Sam Allardyce refused to criticise Patrick Bamford after the Leeds striker’s saved penalty proved costly in Saturday’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Newcastle.

Bamford had the chance to atone for his glaring miss in last month’s home draw against Leicester and put relegation battlers Leeds 2-0 up at Elland Road.

Luke Ayling had given Allardyce’s side an early lead, but after Joelinton had hauled down Junior Firpo, Bamford’s weak spot-kick was comfortably saved by Nick Pope.

Allardyce said: “I thought he was good today. He held the ball up, he caused a few problems. He got the cross in for the (opening) goal. We were doing OK with him.

“Hopefully, like everybody needs to do when it gets a little bit better next week and better again, he scores goals when he gets a chance.

“We need goal-scorers on the pitch and also, we’ve not got that many.”

Four minutes after Bamford’s effort, Callum Wilson converted the first of his two penalties following Max Wober’s reckless challenge on Alexander Isak.

Wilson then struck his 17th league goal of the season from the spot early in the second half after VAR had referred referee Simon Hooper to the pitch-side monitor to check Firpo’s handball.

Rasmus Kristensen’s 79th-minute equaliser rescued a point for Leeds, but some fans were left angry that Bamford, low on confidence, had taken the penalty instead of leading goalscorer Rodrigo.

Allardyce added: “Well, I left it how it used to be like before I got here. I mean, I haven’t seen them take many penalties.

“It is what it is. I would have thought if Rodrigo really wanted it he’d have gone and snatched it off Patrick and said ‘I’m taking this’.

“So you miss it, it can happen to anybody. It happened to us today, but at the worst possible time. And that’s very unfortunate for us.”

Newcastle’s point ensured them a top-six finish and they remain on course for Champions League football next season with back-to-back home games against Brighton and Leicester to come before a last-day visit to Chelsea.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe said: “We can wait a few more days if we achieve it. It is the toughest league in the world and we knew how difficult it would be today.”

Nerves frayed on and off the pitch in a highly-charged clash at Elland Road. Firpo was sent off in the closing stages after his lunge on Anthony Gordon earned him a second yellow card.

And before the subsequent free-kick was taken a Leeds fan leapt from the crowd to confront Howe before being dragged clear by match stewards.

“I’m struggling to make sense of it all,” Howe added. “We hadn’t created clear-cut chances. I thought we played well at times without hitting our best form and we were rushed around the box.”

Leeds issued a statement shortly after the match to confirm the fan who confronted Howe had been arrested and issued with a lifetime ban.

West Yorkshire Police added in a statement on Sunday: “Police have charged a man with assault and entering the field of play following an incident at Elland Road football stadium during the Leeds United versus Newcastle United football match yesterday.  The man has been bailed to appear before magistrates on July 21.”

Chelsea are in talks with Mauricio Pochettino to take over as manager at the end of the season, the PA news agency understands.

A deal has yet to be signed but Pochettino is closing in on his first role since leaving Paris St Germain in July, succeeding interim head coach Frank Lampard.

Chelsea have three Premier League fixtures remaining – against Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle – and want their new boss in place once the campaign is over.

The Blues have endured a disappointing season and sit in 11th place having managed just 11 wins in 35 league games.

Graham Potter was sacked in April and while Julian Nagelsmann was the initial favourite to replace him, Chelsea turned to Lampard to see out the rest of the season in his second spell as manager.

Potter was jettisoned just seven months into a five-year contract but the club has also struggled under Lampard, who at one stage oversaw a six-game losing run in all competitions.

Former Argentina international Pochettino enjoyed a popular five-year spell as Tottenham manager, guiding Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019.

If – as expected – he is appointed by Chelsea, the 51-year-old will inherit an expensively assembled but under-performing squad who will not be competing in Europe next season.

Christian Eriksen was pleased by the way Manchester United dealt with the “extra pressure” and bounced back from the back-to-back defeats that jeopardised their top-four ambitions.

This has been a promising first season under Erik ten Hag, who has won the Carabao Cup and taken the Red Devils to June’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

United have also improved markedly on last year’s Premier League performances and have long looked set to secure a return to Champions League football.

Back-to-back defeats at Brighton and West Ham allowed Liverpool to close the gap, but Ten Hag’s men got back to winning ways by triumphing 2-0 against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.

“Of course, when you lose two games the extra pressure is on,” midfielder Eriksen said.

“But we have shown the character and the quality to be where we are.

“We’re just going to focus on us. For us, it has to be three wins in the last three games.”

United travel to Bournemouth next weekend, before finishing the league campaign with home matches against Chelsea and Fulham.

Ten Hag’s men have won 25 matches at Old Trafford in all competitions and could match the club record 27 home triumphs in a single campaign.

“It’s definitely something that we need to first of all finish the season strong with a perfect home record,” Eriksen told MUTV.

“But, in the end, of course, for next season we need to be as good at home, but also away and then it’s going to be a fun season.

“We know where we can pick up extra points because at home at the moment we’re feeling very, very secure.”

United never looked in danger against Wolves, with Anthony Martial finally opening the scoring from a smart Antony pass.

It looked to be the winning goal until Alejandro Garnacho struck in stoppage time as the substitute returned from a two-month injury lay-off with a bang.

“It’s very good (to have him back),” Eriksen said of the teenager.

“You can see the quality he will bring back and the confidence of how he’s playing.

“I’m pleased for him. To be out for a while and then come back and score, it’s the perfect return.”

Wolves failed to muster a shot on target at Old Trafford and are now looking to end the season on a high as Julen Lopetegui’s men round things off at home to Everton and at Arsenal.

Skipper Ruben Neves said: “We’re going game by game. We want to have as many points as we can in the Premier League. That’s our main goal.

“We’re playing at Old Trafford which is big motivation.

“It doesn’t matter the table, it doesn’t matter the points and just playing here is fantastic for us as players, it’s a dream to play in these kinds of pitches, so we just want to get as many points as we can until the end of the season.

“We have two games to go and next week is our last game at home so we will do everything to get the three points with the atmosphere being fantastic at home.

“Our fans in here today were fantastic again, so we will try to get as many points as we can for them as well.”

The Leeds fan who confronted Newcastle manager Eddie Howe late in Saturday’s 2-2 Premier League draw has been charged with assault by West Yorkshire Police.

Leeds have banned the supporter for life after he climbed out of the stands at Elland Road and entered the technical area where the altercation with Howe took place, before he was quickly led away.

West Yorkshire Police have confirmed that the man has been charged with assault and will appear before magistrates in July.

A statement from the force read: “Police have charged a man with assault and entering the field of play following an incident at Elland Road football stadium during the Leeds United versus Newcastle United football match yesterday.

“The man has been bailed to appear before magistrates on 21 July.”

While Howe said he was unhurt during the incident, he views it as a wake-up call for the game.

“I actually can’t remember whether he pushed me or not, I’ve got no idea. It’s such a strange thing because you’re concentrating on the game and you don’t expect it to happen,” Howe said.

“He confronted me, said something that I can’t repeat and was then led away. I’m OK.

“I don’t know if I had time to be fearful because it was over in a flash but it certainly makes you think ‘what if?’.

“No one should have to face that, playing a sport we love and trying to entertain the country, no one should feel like their own personal safety is violated. It is something for us to reflect on.”

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes believes his players are ready to home in on preserving their Premiership status.

Saturday’s 2-0 win over Livingston at Rugby Park lifted Kilmarnock out of the relegation zone and maintained their impressive form on their own pitch.

They have collected 29 of their 34 points so far this season from home fixtures. With two of their three remaining games at Rugby Park, starting against St Johnstone next Saturday, their fate is firmly in their own hands.

“The confidence we feel at home is clear to see,” said McInnes. “We have now beaten every team in the league apart from the Old Firm at Rugby Park this season.

“We now have to focus on the next two home games. We don’t want to play the situation, we want to play the games.”

After a nervy first half, Kilmarnock took the lead through Kyle Vassell’s 48th-minute strike before Danny Armstrong’s penalty sealed the points.

“If I get a 90-minute performance of what we produced in the second half against Livingston, we’ll be fine,” added McInnes. “I’m pretty sure of that. But a 90-minute performance of the first half won’t get the job done.

“In the first half, we were too pumped up and rushed everything. Half-time couldn’t come quickly enough.

“I didn’t think we were terrible, we still had the best chance of the first half. But there were poor decisions and sloppy clearances, we looked agitated.

“We had a good chat at half-time – no ranting or raving, just a reminder that we are better than we were showing.

“The players deserve all the credit. Knowing how much is at stake, they dealt with it in the second half. I’m sure they will deal with it going forward and it’s important we take that into the remaining games.”

Livingston manager David Martindale has urged his players to get back to basics after a fifth defeat in the last six games saw them slip to eighth place in the table.

“Right now, there are certain individuals within the group who are not doing their jobs properly,” said Martindale.

“The foundations of Livingston are built on people doing the basics right. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it’s my job to find the solution and I will find the solution. I will take that on the chin.

“There is an element within the group with boys who are not going to be here next season for different reasons and they know they are safe in terms of relegation.

“But in the last two or three games, the opposition have shown more desire to do the basics of football better than we are doing.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can close the gap to Manchester City next season.

Wild inconsistencies in results – beating Manchester United 7-0 and Bournemouth 9-0 but losing to struggling Leeds, their only home defeat of the season – had left the Reds 20 points adrift of the Premier League leaders going into the weekend.

It has been more common for the two to push each other all the way to the final day of the season, Liverpool twice coming second by just a point, and despite their most recent troubles Klopp expects normal service to be resumed when the new campaign kicks off in August.

“There are two games a season, maybe with cups three, four or five, when you play City, Arsenal and the others,” he said ahead of the trip to struggling Leicester.

“There are five million ways to win a football game, you only have to find one. A successful season is you are ready for all the games, that you can win 25-odd games.

“If City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham, Man United are all involved in that 25 then it is even better.

“But it is about can we create a team who can win the majority of the games? Yes, we can. It was never about what the other teams do.

“We didn’t become champions by a point twice and there will be some people who say it was because we didn’t have this player in that moment.

“Getting 90-odd points is absolutely insane, pretty special, and no one should take these things for granted.

“The top seven get even closer together, it will be more difficult and more competitive.

“It doesn’t make it easier but everyone with a good idea has a chance to be part of it. If you are part of the battle up there then you can win it as well.”

Liverpool’s current six-match winning run, their best sequence for more than a year, has given a glimpse of the level the side used to – and Klopp believes will again – play at.

The Reds boss has spoken regularly in recent weeks about using the end to the campaign as a platform for next season and has been pleased with the way his squad have responded.

“We show it in six weeks. I’m happy that this question has come and you don’t ask me, ‘how is it you can play such rubbish football for so long?’,” he added.

“I never questioned these boys. Never. Mentality-wise these boys are exceptional but we still couldn’t deliver for long periods of the season consistently good, successful football.

“Is that normal for human beings? The period was a bit too long, but yes.

“For everyone it is a relief to go again, to be winning again in a convincing way and not (having to) scrap three points.

“We have a clear idea of what we want to do and I saw so many good things we could build on.

“Nothing for Match of the Day, it won’t show up there, but I saw so many things in these games.

“I’m absolutely fine with the reaction now but we all think it was a bit too long until we showed it.

“All we can do is go for the last three games and make the best of what we have so far.”

John Souttar’s first Rangers goal in the 3-0 victory over Celtic at Ibrox was a magical moment for him in a landmark win.

The centre-back joined the Light Blues from Hearts last summer but came off on his debut against Livingston last July with a stress fracture of his ankle which caused him to miss the bulk of the campaign.

After Todd Cantwell fired the home side ahead in the fifth minute, Souttar, who returned to fitness in March, got his head to a James Tavernier corner to open his account for the club.

Striker Fashion Sakala added a third after the break to give Rangers their first win of the season against the cinch Premiership champions.

The 26-year-old Scotland international told RangersTV: “It was class, it is something we work on with (first-team coach) Harry (Watling) to attack that front post and drag them in and thankfully we did that.

“It was a great delivery from the skipper and I was there to put it in.

“It has been a tough season for me and when you are injured you just think about those kinds of moments and almost dream of scoring in those moments, so for me to get that goal was massive and I really enjoyed it.

“I think it was a big day for everyone, individually and collectively, to finish out what has been a tough season to get the three points and the clean sheet.

“We started really aggressively, we started on the front foot, and I think that is when we are at our best.

“The crowd got behind us and the atmosphere got behind us and it really drove us on.

“We’ve got great attacking players, I thought they were really good, so I thought if we could keep a clean sheet and keep solid we had every chance of winning the game and thankfully we did.”

Michael Beale, who enjoyed his first win over Celtic in five attempts since taking over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Gers boss last November, was pleased to see Souttar make a positive impact after a wayward pass back in the last Old Firm league match in April proved costly in a 3-2 defeat.

He said: “I’m delighted for John after the injury hell he has gone through both at his previous club and during his time at Rangers.

“It’s been extremely different for him and people have said things about someone without actually knowing the situation.

“John’s back. He has played with Connor (Goldson) and put on a really strong performance.

“Obviously he has scored and probably got over that little mistake he made in the last one so I’m pleased for him.”

Ange Postecoglou will ensure Celtic shrug off the disappointment of Saturday’s derby defeat at Ibrox to get ready to respond against St Mirren.

After clinching the cinch Premiership title at Tynecastle last week, the Hoops boss made a few changes to his line-up which was already missing first-choice defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston through injury and the champions suffered only their second league loss this season as goals from Todd Cantwell, John Souttar and Fashion Sakala gave Rangers a 3-0 win.

It was Michael Beale’s first win over the treble-chasing Hoops in five attempts since taking over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Gers manager last November.

And although it made no difference in terms of the title, the Celtic boss was far from happy and he expects a reaction against the Buddies on Saturday, with a view to the Scottish Cup final against Inverness at Hampden Park on June 3.

Postecoglou told CelticTV: “It was a disappointing day for us. We never really got going. We had a couple of really good opportunities to get back in the game and we let ourselves down in those areas.

“Then in the second half we didn’t really get going and didn’t make much of an impact on the game.

“It’s not the first time that players have been thrown into the derby under me and those are the expectations. You don’t get a freebie.

“From our perspective we had a team out there that we thought could get the job done, and we didn’t.

“It’s always a challenge (to bounce back). We’ll get back to work during the week and make sure that we train really (well), concentrating on the aspects of the game that are important to us and be ready for another tough game.”

Captain Callum McGregor admitted Celtic were not “at the level” and “had a bad day” as he also looked for a positive response next weekend.

The Scotland midfielder said: “We will dust ourselves down and go again.

“We have three games to go in the league, a big cup final and when that’s done we start all over again with nothing the following season.

“That was a timely reminder of what this fixture means.”

Captain James Ward-Prowse has “full confidence” Southampton can make a swift return to the Premier League following the pain of relegation.

Saints’ fate was sealed by Saturday’s listless 2-0 defeat to Fulham – a club-record 24th league loss in a single season.

England midfielder Ward-Prowse has been with Southampton since the age of eight but is already being linked with a summer move away from St Mary’s.

The 28-year-old, who insists he is “not thinking too far ahead” regarding his own future, is optimistic Saints will bounce back from surrendering the top-flight status they have held since 2012.

“(I’ve) full confidence, I think the club’s been there and done it,” he told Southampton’s website.

“The squad that we’ve got now is incredibly young and they’ve got a lot to learn.

“They will have learnt a lot from this year and next year I’m sure the club will be doing everything they can to be back in the Premier League.”

Southampton were precariously placed for much of a miserable campaign, having continually occupied the bottom three since early November.

Second-half goals from Fulham pair Carlos Vinicius and Aleksandar Mitrovic condemned Ruben Selles’ side to the drop with two games to spare.

Spaniard Selles was the team’s third manager this term following the sackings of Ralph Hasenhuttl and Nathan Jones.

Ward-Prowse concedes warning signs were present for a long time and admits Saints ultimately went down to the Sky Bet Championship with a whimper.

“It’s something, in all honesty, we’ve been fearing for a little while,” he said.

“Over the last couple of years we’ve not been performing at the level I believe we should be and I think this season’s caught up with us.

“There’s a way to lose games, there’s a way to maybe fail in sport and I think the way we’ve done it this year, that’s the disappointing way.

“I don’t feel we’ve really gone down with a fight and given everything we can.

“I feel for the fans because they don’t deserve to see what we’ve produced this season and that’s the sad thing.”

Victory for Fulham was a club-record 15th in a Premier League season to tighten their grip on a top-half spot.

Winger Harry Wilson, who was involved in each of the Cottagers’ goals on the south coast, hopes to increase the impressive points haul of 51 going into a home game against Crystal Palace and a trip to Manchester United.

“It’s not something I was aware of but it’s something we’ve earned throughout the season,” he said of the record.

“We’ve shown that we can win different ways, so to get 15 wins and the record is great.

“We’ll definitely enjoy them (the final two games) but we also know there’s a lot to play for and we want to make sure we get two wins.”

Substitute Mitrovic returned from his eight-match ban with a bang by heading home seven minutes after replacing fellow goalscorer Vinicius.

The Serbia striker was punished for grabbing referee Chris Kavanagh during his side’s 3-1 FA Cup loss at Old Trafford in March.

Wilson is already eyeing revenge against United on the final weekend following the heated cup exit in which Mitrovic, Willian and manager Marco Silva were sent off.

“We were really good for 70 minutes and we all know what happened,” he said of that game.

“We feel like we kind of owe them one in a way because we felt on that day we maybe should have left with something.”

Hearts interim manager Steven Naismith felt referee David Dickinson got three major decisions wrong in his side’s 2-2 draw with St Mirren.

The 10-man Jambos earned an unlikely point when second-half goals from Josh Ginnelly and a Lawrence Shankland penalty deep into added time cancelled out first-half strikes from Joe Shaughnessy and Ryan Strain.

Naismith praised his players for battling back to salvage something from the match but felt their cause had not been helped by the match officials.

He disputed the red card shown to Peter Haring midway through the second half and the free-kick won by St Mirren that led to their second goal, while he also felt that Haring should have had a penalty early in the second period.

Naismith said: “For me it is three decisions (the referee got wrong). At the red card, VAR is involved in that as well, but I personally disagreed with it.

“I thought it was a foul to stop the game from a counter-attack. It was right in front of me, I didn’t think it was aggressive or even the speed I don’t think is excessive.

“The foul for the second (St Mirren) goal, I don’t agree with. I’m fortunate enough to have seen it again. Hilly (James Hill) just goes and wins the ball but yet we get given a foul against us and it cost us.

“I think we could also have had a penalty. This is our footage but I can see a clear pull on Peter Haring who is going into the area where the ball is going. I said last week I was frustrated (with the match officials) and I’m frustrated again this week because of a lack of consistency.

“The ref was really good at the end of the game, allowing me to speak to him and have a discussion and a conversation about it which is fine. I get his point of view and his team’s point of view but it doesn’t help us (in the chase) for three points.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Robinson felt that St Mirren’s progress this season could be measured by the fact they were disappointed at only drawing with Hearts.

The result severely dents the Paisley side’s chances of qualifying for Europe but Robinson felt a sense of perspective was needed.

He said: “It feels like a defeat but when we’re disappointed with a point against Hearts it tells you how far St Mirren have come. The circumstances with the game practically done make it hard to take but I’ll get round the boys and we’ll speak to them. There are lessons to be learned for everyone, but ultimately we should’ve seen the game out.”

Chelsea are reportedly closing in on the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as manager.

The Blues have agreed terms with the former Tottenham boss, according to reports in various media outlets on Saturday evening.

The 51-year-old Argentinian would take over from interim manager Frank Lampard at the end of the season.

There has been no confirmation from the club. The PA news agency has contacted Chelsea.

Chelsea are seeking a new full-time manager after sacking Graham Potter amid a run of poor form just seven months into his five-year contract in April.

Lampard, who previously managed the club from 2019-21, was brought in on a temporary basis but the team’s struggles have continued and they sit 11th in the Premier League.

Pochettino, who led Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019 before being sacked later that year, is available after leaving Paris St Germain last summer.

Mikel Arteta insists his Arsenal side will continue to dig for Premier League glory as the season enters its final fortnight.

The Gunners headed into the weekend just one point behind leaders Manchester City, but having played a game more.

Brighton are the visitors to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, with Arsenal hoping for the chance to move back to the summit, a position they held for the majority of the season.

The destiny of the title was taken out of their own hands after a 4-1 thrashing at City followed a run of three consecutive draws.

Since then, Arsenal have got back on track with impressive wins over Chelsea and Newcastle and Arteta is urging his players to keep working until the end of the campaign.

“We are going to continue to dig — dig, dig, dig, dig,” he said.

“And maybe the prize is there. We don’t know if it’s there, but we are going to continue to dig, just in case it is where we can get to, and make sure that we can do our best.

“The stakes are huge and we are full of enthusiasm to get that prize in the best possible way.

“To do that, we have to win our matches and the first one is Brighton and they are fighting for something very important.

“That is what is going to make it really complicated.”

Arsenal will kick off against the Seagulls after City have faced relegation-threatened Everton.

Arteta spent six-and-a-half years at Goodison Park before moving to Arsenal and is hoping for a favour from his former club, who shocked Brighton with a 5-1 win on the south coast last week.

“Obviously they are playing for their life right now and you could see that in the last game against Brighton,” he added.

“Sean (Dyche) has instilled that belief again and that cohesion around the team and the fans to create something special.

“As a huge Everton fan, I want the best for them and that’s not going to change this weekend.

“They had some very good results and some others that deserved more. They have been really, really competitive in the last few months.

“For sure they are going to give their best, but there are teams who are fighting for Europe and others fighting for relegation and others playing the last game of the season at home, and you know what that means.

“Every game has a different meaning and it will be important for sure.”

Leicester boss Dean Smith has challenged his players to carry the psychological burden of their relegation battle.

The Foxes host Liverpool on Monday desperate for victory as they sit two points from safety with three games left.

Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Newcastle added extra pressure on the 2016 champions and dropped them to second bottom in the Premier League.

Smith, who replaced Brendan Rodgers until the end of the season last month, knows the importance of the Foxes keeping their heads.

“My approach has always been to challenge the players in terms of their performances because that’s the only thing they can control,” he said.

“When they go into the game their decision-making has to be good and they’ve made good decisions because otherwise they wouldn’t have won the FA Cup a couple of years ago. There are players here who have won the Premier League as well.

“What they’ve done in the past shows that they are good decision-makers but this is the cut and thrust now, we need to make sure we’re all good at making decisions.

“We’ve shown in all the games we’ve had so far that we can come back from a goal down, they know they can come back from that.

“We knew Fulham would come and press us and if they did we needed to play beyond them on the press and we played straight into it for the third goal.

“I felt we needed to change something at half-time and that might open us up a little bit in the second half because we wanted to be a bit more aggressive in our press.

“I’ve seen a really good attitude and application to training and to the matches that we’ve had, with the exception of 45 minutes at Fulham which I felt we were too passive, we looked a yard off it.

“Whether that was psychological or not I don’t know but it appeared to be because I get the running numbers after and I think we were slightly higher than Fulham in every metric. That psychological bit can let you down on technical ability at times and so our job is to ease that up.”

Jurgen Klopp insists forward Darwin Nunez would have scored a lot more goals if Liverpool had performed better this season.

The Uruguay international, signed from Benfica in the summer for a potential club-record £84million, has found the net 15 times in his maiden campaign.

However, with virtually all of Klopp’s first-choice forwards available again the 23-year-old has struggled to secure a place in the team recently, starting just five times in the last 11 matches in which he has scored just once.

But Klopp said the failing was that of the team, which has been wildly inconsistent prior to their current six-match winning run, and not the player.

“There’s a lot more to come. That’s clear. He needs time to settle,” said the Liverpool manager.

“The most difficult thing for a striker is to come into a team that is not clicking.

“Imagine if we played for us a good season, an 80-point or more season, he would have scored more goals definitely.

“But it is like now each situation we created and miss it is a more high level (of pressure).

“Mo Salah, in his best season when he scored 40-odd goals, missed chances. That’s normal. Erling Haaland missed chances. But they had much more than we created in this period.

“Fifteen goals is absolutely fine. Still three games to go so possibly he can increase that number as well.

“He had time to adapt at Benfica and there was no language issue, or less than it is here. We tried to help him so he can help us even more than he did already.”

Pep Guardiola has no fears about complacency heading into Manchester City’s crucial clash at Everton.

The Premier League leaders head to Goodison Park on Sunday for a match of significance at both ends of the table.

City need points to hold off the challenge of title rivals Arsenal while the relegation-threatened Toffees are anxious to pull away from trouble.

Yet for City the game is complicated by its placement between both legs of their finely-poised Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

Guardiola’s side fought out a 1-1 draw in a draining encounter at the Bernabeu Stadium on Tuesday and it would be easy for players to look beyond Everton to Wednesday’s return against the Spanish giants.

But City manager Guardiola said: “The players are humble enough and respect the opponents. They know exactly how difficult it is at Everton. They know what they are playing for.

“I don’t know what is going to happen but I am pretty convinced they will have incredible focus at Goodison Park.

“The Premier League is such an important title. I know the Champions League is so special but this is many months, many tough games. You have to train incredibly good and we know what a Sean Dyche team means.”

By playing on Sunday, City will only have two clear days prior to the Champions League game while Real, who were in action on Saturday, have three.

Guardiola has admitted he would have preferred to play on Saturday but insists it is not a problem.

He said: “It’s not complaining at all, not even about the schedule. It is a privilege.

“I think the excitement to try to do it again, to try to win the titles at the end, gives you an incredible energy when you are a little tired.

“The tension and pressure are there. I feel it, we feel it. It’s normal, but we have three days. It is enough time to prepare for Real Madrid. We are used to it.

“It is not the first time we’ve had incredible games. We play the second leg at home and Everton is only one hour away by bus.

“It is not as demanding as playing Champions League away then in the south of England three days later. Come on, we are privileged. The club takes care of us perfectly and we have to be ready to do it.”