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• England call would be realisation of childhood dream for Spurs’ Ashleigh Neville

  Tottenham full-back Ashleigh Neville will forever be proud of fulfilling one lifelong goal but has not yet given up hope of achieving a dream England call-up.

  It was only four years ago that Neville quit her teaching job in Birmingham to concentrate fully on football after Spurs’ promotion to the Women’s Super League.

  Fast forward to the present and Neville has become one of the division’s most consistent performers, despite playing across numerous positions and amid a rollercoaster period for Tottenham.

  Neville played a key role in Spurs’ fifth-place finish in 2022 but still missed out on Sarina Wiegman’s England squad for the Euros and, while her club battled relegation last season, the 30-year-old’s performances remained excellent.

  Wiegman acknowledged 12 months ago that Neville was doing a “really good job”, but the emergence of Chelsea’s Niamh Charles alongside system tweaks and forward Rachel Daly being used as a makeshift left-back has meant she remains uncapped.

  Nevertheless, Neville is full of pride at being in her fifth season as a full-time professional and relishing life under new Tottenham boss Robert Vilahamn.

  “I always wanted to play for England,” Neville told the PA news agency ahead of next week’s north London derby with Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

  “That was kind of my dream when I was a kid, but I never thought I would play professional football when I was a young girl because it wasn’t possible back then.

  “I am obviously proud of where I have come from and where I’m at.

  “Since Robert’s come in, it has probably been the most consistent I have been as a player looking back at stats and games.

  “If that call-up comes, it comes, and it would be nice to play for my country, but we have a great team so I can’t really fault the (England) girls for what they do.

  “I am just happy at Spurs and that’s where my head and focus is at, but if that call comes then great.”

  Neville impressed during Tottenham’s battle to stay in the WSL last season, scoring three times and providing two assists while playing in both full-back positions or further forward under ex-boss Rehanne Skinner.

  Vilahamn’s arrival this summer has resulted in a shift of philosophy, with Spurs eager to dominate possession and attack at every opportunity.

  It helped Vilahamn make a flying start, but sixth-placed Tottenham suffered a chastening second defeat of the season before the international break when they went down 7-0 at Manchester City.

  Neville said: “We spoke at the end of the game and a few people were disheartened, which I understand because no one likes losing and especially not when it’s 7-0, but I said in the huddle this won’t define our season.

  “It is one game out of the eight we’ve played and we’ve had a really good start. We can’t sit on it. We have to park it and move on and that’s what the girls are ready to do.”

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  Life does not get any easier for Spurs with Manchester United coming up at home on Sunday before two fixtures with Arsenal next week.

  The second date with Arsenal on Saturday, December 16 will take place at the men’s 62,850-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

  “When I first came here, this match wasn’t necessarily a big thing for the women’s team,” Neville reflected.

  “I think we have come a long way since then.

  “I can remember the first game we played with Arsenal (in 2019), we lost 10-0 and then the season before last we got a draw and had a close game.

  “So it will be a really good game and I love the north London derby. They are a battle, but I am all about putting in a big tackle and playing in front of a big crowd so it’s great for the game.

  “All the girls believe. People say we’re the underdogs, but I don’t look at us like that. We are just as good as Arsenal.”

• Scott McTominay says Manchester United must maintain standards of Chelsea win

  Scott McTominay says Manchester United are focused on consistency rather than their current place in the pecking order after Erik ten Hag’s under-fire side moved within three points of Manchester City.

  This has been a challenging, and at times chastening, second season in the hotseat for the Dutchman, who won the Carabao Cup and finished third in the Premier League during a promising first campaign.

  United also lost the FA Cup final to a City side that went on to match their neighbours’ historic 1999 treble triumph by lifting the Champions League trophy after beating Inter Milan.

  Last season’s dominance and October’s 3-0 Old Trafford loss to Pep Guardiola’s men highlighted the gap in quality, yet the stumbling Red Devils are now within touching distance of their rivals.

   

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  City fell to a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa as United bounced back from the lifeless loss to Newcastle by beating Chelsea 2-1 thanks to McTominay’s brace, moving them within three points of their fourth-placed neighbours.

   

  When that was pointed out to the matchwinner, along with the bunched-up standings, McTominay said: “We barely pay attention to that in terms of we just concentrate on how we’re playing and if the style of football that we’re playing is how the manager wants.

  “In games like tonight it was and against Newcastle it wasn’t, so we have to find that balance between us where we try and do that every single week.

  “I felt like that was a game where we had to come out and show to the fans that we have full focus on this game, we want to play well and give a reaction.

  “It has to be like that every week, though, which is something that (when) I was in the dressing room… there was players speaking about it.

  “(It) can’t just be one game where we need to show a reaction. It has to come out and show that every week.”

  McTominay said he was grateful to the United fans for “sticking with us throughout anything that goes on at this football club” after another difficult few days.

  Reports over some player unhappiness with Ten Hag emerged after the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle, which the Scotland international knows saw them fall well short of what is required.

  “We know the fans are extremely demanding and so are we as players, so that’s what we expect,” the six-goal midfielder told MUTV.

  “Going back to the game against Newcastle, we know that was nowhere near good enough and that’s still stinging us.

  “We can’t have them anomalies where we go somewhere and we don’t play as well as what we can, and maybe not show as much fight as what we could as well.

  “But tonight is a building block and something that we can take step by step without getting too carried away.”

   

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  United now refocus on Saturday’s home match against Bournemouth, with stuttering Chelsea heading to Everton the following day.

   

  Mauricio Pochettino’s men were second best for large parts at Old Trafford but could have scored more than Cole Palmer’s intelligent equaliser.

  Chelsea captain Reece James, who came off the bench at half-time, said: “We go out there wanting to win but it’s still a young squad and we are learning game by game.

  “At the moment it’s quite tough, but we know we have the capabilities to win every game.

  “We need to go back to the drawing board and review the game, and then prepare for Everton. We need to prepare right and start climbing the table.”

• I don’t think like that – Steve Cooper brushes off pressure on his job

  Steve Cooper dismissed fears about losing his job as pressure mounts on the Nottingham Forest boss.

  Forest were hammered 5-0 at Fulham on Wednesday – a fourth straight Premier League defeat – which left them six points above the drop zone.

  The former Swansea manager accepts his position will be under scrutiny – with former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui thought to be a serious contender if he leaves – but ahead of Saturday’s trip to Molineux Cooper insisted he cannot consider the sack.

  He said: “I don’t think like that. That is not a good way to think, it is like saying to a player ‘you have to play well or you will not play again’ – it is not a thought process I believe in using.

  “We are disappointed with results and last night’s performance. More than ever you have to show belief and character and what you stand for.

  “There are going to be questions and stories, I respect that as it is the life of a football manager.

  “At the same time you have to stay honed in on your day’s work and if I let anything else creep in I am not giving 100 per cent to the job and that is what I want to do.”

  Cooper, who took Forest back to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years in 2022, said after the hammering at Craven Cottage that he did not deserve the backing from the fans he received as he left the pitch.

  He he also refused to blame his players for their showing on Wednesday after doubles from Alex Iwobi, Raul Jimenez and a Tom Cairney strike sunk the visitors.

  Cooper told a press conference: “I would never split myself from the players. We are a collective, it’s not about me getting let down, it’s the supporters who were let down by all of us – and that starts with me.”