Gareth Southgate showed footage of Sir Bobby Charlton to his squad ahead of England paying tribute to the 1966 World Cup winner at Wembley. The jewel in the crown for club and country, the news of Charlton’s death at the age of 86 on October 21 reverberated around the world. Southgate was at Charlton’s funeral at Manchester Cathedral on Monday and further tributes will be paid to the England and Manchester United great on Friday evening at Wembley. The Euro 2024 qualifier against Malta is the senior men’s team’s first match since Charlton’s death and a crowd mosaic is planned, along with a video celebrating his life. There will be a pre-match ceremony, period of applause and players will wear black armbands in memory of a man whose importance to English football was reiterated to the squad this week. “A big part of what we’ve wanted to do with our players is to talk about our identity as a team,” England boss Southgate said. “Part of that is knowing the history of our team and having an understanding of how special some of the players that have been England internationals before are. There were lots of messages within that for all of the players but, most importantly, an incredible player, an incredible man. Gareth Southgate on Sir Bobby Charlton “We’ve had the chance to do that this week. We showed some footage of Sir Bobby to the players, the first day we arrived. “A reminder that, of course, even a Liverpool man (like Trent Alexander-Arnold next to me) given Bobby’s performances with England can relate to his importance for English football. “You can have a fabulous club career and an international career. “At times those things can come into conflict because club managers of course have got to look after their own roles and responsibilities, and that can put players in difficult positions with all international teams, frankly. “But your international team will always be there as well and if you can win something with your international team, it’s probably bigger than anything else you’re going to experience. “So, there were lots of messages within that for all of the players but, most importantly, an incredible player, an incredible man.” Southgate has underlined the history and importance of representing England throughout his reign, with their training pitch at St George’s Park renamed in Charlton’s honour in 2017. The former defender has overseen an impressive turnaround in performances and a reconnection with supporters since first taking charge, initially on a temporary basis, in October 2016. That match was a home qualifier against Malta and the Mediterranean minnows return to Wembley for the first since then in Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier. England secured progress with two games to spare and it appears can seal their place among the top seeds by winning on Friday, yet Southgate is never far away from criticism. “Well, the reality of that is however well we play tomorrow people will just say it’s a lower ranked opponent, so it’ll be irrelevant,” he said with a laugh. “People are going to have opinions. I’m probably tired of trying to fight that. “In the end, it will be what it is. So, I’ll just let our results and performances speak for themselves. “You’re never going to please everybody, so the best way as a football manager is keep winning matches, frankly.” Southgate heads into England’s final home match of 2023 without a glut of key players, with five withdrawing, two absent for part of this week and three new faces brought in. Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer and Ezri Konsa will be dreaming of making their debut, but the likes of Anthony Gordon remain on the outside looking in. The 22-year-old has shone for Newcastle this season and reports have emerged that Scotland are looking to call up the England Under-21 European champion. “He’s a good player,” Southgate said. “He was very good with our Under-21s last year. He’s very close, I have to say. “I like his attitude, I like the way he works so hard for the team. “Of course, I’m sure he was hoping to get a call at this moment, but there are good players playing well in that position on the field. “But I think, like a couple of others, they’ve always got to think a little bit further ahead as to, you know, opportunities that can come up. “I think for somebody like Anthony that’s eminently possible with us.” Read More Steve Clarke praises Scotland for keeping their heads after late draw in Georgia You’re getting smashed to pieces – Tyson Fury unleashes tirade at Oleksandr Usyk ‘Great spectacle of cricket’ – Australia relishing World Cup final against India Mallory Franklin: Kayak cross unknowns add to excitement ahead of Olympic debut Jarell Quansah keen to become ‘top centre-back’ after Liverpool breakthrough Liam Dawson sees promise in fellow spinner Rehan Ahmed but calls for patience

Maggie Moore(s) director John Slattery is joined by Nick Mohammed to give us the background

Chase Young is not going to the Lions.

Deshaun Watson out for the season due to shoulder injury

Wales kept their Euro 2024 qualification hopes alive with a 2-0 win in Latvia as Aaron Ramsey’s 100th career goal and a David Brooks clincher lifted the pressure on under-fire manager Rob Page. Ramsey stroked home a 29th-minute penalty – his 21st goal for Wales – before Brooks, on as a substitute for the injured captain, settled matters in the sixth minute of stoppage time. The victory was Wales’ second in 14 attempts and gives them renewed hope that they can claim a top-two place in Group D. On a night when Wales simply had to win or be left with a play-off route to Germany next summer, there was further good news before kick-off as group leaders Croatia did them a favour by winning 1-0 in Armenia. Croatia are Wales’ next Euro opponents in Cardiff next month, and Page can now look forward to that game after heading to Riga with huge question marks over his future. The 49-year-old was feted as a national hero after leading Wales to their first World Cup for 64 years, but poor performances at that tournament and in this campaign had prompted large parts of the fan base to call for managerial change. Page had drawn encouragement from Thursday’s friendly with South Korea – and he named 10 of the side who started that goalless draw in Cardiff. Captain Ramsey returned in place of Nathan Broadhead as Burnley’s Connor Roberts won his 50th cap. Jordan James made his first competitive start and the 19-year-old suggested he may be a mainstay of the Wales midfield for some time to come. Latvia had drawn a complete blank in Euro 2024 qualifying, losing all four games, with three of them – including a 1-0 away defeat to Wales in March – by a single goal margin. The tiny three-sided Skonto Stadium, with cars parked behind one goal, seemed at odds with what was such an important night in Welsh football. But over 1,000 Wales fans were in a crowd of 6,464. There had been a mood of sporting celebration in Riga throughout the day as Latvians turned out to honour their basketball players, who had recorded a best finish of fifth at the sport’s World Cup, in the city. Wales should have had the perfect start inside 75 seconds when Ethan Ampadu released Brennan Johnson but Tottenham’s new striker skied over on his unfavoured left side. Ampadu was off-target from a Harry Wilson corner but Wales were threatening at set-pieces. Chris Mepham met another Wilson corner at the far post and Ben Davies reached the deflected ball first to force Roberts Ozols into a flying save in the Latvian goal. Chances continued to come and go for Wales with Johnson wayward again and Ozols producing stops to deny Wilson and Roberts. There was a danger that frustration would creep in, but Latvia provided a helping hand when Kaspars Dubra bundled over Wilson after 28 minutes. The incident survived a VAR check for a potential offside in the build-up and Ramsey coolly converted for his landmark goal. Wales should have been out of sight in the next 10 minutes as Neco Williams and Johnson fired wide when well-placed and Ozols denied Wilson again. Latvia had shown nothing as an attacking force for 41 minutes before suddenly bursting into life. Ward shovelled out a Janis Ikaunieks header that Roberts had to clear as the Latvian striker prepared to pounce for the rebound, while Raimonds Krollis almost profited twice after being left unguarded. Wales suffered a blow four minutes into the second half when Ramsey signalled to the bench to come off, with David Brooks taking his place. The worry was that Wales would miss Ramsey’s stabilising influence and Krollis went close after Johnson had driven wide. Latvia might have been reduced to 10 men when Ikaunieks aimed a wild kick at James. Slovakian referee Michal Ocenas brandished a yellow card before being asked to review the decision at the VAR monitor. After a two-minute check Ocenas stuck with his original decision and Ikaunieks escaped further sanction. The final quarter became very fragmented with a series of niggly fouls. Ikaunieks’ 20-yard shot flew into the side netting and, while that would have represented the cruellest punishment for Wales, Brooks ended matters by racing on to Wilson’s pass and scoring with the most delicious of chips. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba provisionally suspended for anti-doping offence The key talking points ahead of Scotland v England at Hampden Park Gareth Southgate says England like Harvey Barnes amid talk of Scotland switch

Taylor Walls hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the fifth inning, Jose Siri caught Aaron Judge’s fly in front of the center-field wall for the final out and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 8-7 for a four-game series split

Max Verstappen demonstrated that he and Red Bull have enough performance advantage in hand to deliver an unprecedented invincible year...

Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray admitted his side are in “good spirits” ahead of the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final at Luton. The Black Cats take a slender advantage into the game after securing a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light in the first leg on Saturday. Luton had gone ahead in the 11th minute through Elijah Adebayo’s close-range strike, but Amad Diallo curled in a stunning equaliser before Trai Hume headed them in front after the break. “I think the team are in good spirits. I’ve said all season, we believe we can compete against anybody in the league,” Mowbray told a pre-match press conference. “This game is against a team who finished 11 points in front of us, finished third in the league, a fantastic season Luton have had, they’ve been growing their club for the last three or four years. “They’ve got an experienced group of players, very together, and you can feel that. I said at the last press conference, you feel their comradeship. “I think we did amazing to come out on top in the first game and I’m not anticipating too much difference second game. It’s a tighter environment of course, if anything they might double down on what they do and how they play and we have to try and do the same.” Sunderland will be aiming to build on their lead at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night and Mowbray urged his side to “enjoy the challenge” of playing against the Hatters. He added: “Obviously (we’ve) been there this season, it’s a tight ground, tight dressing room, tight tunnel, it feels a tighter pitch than the Stadium of Light. “It’s a totally different challenge for us but one that we should look forward to and go with some confidence and enjoy the challenge of trying to play against a team that are very athletic, very physical. “If they get their game plan right, they could give us lots of problems, of course, but we have to concentrate on what we do well and see if we can give them problems.” There are more injury concerns for an already stretched Sunderland side, with Mowbray admitting he is unsure whether Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts will be involved. Both players were withdrawn in the final 10 minutes of the first leg, but Mowbray confirmed that Aji Alese could be involved following his return to training. “Pritchard and Roberts are touch and go, I’d suggest,” the Sunderland boss said. “They might both make it, they both might not make it, one might make it. I sit here today not really knowing. “Alese trained today, which is good. I discussed with him maybe (being) on the bench. “A 6ft 3ins kid who can run all day up and down, whether we get him on the pitch if they’re chasing a goal or putting it in our box, it will be good to have someone over the height of six foot in there to try and head it out. “We’re not too far away from what we were the other day.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Michael Carrick not losing sleep in Middlesbrough’s bid to overcome Coventry Carlos Alcaraz stunned by world number 135 Fabian Marozsan at Italian Open Alex Iwobi targets maximum haul from Everton’s crucial last two games

Liverpool overcame an early deficit and a disputed red card to beat Bournemouth 3-1 at Anfield in the English Premier League for its first win of the season

The Detroit Pistons have agreed to a record deal with Monty Williams to be the franchise's new head coach, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

DraftKings and FanDuel are giving new users a combined $400 bonus betting just $10 on college football this weekend! Read here how to claim each offer.

The Kings are reportedly putting their names in the Bradley Beal sweepstakes. Is this a good move or bad move for both organizations? Will the Wizards be able to get anything worthwhile out of Beal considering his no-trade clause?According to Shams Charania, the Kings could be a suitor for Bradl...