A review of how VAR is used in the English game is under way after miscommunication between officials led to a Liverpool goal being wrongly disallowed on Saturday.

Here, the PA news agency provides an update on where we are.

What happened?

On-field referee Simon Hooper and his assistants flagged Luis Diaz offside after he fired in what would have been the opening goal in the Reds’ Premier League match at Tottenham on Saturday.

Crucially, VAR Darren England thought the on-field decision had been onside. So although he followed the correct procedure in drawing lines and identifying that Diaz was onside, by telling the on-field officials “check complete” they thought their decision to give offside had been upheld by the check.

Only in the seconds which followed did the VAR operators realise their error, by which time play had restarted. Current protocols do not permit a decision to be revisited once that has happened.

How did Liverpool react?

The club issued a statement on Sunday night saying that sporting integrity had been undermined by the error and that they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. The club requested – and were sent – the audio of the incident before it was released publicly on Tuesday evening.

What happens next?

The first thing to say is that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted on Saturday evening that a “significant error” had occurred. As well as standing down England and the assistant VAR Daniel Cook for duties on Sunday and Monday, plus the weekend to come, it has identified some “key learnings” from the incident.

These include the development of a new communications protocol to enhance clarity between referees and VARs. Phil Bentham has been brought into PGMOL from rugby league to improve communication between officials and will no doubt be key to this work.

VARs will now also confirm the outcome of their check with their assistants in the booth, before relaying the final decision to on-field officials.

PGMOL and the Football Association will also review the policy allowing officials to be involved in domestic league matches overseas, after England and Cook were part of a team which oversaw a game in the United Arab Emirates last Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning.

What has the Premier League said?

The league issued a statement saying that the Diaz incident highlighted “systemic weaknesses” in the VAR process and said a wider review to seek consistently-higher standards would now take place.

Besides improving communication between officials, what else could change?

The incident has led to renewed calls from fans and pundits to allow the conversations between VARs and referees to be broadcast live. Eighty per cent of fans supported this being introduced in a Football Supporters’ Association survey published in the summer and the boss of TNT Sports – one of the league’s key broadcast partners – said in July it was a “huge missed opportunity” not to have such a system in place.

While the Premier League has never publicly given its view on live audio, it was part of a World Leagues Forum poll published in June which found 25 out of the 41 leagues surveyed supported its introduction.

Crucially though, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which sets the game’s laws, is understood not to have received any requests so far in the current cycle to trial a live audio system.

What about in-stadium announcements like we had at the Women’s World Cup?

To date this has been a FIFA-only trial, but IFAB is prepared to open it up to allow other competitions to take part. However, the announcements are limited to decisions where an on-field review is conducted by a referee at a pitchside monitor. Offside decisions such as the Diaz incident are not checked in this way.

What about semi-automated offside?

This is in operation in a number of major competitions, having first been trialled at the men’s World Cup in Qatar. However, the Premier League has so far opted not to introduce it. It can also be argued that it would not have helped in a situation like Diaz – the existing technology was used to identify that Diaz was onside, the mistake was human error, pure and simple.

The UK and Ireland will host Euro 2028, subject to final approval from UEFA’s executive committee next week, after Turkey withdrew its interest.

The five-nation bid is now the only option on the table for the finals in five years’ time after Turkey pulled out of contention for the 2028 finals to focus on a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.

UEFA will formally announce the hosts for the two tournaments following a meeting of its executive committee in Switzerland next week.

UEFA issued a statement on Wednesday morning which read: “Further to the announcement on July 28 which revealed the desire of the Italian and Turkish FAs to submit a joint bid to stage UEFA EURO 2032, the UEFA administration has today written to both associations to confirm that their joint bid has been duly received and will go forward for assessment and consideration by the UEFA executive committee.

“As indicated by the FA of Türkiye with its submission of the request for a joint bid, their bid to stage UEFA EURO 2028 is consequently withdrawn.

“The award of both tournaments still requires the approval of the executive committee at its meeting in Nyon on October 10. The presentations at that meeting will be an important part of the process which will take due consideration of the content of the bid submissions before reaching a decision.”

The award of Euro 2028 to the UK and Ireland should though be little more than a formality now.

Senior UEFA sources have stressed the importance of another tournament, following on from Euro 2024 in Germany, being held in an established football market to help rebuild the organisation’s reserves after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The five nations released a joint statement in response to Wednesday’s update, which read: “We are looking forward to presenting our bid to UEFA on October 10. These are exciting times, and we have a very compelling Euro 2028 proposal for UEFA.

“Our bid is ground-breaking for the men’s European Championships and will deliver lasting legacies across the whole of Ireland and the UK.

“We will share full details of the bid in Nyon next week and are confident that UEFA will approve our candidacy to host Euro 2028.”

The UK and Ireland bid dossier was formally submitted in April and features 10 stadia – six from England and one each in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The six English venues included in the bid are Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, St James’ Park, Everton’s new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock and Villa Park.

A redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast is also due to be used, along with the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

There are no guarantees that all five nations will qualify for the finals.

UEFA’s favoured plan is understood to be for all five nations to go through qualification, with two host nation places available for any that fail to qualify.

However, if more than two nations fail to qualify on merit, only the two best-performing countries would make it.

Should the UK and Ireland bid be given approval next week, Wembley would be widely expected to host its second men’s Euros final in less than a decade.

The 90,000-capacity stadium hosted a chaotic Euro 2020 final, where an independent review identified more than 20 “near-miss” incidents that could have resulted in serious injury or death.

The stadium’s next major international test will be staging this season’s Champions League final, and Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt said in June that plans to avoid a repeat of the Euro 2020 final would be “tested to destruction”.

Hewitt added: “One of the things I am absolutely convinced UEFA’s Exco will ask us is, ‘How can you assure us nobody will storm the turnstiles?’.

“We have to convince every one of those Exco members we have not only thought about it but that we have planned for it – that we know what we would do in what order and who is accountable.”

Wales captain Aaron Ramsey and Brennan Johnson will miss next week’s vital Euro 2024 qualifier against Croatia.

Both players have been omitted from Rob Page’s squad for their friendly against Gibraltar on October 11 and Group D qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium on October 15.

Ramsey damaged his right knee in training last month and there are fears the 32-year-old midfielder may need surgery after missing Cardiff’s last five games.

Tottenham midfielder Johnson sustained a hamstring injury in his side’s recent 2-2 draw at Arsenal and sat out Saturday’s win against Liverpool.

The pair’s absence is a huge blow to under-pressure Page, whose side sit fourth in their group after winning only two of their first five matches.

Johnson had been expected to be included after Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said before the Liverpool game that his injury was “nothing too serious”.

Wales are also without QPR defender Morgan Fox and Rangers winger Rabbi Matondo (both knee), while Reading midfielder Charlie Savage and Liverpool defender Owen Beck have received their first senior team call-ups.

Leeds winger Daniel James returns to the squad after missing last month’s Euro 2024 qualifying victory in Latvia.

Bournemouth striker Kieffer Moore is available for the Croatia game after missing the last two Euro qualifiers due to the red card he received against Armenia in June.

Page eased some of the pressure on him last month with Wales’ 2-0 victory in Latvia.

But his side still face an uphill battle to secure automatic qualification for next summer’s finals in Germany through a top-two finish.

Wales realistically need to avoid defeat against 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Croatia and win their final two games in Armenia and at home to Turkey in November to do so.

Rasmus Hojlund says Manchester United must stick together if they are to emerge from a “tough period” that has put Erik ten Hag’s side under intense scrutiny and pressure.

Having won the Carabao Cup, reached the FA Cup final and finished third during the Dutchman’s first campaign in change, things have gone dramatically awry this term.

United have lost four of their opening seven matches for the first time in the Premier League era and are pointless after their first two Champions League group games.

There was no disgrace in the 4-3 loss at Bayern Munich a fortnight ago, but Tuesday’s 3-2 collapse at home to a Galatasaray side that had never won in England before is something else.

“Of course it’s not about the individual performance,” Hojlund said.

“It’s about getting the three points and at the moment we’re not doing good enough.

“We need to remember we can’t get goals (go in) right after we score.

“We’ve had a few games now where they just score after we scored.

“We need to go back and analyse that tomorrow and talk about it in the group.

“Of course it’s a tough period now but we need to stick together and that’s the only way we can get out of this period.”

Hojlund opened the scoring on Tuesday with his first Old Trafford goal, only for grinning former United forward Wilfried Zaha to level for Galatasaray.

Summer signing Hojlund raced through to score a superb second after he saw an earlier effort ruled out for offside, but Kerem Akturkoglu quickly equalise for the visitors.

That goal sent United into a tailspin. Andre Onana’s horror pass led to Casemiro getting a red card and the Turkish champions winning a penalty, which Mauro Icardi missed but quickly atoned for when racing through to dink home.

“We need to get some points now if we want to play in Champions League after the group stage,” Hojlund said ahead of matches home and away to former club FC Copenhagen.

“I am looking forward to playing against them because it’s a former club, my brothers are playing there, and I have a big heart for Copenhagen.

“But now I play in Manchester United and we need to get some points out of them.”

United players kept their heads down as they walked through interview area after a chastening loss in which Hojlund’s display was the only highlight.

The Old Trafford giants went for promise over a proven goalscorer when signing the 20-year-old international from Atalanta in the summer and he enjoyed his breakout moment on Tuesday.

“It’s about getting in there,” Hojlund told MUTV. “For me, I always try to get into the dangerous positions.

“Today I got the ball three times (there), if you count the offside goal as well.

“I’ve been bought to be scoring goals and now I was happy to score two today.

“Marcus (Rashford) and I talk to each other and he knows that I’m going to be there.

“He knows that I can keep up with his pace when we go on the counter and we saw a glimpse of that today.

“(The second goal) was a good feeling. I got cheated a little bit before because of the offside (with my second goal) but, yeah, it was an incredible goal.

“I like to call that a signature Rasmus goal – on the left side, running a lot so, yeah, it was nice.”

Cheltenham equalled the record for the most consecutive games without scoring in the Football League as Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss to Fleetwood extended their run to 11.

Coventry in 1919-20 and Hartlepool in 1992-93 also went 11 games without scoring and here, the PA news agency looks at the longest scoreless runs and how the Robins compare.

Cheltenham not at the races

Junior Quitirna and Jack Marriott scored Fleetwood’s goals as Cheltenham had veteran defender Curtis Davies sent off on their way to another unwanted record.

Their nine-game drought up to September 23’s 3-0 defeat to Stevenage was already the longest from the start of a Football League season, beating Halifax Town’s eight in 1990-91. Last Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Lincoln extended that before Fleetwood won by the same scoreline.

The Robins prop up League One with a solitary point, with only a goalless draw against Portsmouth breaking the run of defeats as 19 goals have gone in at the other end – exceeding the 15 shipped by Hartlepool or 13 by Coventry in their own runs of futility.

Expanding the picture to all competitions does not improve matters, with Cheltenham beaten 2-0 by Birmingham in the Carabao Cup. The ball did end up in Bristol Rovers’ goal in the Papa John’s Trophy but via an own goal from James Gibbons, who also scored at the right end in a 4-1 Rovers win.

Town striker Robert Street also scored an own goal in that game, one of three by Cheltenham players this season along with Liam Smith in the 3-0 loss to Bolton and Will Ferry for the only goal at Reading. Davies’ red card against Fleetwood was also their third of the season after James Olayinka and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji left them down to nine men against Peterborough.

Manager Wade Elliott was sacked after that 3-0 defeat, the eighth game in the sequence, with interim boss Kevin Russell and permanent replacement Darrell Clarke as yet unable to stop the rot.

Feeling Blue

The original 11-game record dates back over a century to Coventry’s dismal 1919-20 season in the second tier.

The Sky Blues, playing the same opponents on back-to-back weekends throughout their run, lost 1-0 to Fulham before a goalless draw in the return fixture and then drew 0-0 and lost 1-0 against Bristol City.

Huddersfield beat them 2-0 and 5-0, they followed a goalless draw with a 2-0 defeat against both Blackpool and West Ham, and another 0-0 with Leyton Orient completed the sequence before they ended it in style, Billy Walker’s opener setting up a 3-2 win over Stoke on Christmas Day 1919.

The first six scoreless games were under the caretaker management of Harry Harbourne, after William Clayton had been sacked following a poor start to the season. Harry Pollitt, who took over in time for the first Blackpool fixture and oversaw the remainder of the run, was later banned from football for life after being found guilty of match-fixing offences in the season-ending double-header against Bury.

Hartlepool, who like Cheltenham today were playing in the third tier, started their 1993 goalless run in the same way Coventry ended theirs as they drew 0-0 with Orient on January 9, before matching that result next time out against Preston.

They then lost 3-0 to Huddersfield and 2-0 in successive games against Rotherham, Reading and Port Vale. Mansfield and Bolton also beat them by two goals, interspersed with 1-0 losses to Bournemouth and Chester, before a goalless draw with Wigan.

A 1-1 draw against Blackpool on March 6 finally ended the run and ensured they did not break the record outright – can Cheltenham do likewise against Derby on Saturday?

What the papers say

Jadon Sancho is looking increasingly likely to call time at Old Trafford in January. The Daily Mail, citing Sky Germany, says the 23-year-old winger has been in regular contact with former club Borussia Dortmund, amid his stand-off with Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.

Staying with the Red Devils, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite has emerged on the club’s radar for a potential January move. According to the Mail, the centre-back is viewed as a potential replacement should Harry Maguire depart the club in the new year. Branthwaite is also wanted by Manchester City, having impressed on loan at PSV Eindhoven.

And The Telegraph reports former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is open to replacing Michael Beale as Rangers manager.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Lionel Messi: The Daily Mirror says the Inter Miami forward will return to his first club, Newell’s Old Boys, when his contract expires in 2025.

Jeremie Frimpong: The left-back is set to re-sign with Bayer Leverkusen, according to the Daily Record.

Xisco Munoz apologised to Sheffield Wednesday’s supporters and said he would give it “until my last second” after a 1-0 defeat at West Brom left the Sky Bet Championship’s bottom team with the worst start in their history.

John Swift’s 13th-minute goal left the Owls with an eighth loss from the first 10 games of the Sky Bet Championship season, and they are already seven points adrift of the safety line.

Manager Munoz, 43, who led Watford to the Premier League in 2020-21, has taken just two points all season and none have come outside Yorkshire. Wednesday are also without a goal in 312 minutes of football.

“I understand the fans and I can only say sorry because it’s tough for everybody,” said the Spaniard.

“But as a manager, I can say we will continue until my last second.

“This is my life and I try to give my best to my players until my last minute.”

Munoz suggested he is running out of options after trying different permutations.

“We tried to change the formation and the players – I have used 24 or 25 players this season,” he added.

“We can play 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 5-3-2 but right now, we’re not finding the solutions.”

Munoz insisted he will keep persevering trying to find a winning formula.

“We need to continue trying to find what is better for us, we need to find which players we can use for the next game, what can hurt the opponent and how we can make better of these situations,” added the Spaniard.

“We played against a difficult style and a good team but the difference was nothing.”

West Brom made it five games unbeaten, during which they have kept four clean sheets and climbed to fifth.

Swift lashed home the only goal from six yards after Darnell Furlong played the ball down the right, Akin Famewo missed the chance to cut it out and Jed Wallace crossed low.

But just after the goal, Wednesday’s Juan Delgado missed Ashley Fletcher’s cross from point-blank range, then Tyreeq Bakinson’s curling shot was clawed away by goalkeeper Alex Palmer.

West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan saluted match-winner Swift, who scored his fifth goal of the season.

“When a player of his quality is mentally ready to compete he can be the difference,” he said.

Corberan admitted Albion found it hard going to find more goals.

“You change the feeling and change the game when you score from the opportunities you have,” he said.

“It was difficult to combat them from the set-pieces because they had a very physical team and when we won the second balls in the set-pieces, we couldn’t score the second goal to change the game.

“After one second ball and one set-piece, it led to two big opportunities that led Alex (Palmer) to achieve the clean sheet and the three points.”

Under-pressure Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is not worried about losing his job after his side’s horror start to the season continued with a Champions League home defeat to Galatasaray.

The Red Devils threw away a 2-1 lead to fall to a 3-2 loss at a rain-soaked Old Trafford and suffer their worst start to a season since 1986.

They have lost six of their opening 10 games for the first time in 37 years and their chances of getting out of the group stages already look in doubt after just two matches.

But Ten Hag, who says there are “no excuses” for his side’s dismal performances, insist everyone at the club is pulling in the same direction.

Asked whether he feared for his job, the Dutchman said: “Last season: brilliant, terrific, more than we could expect.

“We also knew in this project there would be common gaps. At this moment we are in a very difficult period as everyone can see but we come out together, we are fighting together, we are sticking together and we are behind each other. That is me, the directors, the team, all together we will fight.

“This is not us, we know we have to do better, with togetherness we will come out.

“If I give an explanation, then you will see as excuses, there are no excuses. We can’t make the errors we are now making. We have to do better, it is a simple fact, we have to win our games.”

United had victory in their own hands after two Rasmus Hojlund goals, either side of former United winger Wilfried Zaha’s leveller, put them on course for a much-needed win.

But Kerem Akturkoglu again pegged them back and then a woeful error by Andre Onana set them on a path to self-destruction as his abysmal pass led to Casemiro fouling Dries Mertens in the penalty area and the Brazilian was sent off.

Mauro Icardi missed the resulting penalty, but made amends three minutes later as he grabbed the winner and sealed a first ever victory on English soil for the Turkish side.

Onana also made a costly gaffe in the Group A opener at Bayern Munich a fortnight ago but Ten Hag, who managed him at Ajax, has backed the Cameroonian to come good.

“We are happy with our goalkeeping group, definitely with Andre,” Ten Hag said. “He was in one semi-final of the Champions League, last year he was in the final of the Champions League, he has the capablilties to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

“He has shown that and he will do. We already have seen in games his great capabilites, also his personality after he made mistakes. He will bounce back and I am sure he will in the coming games as well.”

Galatasaray were good value for their victory and are now a good bet to progress to the knockout stages, having taken four points from their opening two games.

“In the second half I believe we played better, we had more chances,” coach Okan Buruk said. “At the end of the day we are happy, we won against this team, a very important team.

“This victory is very important for Turkish football, for us and for our standing in the group.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was thrilled after Conor Shaughnessy’s late heroics handed his table-toppers a 2-1 victory over Wycombe.

Centre-back Shaughnessy bagged his first Pompey goal in the 98th minute when he connected with Jack Sparkes’ corner to send Fratton Park wild.

Pompey had gone behind to Wycombe captain Josh Scowen’s near post-flick from Luke Leahy’s in-swinging corner in the 22nd minute but responded after 58 minutes when Abu Kamara’s low cross was stabbed in by Colby Bishop, who netted his sixth goal of the season.

Mousinho said: “It feels amazing to be honest. To have the reaction to scoring the goal in front of the Fratton End; the whole stadium went up.

“I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. We obviously left it very late, and I only allowed myself a few seconds to celebrate because I knew I had to get Sean Raggett on straight away”

“I thought our chance had gone when Colby missed a chance at the far post.

“My emotions wouldn’t have been quite as happy if we hadn’t scored that late goal but I would have been as happy with the performance and how we went about things. Overall I’m pleased with tonight.

“We stood up to the physical test really well. Wycombe are really good at what they do. They have a Premier League centre forward and have plenty of Championship calibre behind it.

“We went a goal behind and it is difficult from there. Wycombe sat in and made it difficult. We stuck at it under difficult circumstances and were absolutely superb.”

Pompey recorded their 22nd game unbeaten in Sky Bet League One to stay top.

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield complained Shaughessy’s winner had come after a foul on his goalkeeper Max Stryjek.

He said: “I am very angry and frustrated, and also sorry for the supporters who made the journey on a Tuesday night.

“It was a blatant foul on the goalkeeper for their second. Their player jumps into him and prevents him from catching the ball and flattens him.

“I was very proud of the lads tonight and thought we carried a threat even in the second half. We deserved something from the game.

“Decisions against us are becoming a regular occurrence.

“It is so disappointing that the lads work extremely hard and decisions like that cost us getting something out of the game. That’s the second game in a row we have been hard done by.

“We were really looking forward to this game, so disappointed to come away with nothing.

“We obviously have to pick ourselves up from this. We go to Fleetwood on Saturday, and we need to start getting points.”

AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson hailed Omar Bugiel’s cleanest of match-winning strikes against Harrogate as a reward for the “dirty work” he has been putting in for the team.

Bugiel’s first league goal since a summer move from Sutton saw him seal a 1-0 win at Wetherby Road, courtesy of a sumptuous, sixth-minute shot with the outside of his right foot.

It ended the Lebanon international’s 13-game personal drought in league contests and also sealed a third straight win for the impressive Dons, with manager Jackson enthusing: “It was a brilliant goal.

“He’s got that ability to score more but he also enjoys the dirty parts of the game and setting his mates up, which he has been doing for us. I’m pleased to see him on the scoresheet, though, and it was a goal worthy of winning any game.”

Jackson went on to suggest that the victory was his “favourite” of the season, as the team won by the slenderest of margins but never looked in danger of surrendering their early lead as the hosts were restricted to just two shots at goal all evening.

The former Charlton chief added: “It was a really good win and probably my favourite of the season because Harrogate is a tough place to come, a long way from home on a Tuesday night and a real test of your mettle, which we passed to get a clean sheet and a 1-0 win.

“We have played better this season, but I still regard it as our best win.

“The scoreline wasn’t comfortable, because it was only 1-0, but it felt comfortable because it did not feel like they were going to break us down. I couldn’t see them playing through us and it was a really solid away performance.”

Home boss Simon Weaver, meanwhile, was less impressed with Bugiel’s match-winning effort.

“It was a soft goal to concede,” he argued. “He’s got to be brought down or stopped there and it was a goal that could have been prevented, which is not characteristic of us.

“Our reaction to conceding was good, because we asked the players to keep passing the ball, which they did, and we played some good stuff but without ever looking ominous in and around the penalty area.

“It wasn’t for the wasn’t of trying, but we lacked the creativity and dynamism in the final third to upset them and had no cutting edge.

“After the first 10 minutes of the second half, the game then got a bit bitty and I tried to change that by going a more orthodox 4-4-2 with the substitutes but I can’t say we were any better, so that’s down to me.”

Russell Martin hopes Southampton can kick their Sky Bet Championship campaign on again after putting a bad run of form behind them with a 1-0 win over Stoke.

Stuart Armstrong’s first-half free-kick proved the difference at the bet365 Stadium as Saints secured back-to-back victories, while the Potters slipped to their fifth loss in seven Championship games.

The victory in the Potteries followed a 3-1 triumph versus Leeds last Saturday and the successive wins came after a four-game losing run, with Martin hoping their toughest moment of the season has been and gone.

“I think it’s been two of our best performances, tonight I think was probably our best one, our most complete one,” he said.

“I feel like we should have scored a couple more goals and we limited them to very little really, although they threw everything at us in the end.

“To follow up the effort it took on Saturday to come here and such a tough place, a good team with a really excellent manager, to come here and do what we did, I’m really proud of the boys.

“They’re playing for each other, they’re playing for us and the last two games will hopefully come at the end of the toughest moment we’ll have together.

“I think every team has a tough period and ours has come early on after a good start and playing against a really difficult fixture schedule.

“We found a bit of rhythm now and hopefully we can maintain that.”

Alex Neil, while proud of Stoke’s efforts, voiced frustration at key refereeing decisions including Josh Laurent’s foul on Armstrong for the winning free-kick and Nathan Lowe being bundled over by Jan Bednarek after the break which he felt was a penalty.

He said: “I think all you ever ask your team to do and individual players is to give everything they’ve got and I thought we got that.

“I don’t think we can have any complaints in terms of the efforts of the players.

“We got undone by one moment of quality where the ball ends up in the top corner.

“I think certainly if you look at the foul that they get for their goal and you look at the foul in the box, if you’re going to compare both in terms of contact.

“I think if you look at the two directives at the start of the season, one was based around soft contact for fouls and not buying into soft contact, which I thought for the first foul was really soft, and the other was was timewasting, and I didn’t think any of the directives this evening were carried out well enough in terms of the game at all.”

Mnager John Eustace condemned the alleged racist abuse aimed at midfielder Juninho Bacuna during Birmingham’s 4-1 victory over Huddersfield.

The game was stopped late in the second half when referee Sam Allison went to speak to Eustace and Terriers counterpart Darren Moore after the issue was raised on the field of play.

Speaking afterwards, with his side having won after two goals from Siriki Dembele and one each from Koji Miyoshi and Jordan James, Eustace made his feelings clear.

“I believe that Bacuna was racially abused by one of our fans which is obviously disgusting,” he said.

“It’s not something that we expect in society, let alone football. Birmingham is very proud of how diverse we are as a club and a city and there is certainly nowhere near any room for that at all.

“It’s very disappointing. They have reported it, it’s bang out of order.”

Moore said of the incident: “It’s a shame that it’s going to cloud the game tonight, because from Birmingham’s point of view it’s a good three points for them, but the incident is going to overshadow it.

“The referee stopped the game, called both managers over, said there was an incident in the corner from a home spectator directed at the home player and though the home player didn’t want to report it, our player Tom Edwards heard it. Both players heard it clearly and it’s gone on report.

“They’ve got video evidence and we will let the footballing authorities, referee and match officials get to the conclusion with it.

“It’s not something we condone in the game, but it’s still there and we show our support.”

Eustace was pleased with the performance of Dembele, who opened the scoring in the third minute and added his second in the 64th, sandwiching Miyoshi’s strike after 23 minutes.

Michal Helik pulled one back in the second minute of stoppage time but James had the last word three minutes later.

Eustace said: “The performance was good, it shows that when you are clinical it makes a big difference.

“Performances over the last four or five games have been good, we haven’t got enough points from them and tonight we were very clinical in the final third, which was really pleasing.

“Dems has come in, we have given him a platform to play, it has been very frustrating from everyone that he hasn’t been able to play over the last six or seven games.

“The last two games I’ve had to get him the right minutes to be able to perform.

“Tonight was always going to be a game I wanted to start him in, so it’s been frustrating for me to only use him as a bit-part player in the last few games, but there is a method to my madness.

“We’ve had to protect him in the right way and I thought tonight he was outstanding.”

Moore was far from happy with the Terriers’ display.

“The performance obviously wasn’t the best in terms of what we have set in recent weeks,” he said.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb in terms of the first goal. When I look at all four goals they were uncharacteristic of us. Goals three and four we were in possession of the ball, gave it away and got punished for it.

“I didn’t think we were clean enough with the ball, I didn’t think our patterns were quite as effective tonight. It’s just a bad night.

“We will learn from this and we will to move on. We suffer together as a group and we quickly apply it because we’ve got a quick turnaround.”

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton tipped striker Jevani Brown to “go from strength to strength” after his first goal for the club sealed a comfortable 3-0 League One victory over 10-man Port Vale at the Memorial Stadium.

Barton praised Brown after his 20-yard goal late on completed a good night’s work for the summer signing from Exeter, who put the Gas on course for victory when he crossed for Luke McCormick to head the hosts into a 25-minute lead.

Vale defender Jesse Debrah was sent off after 38 minutes for a second bookable offence before right-back Jack Hunt popped up in first-half stoppage-time to double the lead and then Brown capped a fine personal show in style, four minutes from time.

Barton said: “Jevani’s a quality operator and that goal was important because it will lift a weight off his shoulders and I’m sure that he’ll now go from strength to strength for us.

“It was his best performance in the blue and white quarters and a lovely top-binner like that right in front of our most vociferous fans will certainly settle him and endear him to the supporters.

“It was a hell of a ball in for the first goal and everyone in the stadium now knows what a top-notch operator JB is.”

Barton says he is confident Brown will turn Rovers into a formidable attacking force.

He added: “JB’s had to be patient because it takes bit of time to get up to speed but tonight we looked unplayable up front with JB, Aaron Collins and Chris Martin and their pace and link-up play.

“I always knew his goal would come and I’m buzzing for him. We’re lucky to have him at our club. We have had to be streetwise to beat the rat race for him.

“But I know he’ll bear fruit over the next few months amid all the challenges we face this season.”

Vale boss Andy Crosby tipped former Halifax defender Debrah to learn from his sending off.

Crosby said: “Jesse is going to be fantastic for our club. He’s got fantastic attributes and we’ll be there to support him. He’ll learn from this and we’ll back him.”

“The referee has made a decision but I’m not sure (over) the first one, which looked like just a coming-together from the bench.

“As soon as you go down to 10 men, it’s going to be extremely difficult but the referee had a decision to make, the rules have changed in terms of how tackles are interpreted. It was a cheap one.”

Crosby praised his side for their show of resilience in the second half.

Crosby added: “We beat their press numerous times and got into their final third many times but if you don’t track your men into your own box and concede poor goals, you give yourself a big mountain to climb.

“We freshened things up at half-time with four changes to stay in the game and I’m so proud of the players’ reaction because they kept fighting and didn’t go under. We hung in there and defeat is difficult to take.”

Luton boss Rob Edwards could not hide his disappointment following Burnley’s late winner, admitting his side should have got more from the game.

Jacob Bruun Larsen’s stunning strike made it 2-1 just one minute after Elijah Adebayo had drawn the Hatters level as the Clarets snatched a first win of the Premier League season.

Edwards said the result hurt after Luton had got off the mark with a 2-1 win at Everton on Saturday.

“I’m obviously really disappointed with the result, we’re down, flat and hurting because of the manner of it (the loss),” Edwards said.

“We pushed, we had set-pieces, we went forward in numbers and were brave, aggressive and didn’t allow them the control they wanted.

“But we come away with nothing and that hurts.

“The lads gave everything. The fans were clapping at the end and if they’re doing that then we’re doing the right things, but everybody will be disappointed because we should have taken something from the game.”

Luton were left to rue missed chances, having taken just one of 18 attempts.

And Edwards admitted his side, who have scored six goals in seven matches, are struggling to find the back of the net.

“We had big chances and openings, so if we weren’t doing that I’d be more worried. But we did create and I think there are positives and we’re going in the right direction,” he added.

“It’s the hardest part of football, scoring a goal, we have to keep arriving, trying to create the chances, be there with good numbers, keep working on technique, which we can practice in training.

“But other than that it’s down to the players to find a way to put it in.

“I thought we pretty much dominated the second half.

“We’ve had 15 shots inside the box tonight and only scored one. That’s proving to be the difficult thing for us at the moment.”

Vincent Kompany was delighted after his side “battled” in the second half to pick up points on the road.

He said: “It was a complete performance in the first half and in the second half it was a battle and we showed character. From our defenders to our midfielders, coming in for second balls.

“Those who know us from the Championship will know we enjoy these type of games as well and it’s not something we shy away from.”

Neil Harris ruefully admitted Gillingham missed the influence of club captain Shaun Williams as they went down to a fourth defeat in seven games.

Goals from Connor O’Riordan and Joe White secured a 2-0 win to move the Railwaymen up to third in the Sky Bet League Two table.

The Gills have dropped out of the top seven and their current form is in stark contrast to the blistering start they made to the campaign when they led the table in mid-August.

Harris rested midfielder Williams and felt others did not step up to the challenge to show the type of leadership exhibited by the missing 36-year-old.

“We went behind to the softest of goals and I’ve got to look at that and see if I’ve got the right players out there or whether I need to change the way I want to play,” said Harris.

“We’ve fallen short and it wasn’t through not creating chances. But whether the mentality was right in the group or whether there was enough leadership and desire out there without Shaun Williams, I don’t know.

“Shaun was missed badly tonight, but I rested him because of the way he carries himself when he plays 90 minutes at the weekend, which means he struggles to make a Tuesday night squad.

“He is such an important player for us, but people have to step up and take responsibility. We have to find it in ourselves to make sure that we come to places like Crewe and be harder to beat than that.

“Crewe have been excellent at home and are 13 games unbeaten. You have to give them credit for that, but this was a game we should still be winning.”

O’Riordan’s far-post header edged the Cheshire side ahead in the 30th minute after Gillingham had threatened early on when Ethan Coleman thumped against a post and George Lapslie fired over.

Defender O’Riordan finished off a Zac Williams cross as Crewe worked the ball back into the box following a corner.

Macauley Bonne should have levelled soon after when Robbie McKenzie’s shot was pushed into his path by goalkeeper Harvey Davies, only for the striker to fire the rebound wide with the net gaping.

Crewe held firm in the second half and the closest Gillingham went to levelling was when Coleman headed a corner wide.

The home side sealed victory when substitutes Aaron Rowe and White combined, with the latter netting his first goal of his loan spell from Newcastle with five minutes remaining.

Crewe boss Lee Bell said: “We had to work hard for that as Gillingham are a good team with an excellent manager. We rode our luck a couple of times in the first half and Harvey Davies made an outstanding save.

“But our shape was excellent and we really nullified them in the second half, and took our chance to seal it on the break. It was good to see Joe White tuck that away.

“I was really pleased with our defending against a team that can really hurt you. That is 13 games unbeaten at home overlapping from last season.

“We want to make the place a fortress and a hard place for teams to come to. But we also played some decent football tonight and we had some dangerous moments.”