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• Chiedozie Ogbene setting Premier League pace after studying Usain Bolt

  Chiedozie Ogbene has not just adapted to the pace of the Premier League – he is setting it.

  The Luton winger is the fastest player in the top flight this season having studied Usain Bolt to perfect his style.

  He clocked 36.93kph – 23mph – against Fulham in September and sits ahead of Wolves’ Pedro Neto and Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai.

  On Sunday he faces last season’s top speedster Kyle Walker, who hit 37.31kph, as Luton host Manchester City, although Ogbene’s rise has not always been rapid.

  “I kid you not, when I was younger I wouldn’t win all the races, there were kids a lot faster than me,” the Ireland international tells the PA news agency.

  “Maybe I was the fastest in the school but I wasn’t the fastest in County Cork. Not being the fastest led me to think, why? What are the fastest doing?

  “I used running to work on technique when I went back to Gaelic football or soccer but as I got older I developed a more powerful hunger for running.

  “I’d go to training to learn the mechanics but (athletics) competition wasn’t something for me, unlike my brothers. I don’t actually know what my official 100 metre time was.

  “I was more light on my feet because I weighed less and was naturally skinny. It’s when I got older, when I moved to Brentford, I started putting more muscle on and became quicker, more powerful.

  “I really like track and field and every now and then I like to put on the old Olympics, the 4x100m relays. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched the London 2012 relay final.

  “Bolt is obviously someone I loved, the way he runs, his mechanics, but obviously I’m not six foot five so I don’t try to hyperextend the way he can. I just love the way he is. He’s like a piston.

  “Sprinters advise to run at 90 to 95 per cent, they don’t try to run at 100 per cent. If you get to 100 per cent you stress yourself.

  “The 90 per cent rule it’s called. At 90 per cent you’re telling your brain, ‘I’m relaxed, I’m only looking for 90’ and you end up running quicker because your brain is not chasing a goal.”

  Pace runs in the family as brother Kaodi, a pharmaceutical engineer, has a 100m personal best of 10.8 seconds while other brother Uche, a nurse, is also a sprinter.

  The boys and sisters Nneoma and Chibuzo grew up in Cork after dad Emmanuel chose Ireland over Florida, when he and wife Christina took the family over when Ogbene was eight in 2005, for a job as a nurse.

  His parents had been working in Kuwait but Ogbene was soon playing Gaelic football for Nemo Rangers, before playing for Cork and Limerick and eventually moving to Brentford in 2018.

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  “Dad liked it in Ireland. It was a peaceful country,” he adds. “He wanted a good education system for us, which Ireland was very good for, and he liked his job in Ireland. America would have been a big journey.”

  It means the 26-year-old is the first Nigerian-born player to feature for Ireland, making his debut against Hungary in 2021.

  “Nigeria was if, buts and maybes. It was difficult because my parents are proud Nigerians and I wanted to make them proud but they are as proud of me playing for Ireland,” says Ogbene, now with four goals in 19 games.

  “I went through the system in Ireland, it is my adopted home, and the opportunity was massive.

  “If you want me, I want to be with you. If you give me an opportunity I will never say no. I was also given the opportunity to come to the Premier League and I didn’t want to turn it down.”

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  Ogbene had options in the summer with most of the Championship chasing his signature but opted to sign for the Hatters after four years with Rotherham.

  He has featured in every Premier League game for Rob Edwards this term, scoring in the 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest, and after just 15 top flight appearances has rivals running scared.

  “International football has helped me massively because it would have been a such a big jump,” he said, with Luton two points above the drop zone after Tuesday’s heartbreaking late 4-3 defeat to Arsenal.

  “When I came to the Premier League, I told myself: ‘I’ve competed well against some of the top full backs in international football, I have to be confident’.

  “Being quick is a good trait to have because defenders tend to respect you a bit more, they’re scared you’re going to go in behind.

  “Can I go faster? I hope I will.”

• Crisis? Not for us – Erik ten Hag can see Man Utd progress after Chelsea win

  Erik ten Hag dismissed any talk of Manchester United’s season being in crisis as he stressed “we are going in the right direction” following the 2-1 win over Chelsea.

  United went into the contest at Old Trafford on the back of Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Newcastle, their 10th defeat in all competitions this term.

  After Bruno Fernandes saw an early penalty saved by Robert Sanchez, a Scott McTominay brace, either side of Cole Palmer’s equaliser, secured United a victory that took them up to sixth in the Premier League table, three points behind fourth-placed defending champions Manchester City.

  When asked at his post-match press conference what that said to him about a season that has felt like it has been in crisis, United boss Ten Hag said: “Crisis? Not for us.

  “We keep calm, look at the process where we know where we have to build. We are going in the right direction.

  “We don’t get distracted (by) criticism around us, but we are very critical on ourselves. We are not quickly satisfied and happy, we always want to do better. We have to improve a lot if we want to be successful – but this team is capable of being successful.”

  There had been some reports ahead of the game that Ten Hag had lost the confidence of some of his players.

  That led to United banning four media outlets for Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, with the club saying the action was taken for not “contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise.”

  Ten Hag added: “Last week we played three games (a 3-0 win at Everton, 3-3 draw at Galatasaray and the Newcastle match). Two times we played good, and then one bad performance.

  “But you see this team is in a good direction. I know sometimes you have a bad performance, but then still, you can get a result. That is the next step we have to make.

  “But you see how we play, the style, so dominating the opponent, in and out of possession. That is the way I want to play. I was very pleased, it was very enjoyable how the team played.”

• We are not contenders – Aston Villa boss Unai Emery not getting carried away

  Unai Emery insisted it was too soon to call his Aston Villa side Premier League title contenders after a 1-0 win over Manchester City lifted them above the defending champions and into third place.

  Leon Bailey’s deflected strike in the 74th minute proved to be the winner as Villa equalled a club record with a 14th consecutive home victory.

  Pep Guardiola said Villa could “definitely” be among those still in the fight come the end of the season but Emery insisted they still have much work to do to catch up with the likes of City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

  “We are not contenders,” he said.

  “There are seven teams who are contenders more than us. Now we are on game 15. We are going to play game 16 on Saturday against Arsenal and we are going to focus on it. We are happy to be third but to keep it is going to be very, very difficult.

  “While we are there we are going to try to keep it. If we keep progressing during the season, playing matches and winning like we are doing maybe we can be a contender but I think we need more time.

  “We can believe but we are not contenders. There are another seven teams and that didn’t change. It is game 15. Maybe by game 30 or 32, but not yet.”

  The win gave Emery his first over Guardiola as a rival coach at the 14th attempt, 15 years to the day since they first came up against one another.

  “Always I like to prepare matches against the best teams, the best players and the best coaches,” Emery said.

  “When you are playing in a high level the opponents are of a high level. But beating him for me is not something special. It is really a process I am doing as a coach.”

  Defeat left City winless in their last four league matches, down in fourth place and six points off the pace of leaders Arsenal.

  Guardiola said the credit belonged to Villa on the night but admitted he had much to think about to get their title defence back on track.

  “The better team won,” Guardiola said.

  “Aston Villa was better than us. We struggled. It was really difficult. They are well organised, fast and physical players, they are able to control many aspects. That is the reason why they are up there. They played good football and we could not do it.

  “It is my duty, it is my job to find a way to come back. Many years now we are together we found a way, we are able to find a way to win games, to find a way to do it.

  “Now that we are struggling we have to change the dynamic, win as soon as possible, Luton, Crystal Palace, to change our mind and continue to win there.”

  The absence of the suspended Rodri was again telling. This was the fourth match of the season the Spain midfielder has missed through a ban – and City have lost all four.

  While there are other key players out – Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and of course Kevin De Bruyne – City’s reliance on their midfield holder is obvious.

  “Without Rodri we could not win against Liverpool and Spurs, of course Rodri is so important but when Rodri is not there we have to find a way to do it,” Guardiola said.

  “Today is simple, the better team won, you have to accept it. In football it happens. I said (to the players), ‘I know you tried, I know you want it, you have proven it to me many many times’.

  “Now the results are not good, that’s why I have to see the games, reflect, and see how we try to do it.”