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• Carsley did not apply for full-time England job, wants 'no regrets'

  Lee Carsley revealed he did not formally apply to become the next England manager and wants "no regrets" over his time as interim boss.

  Gareth Southgate left his position as England manager following their Euro 2024 final defeat in July, with the Football Association (FA) turning to Carsley for the Nations League fixtures.

  He has won two of his three games so far, following up back-to-back wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday.

  With the return trip against Finland in Helsinki next up for the Three Lions, Carsley admitted prior to the game that he did not apply for the job during the application process earlier this year.

  "No, I didn't apply for it," he told talkSPORT. "Because hopefully… I have been doing the U21s, and I am really happy with my job.

  "I am an employee of the FA, and I was asked to take the senior team, which is a privilege. It was the proudest moment of my career.

  "I am in a really fortunate position in that I am on the inside and I can see how much potential this team's got. It is one of the best jobs in world football.

  "There aren’t many jobs where you’ve got a chance of winning. I believe the coach that comes in has got a really good chance of winning, and we deserve the best one that's out there."

  Carsley was aiming to become the first England manager to win his first three competitive matches in charge since Fabio Capello in 2008, before Greece claimed their first-ever win over the Three Lions.

  The 50-year-old selected an experimental line-up against Greece, fielding five attacking players, but no recognised striker, leaving the side unbalanced,

  Harry Kane missed that game with a knock but is expected to return for the trip to Helsinki, having scored twice when they met them in September.

  There was widespread criticism of the team after the full-time whistle, but Carsley says he did not want to play it safe during his time as interim boss.

  "I think the reaction [to the loss against Greece] is fair enough. You have to respect people's opinions. We didn't perform as well as we can on the night, and I would expect a reaction [against Finland]," Carsley said in his press conference.

  "I think it's something that I'll look back on in maybe two or three months and, you know, be better for it.

  "I wanted to give this job my best shot for the three camps that we spoke about. I didn't want to have any regrets.

  "It's important we do try something different at times. I think I'll be a better coach for that."

• Croatia 2-1 Scotland: Kramaric rounds off comeback as visitors denied by late drama

  Andrej Kramaric's 70th-minute header was enough for Croatia to clinch a 2-1 victory over Scotland, with the visitors denied a last-gasp equaliser.

  The forward completed the comeback after Igor Matanovic cancelled out Ryan Christie's opener, but Kristijan Jakic's blushes were spared as his last-second own goal was disallowed for an offside against Che Adams.

  In a fairly even first half, Christie got the breakthrough, latching onto Luka Sucic's sliced attempted clearance, and bundling the ball over the line with help from Duje Caleta-Car.

  However, just under four minutes later, Croatia were back on level terms as Ivan Perisic cushioned the ball to Matanovic, who drilled his low shot into the bottom-right corner.

  The hosts upped the pressure after the break, and Sucic thought he had given them the lead, only to have his goal chalked off for a foul in the build-up.

  And they got their reward when Craig Gordon pushed away Borna Sosa's volley, with Kramaric on hand to nod it in from close range when it looped into the air.

  Adams had already sent a looping effort wide of the far post in his search for an equaliser and thought he had finally got it after pressuring Jakic into poking it over the line. However, he had done so from an offside position so VAR ruled it out, and Scotland were denied a first point this Nations League campaign.  

  Data Debrief: Scotland suffer more late heartbreak

  Late drama seems to follow Scotland everywhere in this competition at the moment - they lost their first two games in the competition due to late goals despite putting up a fight.

  As such, Scotland extended their longest winless run in competitive matches in their history (P9 D3 L6), while they have now lost four consecutive games for the first time in five years, last doing so in October 2019.

  The match-winner, Kramaric, scored his 30th goal for Croatia on his 99th appearance, with more than half of these (16) coming since he turned 30, while he has scored twice as many goals (eight) than any other Croatian player since the start of 2023.

• Saka and Jones withdraw from England's Nations League squad

  England have confirmed that Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Liverpool's Curtis Jones have withdrawn from the squad ahead of their Nations League clash with Finland on Sunday. 

  Saka was replaced by Noni Madueke in the 51st minute during England's shock 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday after picking up an injury in his right leg.

  It only adds to Mikel Arteta's injury worries ahead of facing Bournemouth next Saturday after Martin Odegaard was injured on international duty for Norway last month. 

  Saka has enjoyed a fine start to the Premier League campaign, scoring two goals and laying on a further seven assists in the Gunners' opening seven games. 

  The England international has also created more chances (27) than any other player in the division, with his nine goal involvements a total only bettered by Chelsea's Cole Palmer (11) and Manchester City's Erling Haaland (10). 

  Lee Carsley will also be without uncapped Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, who was added to the Three Lions squad earlier this week, but has since withdrawn due to a personal commitment. 

  Jones earned his first call-up in May as part of Gareth Southgate's provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024, but did not make the final cut.

  The 23-year-old was part of the Young Lions side that won the 2023 European Under-21 Championship under Carsley, scoring the only goal in their 1-0 win over Spain in the final.