An upbeat Ian Dawes could hardly contain his delight after seeing his Tranmere side finally record their first win of the season at the third time of asking with a 3-0 victory over Harrogate at Prenton Park.
Goals from Luke Norris, Sam Taylor and Kieron Morris were the difference as Rovers followed-up two disappointing defeats with a much-needed victory.
Dawes said: “The performances over the past three games have been key because if you keep performing the results will come.
“I felt for whoever we were playing tonight as I felt we were going to give someone a hiding in terms of goals.
“It’s still no excuses as you still have to get the wins on the board but we’ve always believed that if the process is right and the performances are there then the results will come.
“Today reminded me of the second half on Saturday, there was a lot more substance to what we did, we were aggressive, came out on the front foot and we deserved to be two goals up at half-time.
“We looked at Saturday’s performance and we had to go with that team again because I thought they were outstanding.
“I thought we managed the game well and we’d get them on the counter sooner or later so the performance overall was outstanding and to get a clean sheet just caps it off.”
Norris rose above a static Town defence to head home a Connor Jennings centre in the 24th minute and just 90 seconds later Tranmere doubled their lead when Taylor raced through a non-existent Harrogate defence before stabbing the ball under Mark Oxley.
The game was put beyond doubt in the 89th minute when Morris fired home to inflict a second straight defeat on Harrogate.
Town boss Simon Weaver said: “I thought we gave the game away in the first half conceding two quick goals and it made it a massive task to get back into the game.
“For large parts of the second half we were the better team to watch and we reacted well to me telling the lads at half-time that we were powder-puff.
“In the second half we played with more determination and anger but we need to do that from the start to get results.
“Of course the two goals we conceded in the first half changed the game and that came about from a lack of discipline.
“You get judged by your results and we’ve had an awful one tonight and maybe 3-0 didn’t tell the whole story of the game tonight.
“You’ve got to take your chances and we had some very good chances to score tonight which we wasted.”
Spalletti willing to switch things up after 'mistakes' in Spain defeat
Luciano Spalletti is aiming to get Italy back to their best against Croatia on Monday after admitting to not getting things right during their defeat to Spain.
Spain secured top spot in Group B after their 1-0 victory over Italy on Thursday, with Riccardo Calafiori's own goal handing La Roja the win in the 55th minute.
Despite the narrow scoreline, Italy struggled to test their counterparts in the final third, managing just four shots in the match, with Unai Simon only having to make one save.
Spalletti had named the same starting line-up from their comeback win over Albania but used all five of his changes by the 64th minute.
The head coach admitted even that was not soon enough for his team, but is confident Italy will bounce back on Monday.
"Of course, after a game like that, there is the notion and the idea to change the team a little bit," Spalletti said.
"I probably made mistakes in not mixing things up quicker in terms of the performance we produced, but I thought it would be a gamble to tweak anything because we saw everything that had been said in recent times.
"Now that we have noticed that there is a bit of fatigue and rust in terms of results, we certainly will change things."
Italy know that a win will confirm second place in the group, while a defeat will either knock them out immediately if Albania beat Spain or leave them waiting to see if they can go through as one of the best third-place teams.
"There are certain matches which ultimately dictate whether it's been a great tale or a tale to forget, so the glory of your tale comes down to matches such as this," Spaelletti added.
"Talk is cheap, you've got to go out there and walk the walk. We said things we weren't able to exhibit against Spain, we need to walk the walk and leave talk to one side."
Albania's Daku banned by UEFA for two games after offensive chanting
UEFA has banned Albania's Mirlind Daku for two games after the forward led supporters in nationalistic chants following Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Croatia at Euro 2024.
Daku grabbed a megaphone before joining in with offensive chants about Serbia and North Macedonia after full-time in Hamburg.
Issues persist at the European Championship in Germany, with chants relating to historic political and ethnic tensions in the Balkans region.
"Daku will be banned for a total of two UEFA representative team competition matches for which he would be otherwise eligible," a statement from European football's governing body said on Sunday.
"[Daku] failed to comply with the general principles of conduct, violated the basic rules of decent conduct, used sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and brought the sport of football into disrepute."
Daku has since apologised for his actions but will miss Monday's game against Spain in Dusseldorf, where Albania could book their place in the knockout stages for the first-ever time with victory.
The Albanian Football Association sent out a statement to issue an "appeal to all Albanian fans to be more responsible and avoid the creation of these totally avoidable incidents and riots".
Albania's football federation has also been fined €47,500 for lighting fireworks, a pitch invasion and transmitting provocative messages not fit for a sports event during the same match.
Meanwhile, Croatia were also penalised for lighting and throwing fireworks during the game, with UEFA issuing a €28,000 fine.
Serbia had already threatened to withdraw from the tournament over the chanting by Croatia and Albania fans at their match before the Serbia FA condemned "shameful racist behaviour" in a separate statement.
France v Poland: Deschamps remains calm despite Les Bleus' struggle for goals
France manager Didier Deschamps says he is "not concerned" with his side's recent struggles in front of goal ahead of their final Euro 2024 group game against Poland on Tuesday.
Les Bleus are all but through to the knockout stages of the European Championships, sitting joint-top of Group D with four points, but need to avoid defeat to ensure progression.
Yet France's only goal at the tournament so far has come courtesy of Maximilian Wober turning into his own net in the opening 1-0 victory over Austria, before a goalless draw with the Netherlands on Friday.
France failed to score with any of their 15 shots in a wasteful display against the Oranje as Deschamps went without Kylian Mbappe, who was only fit enough for the bench due to his broken nose.
Asked about Les Bleus' profligate showings, Deschamps responded: "I am not concerned. It is just the name of the game.
"Sometimes you have countless chances and don't hit the back of the net, and sometimes it is the other way round.
"I would be worried if there were not any chances. Efficiency at high-level football is important, and it is something we can work on.
On Mbappe's fitness, Deschamps added: "Everything is going in the right direction; he is recovering from the shock, there is the haematoma part which will diminish each day, he will get used to his mask, which modifies the vision a little. But he is fine."
Poland became the first side to be eliminated from the tournament following France's draw, after they lost their opening matches to the Netherlands (2-1) and Austria (3-1).
They have faced their own problems without Robert Lewandowski, who missed the start of the tournament due to a hamstring injury before appearing from the bench against Austria.
"We are depressed by this result, but we still have one more game in our group, and we need to put our best foot forward and try to win three points," Lewandowski said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
France – N'Golo Kante
N'Golo Kante was a surprise inclusion in Deschamps' squad for the tournament after a two-year absence from the national side, but his performances so far have earned him the Player of the Match award in their opening two games.
The midfielder has made more major tournament appearances without losing than any other European player, with France unbeaten in all 17 games he has played across the Euros and World Cup (W12 D5).
Poland – Piotr Zielinski
Poland may be out of the tournament but will be desperate to go down fighting, with Piotr Zielinski again expected to be key here.
Zielinski has been directly involved in more shots than any other Poland player at Euro 2024 (11 – seven shots, four chances created), as well as completing the most passes for his side (68) across the first two rounds.
MATCH PREDICTION: FRANCE WIN
This will only be the third meeting between France and Poland in a major tournament, and the first at the Euros. Poland won a third-place play-off match 3-2 at the 1982 World Cup, while France triumphed 3-1 in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup.
Including all competitions, France are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with Poland (W4 D4), since losing a friendly match 4-0 in August 1982.
Les Bleus simply need to avoid defeat to qualify for the knockout stages, and they are unbeaten in their eight games in the group stage at the Euros under Deschamps (W4 D4), with their last such defeat coming on MD 3 versus Sweden at Euro 2012 (2-0), under Laurent Blanc.
Meanwhile, Poland have lost both of their games at Euro 2024 so far but have never previously suffered three defeats in a single group stage at a major tournament.
Poland have lost their final group stage match in three of their four previous appearances at the European Championships, with the exception being a 1-0 win against Ukraine in 2016 – the only time they have reached the knockout rounds of the competition.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
France – 73.9%
Draw – 14.8%
Poland – 11.2%
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