Wayne Rooney admitted “it’s great to be back in English football” despite suffering a 1-0 defeat in his first match as Birmingham’s new boss at Middlesbrough.
The former Manchester United and England striker was left frustrated against ex-team-mate Michael Carrick’s Boro when Morgan Rogers flicked in an 89th-minute winner at the Riverside.
Rooney, who turns 38 on Tuesday, took over from John Eustace during the international break.
It was a day of emotion and reflection for both Rooney and Carrick as they heard the news of Sir Bobby Charlton’s death at half-time, with both sets of fans then chanting the World Cup winner’s name before the restart.
Both Rooney and Carrick had spent time with Charlton during their Old Trafford careers.
Middlesbrough had controlled the first half and wasted numerous opportunities, the best of which was when striker Josh Coburn was played in and fired wide, having earlier headed over the bar too.
But when Rogers, only 13 minutes after emerging as a substitute, arrived at the front post to turn in Matt Crooks’ low return pass, there was no way back for Birmingham – meaning defeat for Rooney in his first game.
Rooney, whose side have slipped to seventh after a fourth straight defeat on the road, said: “I have been quite calm. You always have a feeling before the game as player or manager, which is normal, but I was quite calm. I know what I want.
“I know where we need to get to. I knew this was a possibility today, but it will take time to get where we want to go.
“We might have to go through days like this and it is important we stay calm to ensure we hit the goals we really want to.
“You never enjoy when you lose, but it is great to be back in English football, great to be at Birmingham. Thankfully we have another game Wednesday.
He added: “There were parts of the game we wanted to take the ball more, but ultimately you don’t always get what you want in football. It is decision-making and game management.
“Even after Middlesbrough scored there were different moments in the game were our game management has to be better. That is what frustrated me in the last eight minutes.
“But we are a team trying to adapt to a different way and that will take time. During that period we do have to pick up points.”
Given Rooney and Carrick’s Old Trafford connections, it was ironic that it was Rogers, a former Manchester City player, who scored the winner.
The 21-year-old has scored twice in the league cup since his summer arrival from the Etihad, but this was his first goal in the Championship – and one that secured a fifth straight win for Middlesbrough.
Carrick, whose side moved a point behind seventh-placed Birmingham, said: “It was a big goal for all of us – a big goal to win a game.
“I’m really pleased for Morgan, he came on to make an impact. Goals like that can give you a massive boost and I am sure he will have an impact for the rest of the season.
“We did enough to win the game because we had enough chances, and those chances we could have scored from, they were good ones.
“I couldn’t fault the boys. It is tough when you go into a game like this because we didn’t really know
what we were going into, there wasn’t much we had to go on (after Rooney’s arrival).
“But I’m really pleased about the impact from the boys off the bench. They have all come off and made an impact in different ways.
“You never know if a goal is going to come, but you have to keep doing the right things and freshen up to try to create a spark. In the end the boys found a way to score.”
Chelsea quartet left at home as Bompastor rotates squad for Celtic clash
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said that they will be without four key players ahead of their Champions League game away to Celtic on Wednesday.
Bompastor confirmed that Millie Bright, Mayra Ramirez, Sjoeke Nusken and Kadeisha Buchanan have not travelled to Scotland for their encounter at Celtic Park.
The Blues know a victory will seal their progression to the knockout stages, though have decided to rest a few of their key players during a hectic fixture schedule.
Their trip to Scotland will be the second of three matches inside seven days in all competitions for Bompastor's side and, as a result, she has decided to rotate her squad.
"The squad is in a good place and we have a good dynamic and we are full of confidence," she told a press conference
"We have been playing a lot of games and this week we play three games so it’s important to manage players as individuals.
“We have some players who didn’t travel for this game. Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez didn’t travel."
Chelsea come into the game with a 100% record in all competitions under Bompastor, including two wins from two against Real Madrid and Twente in the Champions League.
And they will be confident of maintaining their perfect run, having lost just one of their previous 20 group stage matches in the competition (W14 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 14 (W11 D3).
“As you know, Chelsea have a good squad with quality and a good team will start the game and be competitive because we want to finish first in this group," she said.
Their early-season form has them second in the Women's Super League and top of their Champions League group, at least three points ahead of any other team.
Despite resting players, Bompastor reassured people that it was Chelsea's ambition to fight on all fronts.
“The Champions League is important and we have ambition and we want to make sure we finish first in the group," she said.
“We have ambitions and if we want to go for all the competitions then you need to beat every team.
“It will start again in March and that’s when the really important games start, but right now we are focused on the group stage.”
Campbell gives Sheffield United victory in Steel City derby, Rodriguez strikes late for Burnley
Sheffield United joined leaders Sunderland at the top of the Championship table after a hard-fought 1-0 win against local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Tyrese Campbell latched onto a pass from Callum O'Hare and slotted past Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle for the winner five minutes into the second period.
This was the Blades' sixth consecutive clean sheet at Bramall Lane and their fourth straight win home or away, and sees them go level with Sunderland on 31 points from 15 matches.
Meanwhile, Burnley are four points behind the top two after they snatched a last-gasp 1-0 victory against visitors Swansea City.
Jay Rodriguez's stoppage-time penalty secured the points for the Clarets at Turf Moor, ending their four-match winless run and climbing to fourth in the table.
Leeds close gap on Championship leaders Sunderland
Leeds United closed the gap on Championship leaders Sunderland after Regis Le Bris' side collapsed at home to Coventry City on Saturday.
Daniel Farke's side moved to within two points of Sunderland after coasting to a 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Elland Road.
Jayden Bogle sliced home after 19 minutes for Leeds, who made sure of victory in stoppage time as Joel Piroe came off the bench to score.
There was no such success for Sunderland despite Wilson Isidor and Dennis Cirkin both finding the net in the first half at the Stadium of Light.
Haji Wright pulled one back for Coventry, who dismissed long-term boss Mark Robins this week, just past the hour before Jack Rudoni snatched a 2-2 comeback draw with six minutes remaining.
At the other end of the table, Portsmouth managed just their second victory of the season with a 3-1 triumph over Preston North End at Fratton Park.
Josh Murphy and Connor Ogilvie were both on target in the first half before Colby Bishop's late penalty sealed victory after Emil Riis Jakobsen had reduced the deficit for Paul Heckingbottom's visitors.
Victory moved Portsmouth up to 23rd in the league, two points ahead of bottom side QPR and within three points of safety.
Fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle also gained a point as Adam Randell's 41st-minute strike cancelled out Jerry Yates' early opener for Derby County at Pride Park.
The 1-1 draw leaves Wayne Rooney's side 16th in the table, but just one point clear of the relegation zone, while Derby sit comfortably 12th.
Norwich City dropped down the table in Saturday's other game, suffering their first home defeat in the league in 22 games after a 2-0 reverse against Bristol City at Carrow Road.
Anis Mehmeti and Nakhi Wells scored in either half for Liam Manning's visitors, who moved into 10th with a victory that left them just two points shy of the play-off positions.
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