Ryan Mason again reiterated he was ready to become Tottenham head coach on a dramatic day in the search for Antonio Conte’s successor after Julian Nagelsmann was ruled out of the running. Nagelsmann has been heavily linked with the post since his shock departure from Bayern Munich at the end of March. The 35-year-old was in the mix for the Spurs job in 2021 before Bayern swooped in at the time. When Conte left Tottenham soon after Nagelsmann’s dramatic exit from the Bundesliga champions, it was anticipated the German coach would again be in the running for the vacancy at the Premier League club. Speculation has rumbled on since but, while Tottenham have great respect for Nagelsmann, they will not be meeting or interviewing him for the role and he is not a contender, the PA news agency understands. Mason remains the current man in post on an acting head coach basis and earlier on Friday listed Eddie Howe as an inspiration after he took the Bournemouth job at the same age of 31. “I’ve always said I’m ready,” Mason insisted ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa. “I’m ready for this moment. I feel like I can help the club. That’s my general feeling and I’ll stay true to that. That’s been my feeling ever since the club trusted me to take on this responsibility. “Obviously, you mentioned Eddie Howe and he is an incredible manager. He’s an inspiration. “I think one, probably not spoken about a great deal as well, is Gary O’Neil. The job that he’s done (at Bournemouth) has gone under the radar a little bit but a young English manager and his first job.” Last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace earned Mason a first win during his second stint as Tottenham’s interim boss. During his first spell in 2021, where he won four of his six Premier League games, the former Spurs midfielder was accused by a section of supporters’ of favouritism towards his old team-mates. However, having dropped virtual ever-present Eric Dier last Saturday, Mason shut down those claims. He added: “That’s an absolute myth. I’ve never heard that, but if you’re saying that, it’s not true. “My job is to pick a team that I feel is best capable of winning a football match. It’s not a case of having friends. That was clear two years ago and that’s clear now. “I’m in a position where I need to do a job to the best of our abilities with my coaching team. “We’re professionals so every decision we make is in the best interests of the team and the football club.” Meanwhile, Tottenham talisman Harry Kane has spent some of the past week discussing the club’s current plight during various interviews and regularly referenced how key values had been lost in recent years. Kane mentioned how the culture and environment created by old boss Mauricio Pochettino had to be restored in a hint that his future could lie with Spurs despite continuously being linked with a move away. “I’m happy that I saw him speak out the other day on things that he wants to be in place going forward for this football club because it’s important that our best players drive and push for certain things,” Mason said. “It’s good. I back him. I think what he said is right.” Spurs have endured a difficult campaign with Conte and Cristian Stellini leaving, while Fabio Paratici departed his role as managing director of football after being given a worldwide ban for his role in allegations of false accounting at Juventus. On the pitch, Tottenham failed to go beyond the quarter-final stage in the Champions League, FA Cup or Carabao Cup and can only hope for a sixth-place finish now. But Mason stated: “We’re a big football club with big players, top players. “We have a lot to be successful and a lot to be excited about, so I’m not doom and gloom. Definitely not. We're not in as bad a position as some people might think....hopefully we can kick on and be successful Ryan Mason “I’m optimistic about this club. I believe in the group. I believe in the club. I believe that there’s many people here that want to make it right and want to put it right and be good. “Obviously, it’s been a difficult season for us, it has been quite up and down. I think some of it’s probably been self conflict. It’s come from within at times, which probably shouldn’t happen. “But we’re not in as bad a position as some people might think, we’re in a good position. And hopefully we can kick on and be successful.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Marco Silva wants assurances over Fulham ambition before discussing new deal Brendan Lawlor holds off Kipp Popert to win G4D Open Novak Djokovic makes winning return at Italian Open despite complaints

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Chloe Mustaki has not fully accustomed to the reality that in just three days she will walk out on the pitch at sold-out Stadium Australia as a member of the first Republic of Ireland squad to feature in a Women’s World Cup. The 27-year-old’s extraordinary journey to this point has been down a road rife with obstacles, from her cancer diagnosis at the age of 19 to a devastating anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2020 and the lonely Covid-19 lockdown recovery that followed. But when the Republic’s plane touched down in Australia it all began to crystallise for Bristol City defender Mustaki, who hopes she can tune out the noise of over 80,000 majority-home supporters expected to attend her side’s July 20 opener against World Cup co-hosts the Matildas. “I don’t think I have an idea of how insane it is going to be,” she admitted during a training session at Brisbane’s Meakin Park. “I am trying not to think about it too much, trying just to concentrate on the football. At the end of the day, when you walk onto the pitch, everything around you just fades away. “So, if we can just concentrate and focus and stay connected on the game, whoever is playing on that pitch, hopefully we can come out with the result. “It will be surreal, and we won’t really believe it until we see it, because it is something that only (captain) Katie (McCabe) and a few others have experienced and we might never experience it again, that amount of people, so we have to savour it.” Skipper McCabe, who plays her club football with Arsenal, has played big games at major venues like the FA Cup final at Wembley and a Champions League semi-final at the 60,704-seat Emirates, which the Gunners sold out for the first time in May. It will be surreal, and we won’t really believe it until we see it, because it is something that only (captain) Katie (McCabe) and a few others have experienced and we might never experience it again, that amount of people, so we have to savour it Chloe Mustaki Mustaki, on the other hand, reckons the 12,123 who attended the Republic’s World Cup qualifier against Sweden in Gothenburg was the largest crowd to ever watch her play. She was born in Ohio, USA, but spent most of her youth in Cabinteely, and previously captained the Republic’s Under-19 team that reached the semi-finals of the 2014 European Championship in Norway – where she experienced signs of what would turn out to be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Mustaki completed treatment in 2015, and has previously spoken about how that experience shifted her perspective and helped her get through the devastating ACL injury she sustained in training five years later. Though she was first called up to Republic’s senior squad that same year, rehabilitating the injury meant it took two more before she finally made her senior international debut against Russia in the 2022 Pinatar Cup. Mustaki took a huge risk last summer, quitting a comfortable job to become a full-time professional footballer when she signed with Bristol City. It paid off when the Robins earned promotion to the Women’s Super League and she signed a new two-year deal in June. That dream fulfilled, another is now on the horizon as Mustaki’s side, ranked number 22 in the world, prepare to face two of FIFA’s top-10 nations in Group B, Australia and Canada alongside Nigeria, with the two best finishers advancing to the knockout stage. She said: “Of course, it is in their home nation, they will have a massive support there and they will have prepared very well for us. It will be a battle but we will be ready for it and we love being the underdogs.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Wimbledon 2023: Women’s history made as men’s game has a changing of the guard From Chris Eubanks to Mirra Andreeva – Wimbledon’s headline makers in 2023 Novak Djokovic defeat the biggest surprise in a Wimbledon full of talking points

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Arsenal travel to Brentford for a tricky outing as the Premier League resumes following the international break. Mikel Arteta’s men started the day one point off the lead but behind Manchester City and Liverpool in the table and will keep the pressure on the champions with a victory this evening. Brentford, having another stellar season, have already been successful against some of the top sides this year by drawing against Tottenham and beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Thomas Frank will be targeting a spot in the top 10 and potentially a place in Europe following the Bees’ great start and to achieve that they’ll need to continue taking points away from the bigger clubs. Aaron Ramsdale has another chance to impress his manager as he is confirmed to be starting in goal. David Raya, Arteta’s seeming first choice keeper, is unable to play against his parent club and a strong performance from Ramsdale will keep him in the thoughts of the Spaniard. The match is also Arteta’s 200th in charge in all competitions, and he has the most wins compared to all previous Arsenal managers to reach that milestone. Follow all the action below plus get the latest odds and tips for the match right here:

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