Salford assistant manager Alex Bruce admitted his ears were left ringing by Karl Robinson during their 2-1 victory over Notts County.
The Ammies manager was sitting in the stands with director of football Ryan Giggs and Bruce’s dad, Steve, as he served a one-match touchline suspension at Meadow Lane.
“My ears are ringing, I have to say,” Bruce explained at full-time on how he communicated with Robinson in the stands. “I had a headpiece in and my brain is absolutely frazzled!”
Conor McAleny’s goals either side of half-time were enough to secure all three points for the visitors, having seen Dan Crowley’s strike peg them back nine minutes after the restart.
It moves Salford 14 points clear of the bottom two with six games of their season remaining, with Bruce hopeful their win over the Magpies can be used for next campaign.
“When you get to this stage of the season, you always want to have something to play for but I believe in sport. It is all about momentum and we want to win as many games as we can,” he said.
“We want to take that into next season and hit the ground running with how we need to go on.”
For County boss Stuart Maynard, it is the fifth straight home defeat since arriving at Meadow Lane in January, with the Magpies failing to win in front of their home supporters this term.
Maynard believed his side were the better team for the entirety of the contest, but described the way in which his side conceded the late winner as ‘schoolboy’ in his post-match assessment.
“I thought we were the better team in the first half,” Maynard explained.
“We had to tactically change it so we could get through the first phase quicker. I thought we created the big moments within the game, but to concede a goal like we did at the end is kind of schoolboy football.
“We shouldn’t lose that game, that’s a game that we should come away from not losing rather than now, we have dropped another three points that we didn’t need to drop.”
A win over Bradford in midweek reignited their faint play-off hopes despite their recent wretched form, but the defeat seems to have extinguished those aspirations almost instantly.
Maynard’s side are currently eight points away from the top seven ahead of the Easter weekend fixtures, but the Magpies boss insisted that until it is mathematically impossible to reach the play-offs, he will still believe.
“We keep going one game at a time, and while it is still mathematically there for us we have to keep fighting and keep trying to pick up as many points as we can,” he said.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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