Andy Cook scored a hat-trick as he spearheaded Bradford to a first away win of the season with a 4-1 victory at Newport.
The 32-year-old striker, whose 31 goals last season enabled the Yorkshiremen to reach the play-offs, had not scored in his previous six outings this season, but grabbed two in the first half and then bagged his hat-trick in stoppage time.
It was a win that moved Mark Hughes’ side into the top half of the table and to within three points of the play-off places after an indifferent start.
For hapless County, it was a first home defeat in the league and they were lucky they only conceded four goals. Nick Townsend was forced into a number of key saves in a first half that was totally dominated by the visitors.
As Bradford poured forward the County defence looked more like a colander than a proper defensive unit. They could simply find no answer to the raids of Rayhaan Tulloch on the right and his partner in crime, Clark Oduor, on the left.
Cook headed home a Tulloch cross to the far post to take the lead in the 14th minute and Tulloch’s simple tap-in doubled the lead after 26 minutes before Cook added a second three minutes later.
A moment of magic from Omar Bogle threw the home side a lifeline in the 35th minute when he latched on to a through ball, skipped around the goalkeeper and tapped home his third goal in four games.
County could not make the most of it though as Cook completed his hat-trick with a header in added time to round things off nicely for the visitors.
Germany give surprise maiden call up to Ortega
Julian Nagelsmann has handed a maiden Germany call-up to goalkeeper Stefan Ortega in his squad for the upcoming Nations League games.
The 32-year-old has only made four appearances for Manchester City this season, two in the Champions League and two in the EFL Cup, and was a surprise inclusion in the squad.
Ortega, who joined City in 2022, is the second-choice goalkeeper behind Ederson but received plaudits after filling in at the end of last season when the Brazilian suffered an eye injury.
There is also a return for Borussia Dortmund's Felix Nmecha, who is called up for the first time since September 2023. He has scored two goals and registered two assists in 14 appearances in all competitions this season.
Kai Havertz is also in the squad, having pulled out of their games in the October international break due to a knee injury.
Germany have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Nations League, having collected 10 points from their opening four games.
Nagelsmann is not ready to ease up on the pressure when they face Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary, with the first of those matches on November 16.
"After making sure of a spot in the quarter-finals, we now want to seal top spot in the group," said Nagelsmann.
"Reaching the Nations League final four next year is an important milestone on our way to the 2026 World Cup."
Germany squad in full:
Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart), Stefan Ortega (Manchester City), Robin Gosens (Fiorentina), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Borussia Dortmund), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Monchengladbach), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart).
Harwood-Bellis and Hall included in Carsley's final England squad
England interim boss Lee Carsley has named the final Three Lions squad of his tenure before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins at the start of next year.
Carsley handed first senior call-ups to Southampton's Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle's Lewis Hall for their Nations League fixtures against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
Harwood-Bellis has played in all the Saints' Premier League fixtures so far this season, and is someone Carsley knows well.
The defender made 21 appearances under Carsley with England's Under-21's side, more than any other player during his time in charge.
Hall has also been in fine form. His 11 successful crosses and 15 chances created are totals only bettered by Anthony Gordon (15 and 20) in the Premier League for Newcastle.
The only other uncapped player in the squad is Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, while there is no place for Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers.
Cole Palmer has also been handed a place in the 26-man squad despite missing Chelsea training this week after picking up a knock against Manchester United at the weekend.
Kobbie Mainoo misses out through injury along with Manchester City's John Stones. Nick Pope was also dropped from the squad, with Aaron Ramsdale coming in.
England face Group B2 leaders Greece in Athens on November 14 before rounding off their Nations League campaign at Wembley against Ireland three days later.
England squad in full:
Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton); Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton); Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Curtis Jones (Liverpool); Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham).
Mbappe left out of France squad as 'one-off'
Kylian Mbappe has been left out of France's squad for their upcoming Nations League matches, with Didier Deschamps saying it is a "one-off decision".
Mbappe played the full 90 minutes in Real Madrid's 3-1 defeat to Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Deschamps did not say if the forward was injured.
The France captain also missed Les Bleus' last two matches, being rested despite his return to fitness in time for the October international break, with Mbappe coming under scrutiny for his absence.
The 25-year-old has struggled for form as of late, and although he has scored eight goals in 15 appearances since joining Madrid, he has hit the back of the net just once in his last six outings.
"I've had discussions with him, it is a decision that I took for this block of matches only," Deschamps told a press conference on Thursday. "Kylian wanted to come."
Meanwhile, Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier has received his first call-up, replacing Alphonse Areola in the squad. There are also recalls for Adrien Rabiot and N'Golo Kante as the injured Aurelien Tchouameni misses out.
France face Israel in the first of their two games on November 14 before finishing their Nations League Group A2 campaign against Italy three days later.
France squad in full:
Lucas Chevalier (Lille), Mike Maignan (Milan), Brice Samba (Lens), Jonathan Clauss (Nice), Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea), Theo Hernandez (Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Matteo Guendouzi (Lazio), N'Golo Kante (Al-Ittihad), Manu Kone (Roma), Adrien Rabiot (Marseille), Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG), Bradley Barcola (PSG), Randal Kolo Muani (PSG), Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Marcus Thuram (Inter).
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