Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa has shown his support to Partick Thistle goalkeeper Ava Easdon after the 17-year-old was at the centre of criticism of the women’s game from Joey Barton.
The former England midfielder, who had a brief and unsuccessful spell in Scottish football with Rangers, highlighted a goal the Light Blues scored against Thistle in Sunday’s Sky Sports Cup final and wrote on X: “I mean let’s just talk about the goalie! How is this nonsense on the box?”
The goalkeeper’s father, seven-time world kickboxing champion Lex Easdon, accused Barton of playing up to his “fan boys” on social media and wrote: “In 2024 and ‘grown’ men feel the need to belittle and bully a 17yr old school kid, who doesn’t get paid to play unlike some men who make the same mistake week after week and get paid hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
As Barton continued to hit back on social media two days after the game, Martinez Losa focused on backing the goalkeeper.
“We have to have a strong opinion on supporting Ava, obviously,” he said. “A young player, who is 17 years old, who is competing excellently this season for her club.
“We are a sport in development and we all have to be aware of that and protect players.
“If we want players like her to develop and play in the national team, we have to create a safe environment where they are going to play and make mistakes. We have to understand that mistakes are a part of the evolution.
“The problem we have now is we accelerating the progress and the evolution so there are other people involved, and we can’t control that.
“I just want to show my support from the head coach position of the national team. I want to show my support to a player who is playing exceptionally. She is very brave to compete in a final.
“She has been put in that position, she is dreaming of being a football player, as are many girls in the country. And, by the way, she is playing very well.”
When asked about Barton’s comments specifically, the Spaniard added: “I can’t control people’s opinion or who says what but I will show my support to Ava.”
The Scotland head coach praised the togetherness of the women’s game after the likes of Scotland and Rangers player Nicola Docherty spoke out in support of Easdon.
Docherty wrote on X: “Couldn’t help but notice the tweets from an older man regarding this great young goalkeeper who is inspiring the next generation. Keep doing what you are doing! If women’s football isn’t for you change the channel, it isn’t hard.”
Martinez Losa said: “The women’s game’s culture is a totally different scenario where we want that togetherness, we want that atmosphere where girls can attend games, families can attend games. That’s the image we want to provide.
“But also internally we have been working so hard to create these safe environments. The only thing we can do is learn from this process and show the support to the player who is involved.”
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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