Leyton Orient have paid tribute to supporter Derek Reynolds, who died after being taken unwell towards the end of the League One match against Lincoln on Tuesday night.

After fans had gone on to the pitch to alert the referee to the medical emergency in the East Stand, the match was halted in the 82nd minute and eventually abandoned.

The London Ambulance Service confirmed on Wednesday morning that despite extensive treatment and the combined efforts at the scene – which included an incident response officer, two medics in fast-response cars and an ambulance crew – the 74-year-old man had later been pronounced dead.

On Wednesday afternoon, Orient revealed plans to pay tribute to Reynolds at Saturday’s home game against Reading, with his family invited as guests of the club.

A book of condolence will be available for supporters in the East Stand to sign on Saturday, and then afterwards for all fans in West Stand reception.

“Leyton Orient Football Club is devastated to confirm that supporter Derek Reynolds has passed away,” a club statement read.

“Derek, 74, became unwell at Brisbane Road during Tuesday evening’s league fixture against Lincoln City.

“Despite the best efforts of Derek’s fellow supporters and medical professionals from the club’s on-site paramedics and doctors, Lincoln City and the London Ambulance Service, he sadly lost his life.

“Derek was a lifelong O’s supporter and he lived in Osbourne Road, a short walk from the ground, for many years. As well as being a lifelong fan, Derek was heavily involved in the club and managed the club’s tannoy system during the 1990s.

“The club will be paying tribute to Derek at Saturday’s home fixture against Reading and his family have been invited to the game as guests of the club.

“We would, once again, like to thank Derek’s fellow supporters for the way in which they conducted themselves on Tuesday night and acted to try and help the situation.”

Lincoln also passed on the club’s condolences.

“The thoughts of everyone connected with Lincoln City are with the family of the Leyton Orient supporter Derek Reynolds who passed away during Tuesday night’s game at Brisbane Road,” the Imps said in a post on social media.

Orient were leading 1-0 when the game was stopped, through an early goal from Joe Pigott.

The English Football League will determine whether the fixture will be rescheduled, or if the result at the time of the abandonment will stand. The decision will be taken only after consultation with both clubs.

Guidance is in place for clubs if a supporter becomes unwell in a stadium, with local circumstances determining the action taken.

It is strongly advised the nearest steward is made aware, who will ensure the crowd medical team is notified and that appropriate care is provided.

Then should a situation arise where there is a need for the match to be halted, a decision will be taken between the crowd medical team, the ground safety team and the match officials, with the information relayed to the supporters at the ground. The EFL will also be informed at this point.

All clubs have a matchday medical plan with dedicated crowd medical teams in the stadium, ready to assist at any point during the game.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke believes he has the depth and flexibility to cope with the loss of Kieran Tierney for next week’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Spain.

Tierney suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Real Sociedad on Saturday and Clarke has added left-back Greg Taylor and centre-back Liam Cooper to his squad.

Scotland will qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany if they get a point in Seville on October 12.

“First and foremost it’s a shame for Kieran,” Clarke said. “He got a really good move on loan to Sociedad, started really well and obviously picked up what looks like quite a significant injury.

“We will miss him but I know Kieran, he will work as hard as he can to get back as quickly as possible, and we will be there to support him, and hopefully we are waiting on the other side for him as well with some good news.

“The squad is strong, I believe I have good options. It’s nice to be able to call on people like Greg Taylor, who has started the season well with Celtic. Liam Cooper has come back to the squad as well, which gives me another option.”

Clarke devised his three-man central defence to fit Tierney inside wing-back Andy Robertson and does not have another central defender who can carry the ball forward like the Arsenal man.

Scotland took seven points from three Nations League games in September 2022 while playing a back four in the absence of the injured Tierney, and Clarke is considering his options.

“What you have to weigh up is whether you have time on the training pitch to change the team, to change the system,” said Clarke, whose team also face France in a friendly in Lille on October 17.

“This one is a little bit more difficult because it’s a Thursday match, so the first match is difficult in terms of changing the system.

“That’s not to say we won’t do it because we have done it before. If I feel it’s the right way to go, then we can change the system.

“We still have games this week and at the weekend. You have to wait and see which squad actually turns up, hopefully no more injuries. Once I’ve got everybody in camp, we will make a decision on how we are going to go.

“Then we will have two quite short training sessions to work on the tactical side of it, and we will make sure we get that right.

“I think we could easily slot back into it because most of the players play with a back four with their club, so it’s not as if you are asking them to do something they can’t do.

“They proved in that September week of the Nations League that they could adapt very quickly to a different system.

“It’s a system that we quite often change to within games, if we have to get after the game and maybe chase it a little bit. So it’s a system we can use.”

Clarke admitted he was “nowhere” with the possibility of Newcastle pair Harvey Barnes and Elliot Anderson being involved.

Whitley Bay-born Anderson last week indicated he wanted more time to consider his international future, having left the last Scotland camp after two days following his first call-up to the full squad.

England cap Barnes was recently reported to be considering a switch of allegiance but was last week ruled out for three months with a foot injury.

Clarke said: “I haven’t spoken to Harvey for a long time, so nothing on that one.

“Similar with Elliot, he left the last camp and I haven’t spoken to him since. I haven’t picked him for this camp and I move on and work with the players we have got.”

Clarke would not rule out picking Anderson again “if he doesn’t choose England” but added: “Listen, Elliot is a young man making his way in the game. He has got a big decision to make, international-wise, so let’s just give the boy a little bit of time and space to make that decision.”

The only other change sees Luton striker Jacob Brown replace Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland.

Clarke said: “I had a chat with Lawrence, no problems. It was just a decision I wanted to make for this camp.

“Obviously Lawrence was in the last camp but didn’t get any minutes on the pitch and I felt there could be a similar scenario this time.

“I also wanted to have a look at Jacob because he has started quite well at Luton, playing week in, week out in the Premier League.”

Chelsea defender Reece James has been fined £90,000 and banned for one game after admitting to abusing a match official after last month’s defeat to Aston Villa.

England wing-back James, 23, who was not in the matchday squad due to injury when Villa secured a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, was reported for his behaviour towards the official in the tunnel after the match.

The FA said on its Spokesperson Twitter account: “Reece James has been given a one-match suspension and £90,000 fine for breaching FA Rule E3 at Chelsea’s Premier League match against Aston Villa on Sunday September 24.

“The defender admitted that he used improper, insulting and/or abusive words and behaviour towards a match official in the tunnel after the final whistle.

“An independent Regulatory Commission imposed these sanctions following a hearing, and its written reasons for them will be published at the earliest opportunity.”

James sustained a hamstring injury in training last month and has not appeared for Mauricio Pochettino’s side since the home draw against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.

Chelsea are hoping James will be fit to return to action in the home Premier League game against Arsenal on October 21.

Rob Page has described the loss of “big players” Aaron Ramsey and Brennan Johnson for Wales’ vital Euro 2024 qualifier with Croatia as a “blow”, but is confident the pair will be fit for final group games in November.

Skipper Ramsey misses out with a knee tendon problem that has forced him to miss Cardiff’s last five games, while Tottenham’s new £47.5million forward Johnson is sidelined by a hamstring injury sustained in the north London derby draw at Arsenal.

“I don’t think the injuries are too serious but unfortunately it has put both players out of this camp,” Wales manager Page said.

“It is a blow for us because they are big players for us. Aaron has probably been playing his most relaxed football, so that is an added blow.

“Brennan has picked up an injury. To what level we still don’t know yet, but it rules him out of this camp.

“In spite of the injuries, we’ve still got enough in the team from a forward perspective to create chances against Croatia.

“We are quite strong in those positions with David Brooks, Harry Wilson and Kieffer Moore.”

There have been fears that 32-year-old Ramsey may require surgery after making such a promising start to the season upon returning to hometown club Cardiff.

But Page is hopeful Ramsey and Johnson will both be available for the November double-header against Armenia and Turkey, which will decide if Wales secure automatic Euro 2024 qualification or are forced to rely on the play-offs.

“To be mentioning surgery suggests it is a significant injury,” Page said. “I had injuries as a player and you can let it heal naturally or go down the surgery route.

“I would always take the option for it to heal naturally, so I get it why he’s gone down that route.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a spell of games going beyond November that he’s going to miss.

“So we’re confident that we can get him back for November’s camp providing how well he heals. But we’ll have to wait and see.”

On Johnson, Page added: “It’s not a serious one but the timing dictates it (his omission). If he’s not going to be right for Spurs, then it’s not fair for us to pick him and try and play him.”

Page has handed first senior call-ups to midfielder Charlie Savage – son of former Wales international Robbie – and full-back Owen Beck, the great nephew of Ian Rush.

Uncapped Fulham teenager Luke Harris also returns to the squad, with Wales hosting Gibraltar in a Wrexham friendly, four days before the Croatia clash in Cardiff.

Asked if Savage senior, his former teammate, had been in touch, Page said: “Numerous times, I can’t get him off the phone. I’ve had to tell him: ‘Stop texting me, I know he’s doing OK.’

“You know what Rob’s like, he’s very enthusiastic, but Charlie can take care of himself.

“Look at what Rob went through when he left Man United years ago to get a career for himself going at Crewe. No different to Charlie, who has gone out to Reading where he has been playing and scoring goals.”

Wrexham striker Paul Mullin has been put on the standby list after scoring nearly 80 goals in just over two seasons for the Red Dragons, now in Sky Bet League Two after last season’s promotion from the National League.

Mullin, 28, who qualifies through his Welsh-born grandmother, has only just returned to action after puncturing a lung and fracturing four ribs on Wrexham’s pre-season tour to the United States.

Page said: “He’s on standby for the squad and one step away.

“We monitor Welsh players up and down the country, and if they are scoring goals at whatever level we’ll take note.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has called for their match against Tottenham to be replayed due to the glaring VAR error which cost them the opening goal.

The fall-out from the VAR failure in Saturday’s defeat – in which officials wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal due to a misunderstanding of the on-field decision – is still being felt.

The Premier Game Match Officials Ltd released the audio conversation between officials and the VAR after a request from Liverpool, but Klopp said that had made little difference to their thinking.

“The audio didn’t change it at all. It is an obvious mistake,” he said. “I think there should be solutions for that. I think the outcome should be a replay.

“The argument against that would be it opens the gates. It is unprecedented, it has not happened before.

“I’m used to wrong and difficult decisions, but something like this never happened and so that is why I think a replay is the right thing to do.”

Manchester United have endured their worst start to a season since 1986, following Tuesday night’s Champions League defeat at home to Galatasaray.

United have lost six of their opening 10 games in all competitions, a tally not seen since the latter stages of Ron Atkinson’s managerial reign.

Here, the PA news agency compares their current struggles with previous poor starts.

37-year low

Erik ten Hag’s side were booed off the pitch on Tuesday after another disappointing performance at Old Trafford.

The 3-2 loss to Galatasaray was United’s second in successive Champions League matches – following a 4-3 reverse against Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich – to go with four Premier League defeats.

The Red Devils succumbed 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, compounding previous losses against Brighton, Arsenal and Tottenham.

A 3-0 win over Palace in the Carabao Cup last week was by far their most convincing of the season, with narrow Premier League victories against Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Wolves doing little to silence the doubters.

United’s total of six defeats in 10 games is their highest since the 1986-87 season – the year that Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of the club.

Under Ferguson’s predecessor Atkinson, United lost six of their first eight Premier League games, with a 5-1 win over Southampton in mid-September providing only temporary respite.

Atkinson was sacked in early November with United in the bottom four of the First Division.

No defence

United’s main issues under Ten Hag appear to be in defence, with the Dutchman having watched his side concede 18 goals already this term.

They have shipped at least three goals on four separate occasions – at home to Galatasaray and Brighton and away to Bayern and Arsenal.

Goalkeeper Andre Onana is yet to prove himself to be a significant upgrade on David de Gea, while a back four shorn of key injury absentees such as Lisandro Martinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw looked all at sea against Wilfried Zaha and co on Tuesday.

Their total number of goals conceded is higher than the 13 shipped in the first 10 games in 1986-87, and surpasses anything seen in the Ferguson era or subsequently.

United also struggled defensively at the start of 2022-23, conceding 17 goals in the first 10 games – a tally matched only by Louis van Gaal’s first season (2014-15) and one of Ferguson’s early campaigns at the club (1989-90).

However, Ten Hag oversaw a significant improvement in the remainder of last season, with United going on to keep a Premier League-leading 17 clean sheets across the whole campaign.

A man has died after being taken unwell towards the end of Leyton Orient and Lincoln’s abandoned Sky Bet League One match at Brisbane Road, the London Ambulance Service has confirmed.

A fan ran on the pitch towards referee Stephen Martin to draw attention to the fact that a member of the public needed medical attention in the East Stand.

The match then continued for less than a minute before around 20 supporters sat down on the pitch at the home end to alert the referee to the continuing medical emergency, with play soon halted.

As paramedics appeared to give the man CPR on the side of the pitch, the referee took the teams off the field.

The match was abandoned an hour after the initial stoppage occurred and as the fans left the ground, the medical teams were still in attendance.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday the man had later been pronounced dead.

“We were called yesterday at 9:28pm to reports of a person becoming unwell at Leyton Orient Football Club, on Brisbane Road,” a London Ambulance Service spokesperson said in a statement.

“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including an incident response officer, two medics in fast-response cars and an ambulance crew. Our first medic arrived in approximately four minutes.

“We treated a man at the scene, but very sadly, despite our teams’ best efforts, he was later pronounced dead.”

Leyton Orient were leading 1-0 when the game was stopped, through an early goal from Joe Pigott.

The English Football League will determine whether the fixture will be rescheduled, or if the result at the time of the abandonment will stand. The decision will be taken only after consultation with both clubs.

Guidance is in place for clubs if a supporter becomes unwell in a stadium, with local circumstances determining the action taken.

It is strongly advised the nearest steward is made aware, who will ensure that the crowd medical team is notified and that appropriate care is provided.

Then should a situation arise where there is a need for the match to be halted, a decision will be taken between the crowd medical team, the ground safety team and the match officials, with the information relayed to the supporters at the ground. The EFL will also be informed at this point.

All clubs have a matchday medical plan with dedicated crowd medical teams in the stadium, ready to assist at any point during the match.

Leyton Orient issued a statement on Tuesday evening following the decision to abandoned the game.

“The thoughts of everyone at Leyton Orient Football Club are with the individual involved and their loved ones at this distressing time,” the statement read.

“The club would like to thank all supporters in attendance at Brisbane Road this evening for the understanding and compassion shown, during a very difficult situation.

“The club will provide a further update in due course.”

Liam Cooper, Greg Taylor and Jacob Brown have been recalled to the Scotland squad for the Euro 2024 qualifier in Spain.

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland drops out along with, as expected, Newcastle midfielder Elliot Anderson.

Whitley Bay-born Anderson last week indicated he wanted more time to consider his international future, having left the last Scotland camp after two days following his first call-up to the full squad.

Leeds defender Cooper returns from injury while Celtic left-back Taylor replaces Kieran Tierney, who suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Luton striker Brown is yet to score in the Premier League since his move from Stoke, while Shankland has gone seven matches without scoring after hitting five goals in his first six games of the season for Hearts.

Scotland have won their opening five games and are six points ahead of second-placed Spain ahead of their trip to Seville on October 12.

Steve Clarke’s side then face France in a friendly in Lille five days later.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard believes Bukayo Saka would be a miss for any team in the world as the England winger faces an anxious wait to see if he will be fit to face Manchester City.

Saka limped out of Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat in Lens, with manager Mikel Arteta admitting afterwards that it “didn’t look good” for the 22-year-old.

It was the third game in a row that Saka had started and failed to finish having also been forced off against Tottenham and in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Bournemouth.

He recovered from those two knocks to start at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where he teed up Gabriel Jesus to put the visitors ahead early on.

However, an error from David Raya led to Adrien Thomasson equalising before Saka’s night came to a premature end when he hobbled off with just 34 minutes on the clock.

Elye Wahi went on to hit the winner for the home side, who were hosting their first Champions League game in over two decades.

Meanwhile, Saka – who has featured in Arsenal’s last 87 Premier League games – now faces a race against time to be fit for the visit of reigning champions City on Sunday.

“We still have some great players, but I think every team in the world would miss Bukayo,” Odegaard said in the aftermath of the surprise loss.

“But we have to see what happens in the next few days. Hopefully it’s not too bad and he’s going to be ready.

“It’s a big game coming up and everyone is excited for the game. It will be a good game to play in. We have to look forward, make sure we’re ready and show up on the Sunday.”

This is Arsenal’s first season back in the Champions League in six years and – after thrashing PSV Eindhoven 4-0 in the opening Group B clash – their largely-inexperienced squad was given a reminder of how tough Europe’s top-tier club competition can be.

Asked if having to juggle Premier League and Champions League football could become a challenge, Odegaard replied: “I don’t think it’s an issue.

“Of course it’s tough to play in Europe. We played a good team, they were strong. They made it very difficult for us.

“We have to look at ourselves, learn, move on. I’m sure we’re going to get better and better so we take the lessons and move on.

“We want to win every game we play. Of course we’re disappointed now, but I think we got some good lessons today so we have to look at it in that way and make sure we learn.”

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has recalled Jamal Lewis and Callum Marshall to his squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against San Marino and Slovenia.

O’Neill’s side play San Marino and Slovenia in a Group H double-header on October 14 and 17 respectively, with both games at Windsor Park.

Newcastle defender Lewis, on loan at Watford, missed last month’s defeats in Slovenia and Kazakhstan through injury.

Striker Marshall has forced his way back into O’Neill’s plans after scoring nine goals in 12 appearances for West Ham Under-21s.

Midfielders Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock) and Paddy Lane (Portsmouth), defenders Eoin Toal (Bolton) and Brodie Spencer (Motherwell) and QPR winger Paul Smyth have all retained their places in the squad.

Oxford defender Ciaron Brown has not been included after sustaining injury against Slovenia last month, while Blackpool striker Shayne Lavery and Portsmouth winger Gavin Whyte have also been left out despite recently returning from injury for their clubs.

O’Neill will be without defender Craig Cathcart, who announced his retirement last month, while experienced midfielders Steven Davis (Rangers), Corry Evans (Sunderland), Stuart Dallas (Leeds) and Shane Ferguson (Rotherham) are still recovering from long-term injuries.

Liverpool wing-back Conor Bradley and Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly are also unavailable through injury.

Northern Ireland’s qualification hopes are over after O’Neill’s injury-hit squad slipped to five straight group defeats and the former Stoke boss is now building for the future.

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?