the luckiest man ever to take a breath’ and you know what? I don’t tell her this often but she’s right.

  “The principle success of Soccer Saturday is you lot at home, who have given us unswerving support – both for the programme and for me personally.

  “So that’s it. Soccer Saturday will be back next season. I’ll be watching – when Hartlepool are not playing. From me, goodbye.”