Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was unhappy with Everton defender Yerry Mina for what he implied were underhand and unsporting tactics during their 3-0 win at Goodison Park.

The Colombia international was involved in one visible incident with Aymeric Laporte at a corner in the first half in which the City centre-back slapped his opponent in the stomach following an altercation and Mina fell to the floor.

But at the final whistle Guardiola confronted the Everton defender and remonstrated with him as he followed him off the pitch. All City’s players also refused to shake Mina’s hand.

While Guardiola refused to say what Mina had actually done, his unhappiness appeared to centre on the Colombian’s handling of opponents.

“Mina? It’s not necessary what he does. Away from the football, it is not necessary to do what he does every single game,” said Guardiola.

“And I told him, ‘You are a good enough player to avoid these kind of things’.”

Asked to elaborate on his complaints, the City boss added: “He knows. Ask him. This is not physical, this is not mental.

“There are things that are not necessary to do that he does. This time with Aymeric, Jack (Grealish), everybody. Ask him. Invite him to the press conference.”

The row detracted from the ease with which City dealt with Everton, with Ilkay Gundogan scoring twice for the second game running either side of the obligatory goal – his 52nd of the season – from Erling Haaland.

Gundogan is out of contract in the summer and has been linked with a move to Barcelona, but Guardiola is more than happy for him to captain the side, as he did at Goodison where he led from the front with two superbly-taken goals.

“He can show again and again and again the quality and importance and his commitment, to all of us, to the club, not just scoring goals, now he has his momentum,” said Guardiola, who wants the Germany international to extend his stay.

“He doesn’t talk much, but when he talks everyone listens and this is the power of the leader. He show his leadership in every training session – arriving on time, living 24 hours your job and play like he is playing.

“He is a player that when he gets close to the box he has an incredible sense of goal. He can play as a holding midfielder no problem, he proved it years ago when Fernandinho was injured, he played in games like Burnley, long balls, you think you need a physical player, but he is so clever and he is a guy who handles the pressure well.”

Everton manager Sean Dyche said he was unaware of any allegations against Mina and the player had not mentioned anything to him.

“If he did it all the time, I wouldn’t know where he had seen it because he (Mina) hasn’t been on the pitch for weeks,” he said.

City’s 11th successive league victory leaves them requiring a maximum of six points for a fifth title in six seasons.

They inflicted a record 10th home league defeat of the season on Everton, who remain 17th and a point above Leeds, but of equal concern was the withdrawal of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin at half-time.

While the England international has scored only one goal in five games since returning from two-and-half months out with a hamstring injury, he has provided a much-needed focal point and performances have improved as a result.

Dyche, who realistically has to find one win from their two remaining matches against Wolves and Bournemouth, said he took the injury-prone striker off as a precaution.

“I had to make a call because he felt his groin and tight groins can lead to damaged groins,” he said.

“It would have been harder at 0-0 than 2-0. He wanted to carry on, but I said, ‘Dom, you are coming off’.”

On his side’s display, in which they did not trouble City, he added: “A lot of the performance was right against a top side, but you get punished if you make the slightest mistake.

“We arguably had the best chance with Mason Holgate (who missed a difficult close-range opportunity at 0-0).

“There were some outstanding performances, Dwight (McNeil) was outstanding, Doucs (Abdoulaye Doucoure), Conor (Coady) came on and affected it in a change of shape (to a 5-4-1).”

David Moyes believes West Ham have been on the wrong end of too many strange VAR decisions.

Having been denied penalties for handballs against Liverpool and Manchester United in recent weeks, the Hammers had a goal contentiously ruled out in their 2-0 defeat at Brentford.

When Said Benrahma’s cross came back off a post it hit Divin Mubama, who had put his hand up to prevent himself from crashing into the woodwork.

Manuel Lanzini swept the ball back into the box to leave Dany Ings with a tap-in to halve the deficit with 25 minutes remaining.

But referee Michael Oliver went to the pitchside monitor and ruled that young striker Mubama had handled the ball.

“Very strange,” said Hammers boss Moyes. “The Premier League have come out and called it deliberate handball. I think we need a bit of explanation on that.

“The first thing I would say about it is it is inconclusive. If anything I think it hits his shoulder, right on his collarbone.

“If it’s a handball that leads to a goal we all know that rule, but I certainly don’t see deliberate. If anything he might be protecting himself from going into the post. I’m amazed it was chalked off.

“But, let’s be fair, if this was the first one we were talking about in recent games I would say it can happen, but we’re now talking about three of these.

“It’s getting regular. It really is. I don’t want to get in trouble but we’ve had three real ones that could have altered things, and if you said we’ve had our fair share, I’m saying I don’t think we have.”

In truth Brentford, leading through first-half goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, could have been four or five up by the time Ings’ goal was disallowed.

Moyes’ priorities clearly lie elsewhere despite not being mathematically safe from relegation, with the Hammers boss making nine changes to his side ahead of Thursday night’s Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against AZ Alkmaar.

However, if Moyes was hoping to be given some selection dilemmas for the trip to the Netherlands, he was left sorely disappointed.

Mbeumo pounced after a mistake by Nayef Aguerd and Wissa headed the second after West Ham failed to deal with Mathias Jensen’s long throw.

“I didn’t enjoy the performance. I thought we were soft, easy to play against. It was so poor,” added Moyes.

“We did some work on defending long throws, but you wouldn’t have thought it watching that today. I’m so disappointed the players didn’t deal with it.”

The Bees are now assured of a top-10 finish, proving there is no such thing as second-season syndrome in this corner of west London.

“I was asked before the season about that,” said boss Thomas Frank, “and without sounding too smart we tried to analyse things, looked at the players, the other teams, our performances, our culture, and we thought why shouldn’t we be able to do well in our second season?

“Now we are 100 per cent in the top 10, which is a brilliant achievement.”

Atletico Madrid missed the chance to leapfrog Real Madrid into second place in LaLiga on Sunday, as Ivo Grbic's error proved costly in a 1-0 defeat to relegated Elche.

Diego Simeone's men had the opportunity to go one point clear of their city rivals at the Estadio Martinez Valero, but their three-match winning run ground to a halt as Fidel Chaves restored some pride for LaLiga's bottom club.

Elche took the lead on the stroke of half-time as Grbic – deputising for the injured Jan Oblak – miscued his punch from Lautaro Blanco's long throw, allowing skipper Fidel to hook his finish into an unguarded net.

Edgar Badia made an excellent one-on-one save to deny Alvaro Morata an equaliser after the break, but Elche went closest to a second goal with both Pere Milla and Lucas Boye missing clear chances.

Though Atleti have all but sealed a top-four finish, they have work to do to overhaul Los Blancos, sitting two points adrift of Carlo Ancelotti's men in third with four games remaining.

Former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane delivered a withering assessment of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford following Everton’s Premier League defeat by title-chasing Manchester City.

The 29-year-old was given little chance by Ilkay Gundogan’s stunning first-half strike, but was unable to keep out Erling Haaland’s header seconds later and was well beaten by Gundogan’s second-half free-kick as City won 3-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

Analysing the third goal, Keane, who has questioned Pickford’s credentials in the past, disagreed with fellow pundit Micah Richards’ opinion of Gareth Southgate’s number one.

He told Sky Sports: “Pickford, for the goal…my goodness. He looks so small in there. There’s no spring, he’s not anticipating.

“Micah said before the game he’s a top goalkeeper. He’s not.”

Keane was, however, full of praise for Gundogan and in particular, his improvised 37th-minute finish after he had controlled Riyad Mahrez’s cross on his thigh before flicking the ball home with his back still to goal.

He said: “What an outstanding player. Again, we mentioned (Everton boss) Sean Dyche will be disappointed with the defending, but once it goes in there, his first touch is brilliant; his second one is even better.

“What a player this guy is, absolutely brilliant, the way he times his runs into the box…what a magnificent finish. I’d watch that all day. Brilliant.”

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.