Midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White says he was “buzzing” when Lee Carsley was named as the interim England manager, saying the job suits him.

Gibbs-White played a key part under Carsley when England won the Under-21 European Championship.

READ MORE: New era for England – who has a point to prove?

“I’m a winner, I’m not a good loser. You can see when I’m angry and upset on the pitch. Those things I had to change.

“I needed to be a better team-mate. It’s not always about ‘me, me, me’. Sometimes, I can use the team to make me look better and the team can use me to be better too.

“A lot of harsh realities were spoken, a lot of straight talking from people around me – my family, friends, my agent, other coaches that I’ve worked with.

“I took it on board, and the move to France came at the right time for me to go away, put my head down, focus on football, focus on being a better person and getting the Wales call-up, it felt like it was working.

“I’m there (at Nantes) to improve as a player. It is a different environment, different tests which will make me a better player, so I can bring that to Wales.”

Thomas also believes playing in the position in which Bellamy starred is a benefit.

“Him showing faith in me was amazing for me and my family, and I just wanted to show him how good I am on the ball,” added Thomas.

“He is someone who played in the position I play in, and it is good to learn from him. He pulls me to one side to give me some advice.

“I’ve taken it on board, and he told me to just be free when I got the ball, and that’s what I did.

“We are going to be a threat at international level. The manager and the coaching staff, that is what they are going to make us do.

“We are a country coming under the radar and a lot of countries are going to be wary of us.

“The manager knows what he is doing. He has been around people like Vincent Kompany and played under top managers. It was the first game of a new era.”

Scotland became the 48th international side to suffer at Ronaldo’s feet, which was hardly a surprise.

But over this game and the Poland defeat there are still areas of major concern for Steve Clarke’s side. Five goals conceded makes it a total of 33 against in their past 14 games.

In five of their past six matches they have conceded after the 85th minute. It is now one win in 14 games and no competitive win in the last year.

Against top opposition, Scotland cannot seem to stem the tide of goals. And late ones, at that.

“I reiterated to my players that we have to understand what part of the cycle we’re in, what we’re trying to build,” head coach Clarke said afterwards.

“We’re trying to re-adjust after the summer. We can lose these matches to try and build and make sure that the end goal, as always, is to qualify for the tournament.”

That suggests Clarke is trying to recalibrate how his team plays after a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign during which they barely fired a shot.

The switch from a back five to a 4-2-3-1 has shown better glimpses of attacking quality, and Scotland had a strong spell after conceding the equaliser to Bruno Fernandes.

The introduction of Ryan Gauld, Ben Doak, and Tommy Conway to this camp also hints at a different approach in preparation for next year’s World Cup qualifiers.

Evolution, not revolution was what Clarke described it as. On the evidence so far there is plenty of work to be done, with limited time to do it and top quality opposition to face.

England interim boss Lee Carsley says their win over the Republic of Ireland has boosted his confidence – admitting he had doubts about his ability to do the job.

Declan Rice and Jack Grealish scored the goals in a 2-0 win in the Nations League in Dublin on Saturday, in England’s first game since Gareth Southgate resigned.

Carsley, usually the England Under-21 manager, was put in interim charge for the games against the Irish and Finland at Wembley on Tuesday.

His senior managerial career was limited to short caretaker spells in charge of Coventry, Brentford and Birmingham between 2012 and 2017.

“In the back of your mind you always think… you know, it’s easy to be the England manager, isn’t it, when you’re sat in the house,” the former Republic of Ireland midfielder said.

“There have been times where I’ve thought I’m not sure if I could do it.

“But it [the Dublin win] has done my confidence good, and the rest of the staff as well, that actually we’re OK, we’ll be all right.

“I think it’s natural to have doubts.”

Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White won last year’s European Under-21 Championship under Carsley.

And he was handed his senior debut by the ex-Everton player on Saturday.

“I’d say he’s a bit more serious now [than when he was Under-21 boss], which is a good thing,” Gibbs-White said.

“He’s stepped up a role and I feel like he’s taking everything as seriously as he can and fair play to him, that shows he wants to stay.”

Virgil van Dijk wants to sign new Liverpool deal, Barcelona target Germany’s Jonathan Tah and Joshua Kimmich, Manchester United and Newcastle United keen on Adrien Rabiot.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk’s contract runs out next summer and the 33-year-old Netherlands international says he wants to sign a new deal to stay at the club until the 2026 World Cup. (Mirror), external

Arsenal are unwilling to let Italy midfielder Jorginho leave the club, despite Galatasaray reportedly being interested in bringing in the 32-year-old before the Turkish transfer window closes. (Talksport), external

Barcelona are targeting Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah, 28, and 29-year-old Bayern Munich right-back Joshua Kimmich, who both play for Germany, amid uncertainty about the futures of Uruguay defender Ronaldo Araujo, 25, and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 27, at the Nou Camp. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish) , external

Paris St-Germain are working to extend manager Luis Enrique’s contract, which currently runs until in June 2025. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Canada striker Jonathan David, who was linked with Chelsea in the summer, has said he held talks with a “couple of teams” but chose to stay at Lille. The 24-year-old added he is now discussing extending his contract beyond next summer with the French club. (Athletic), external

Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are among the clubs interested in 31-year-old Ghana and Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey. (Caught Offside), external

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill felt the playing surface at the Stadion Hristo Botev was as poor as he had seen “in a long time” after his side were beaten 1-0 by Bulgaria in the Nations League.

The only goal of the League C game came in the 40th minute when visiting goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell misplaced a pass that led to a tap-in for Bulgarian captain Kiril Despodov.

In a game of few opportunities, the pitch in Plovdiv appeared to make moving the ball difficult for both sides.

When asked if the surface was acceptable for international football, O’Neill answered “no”.

He added: “It’s not an excuse because it’s the same for the Bulgarian players, but that’s as poor a pitch as we’ve had in a long time.

“It didn’t help either team and it probably led to a physical game and it made life difficult for the referee. Challenges looked mistimed, and there were probably too many yellow cards for challenges that were a consequence of the pitch as much as anything else.”

Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir has expressed her delight at putting “the most challenging time in my career” behind her by scoring a double for Real Madrid on her return from nearly a year on the sidelines through injury.

The 29-year-old also supplied an assist as Real opened the Primera Division Femenina with a 5-0 thrashing of hosts Espanyol.

Weir rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament during Scotland’s Nations League match with Belgium last September.

“What a rollercoaster the last 11 months have been,” she said on Instagram. “Definitely the most challenging time in my career filled with so many ups and downs.

“Rehab is relentless, but I tried my best to embrace the challenge – easier said than done sometimes – and have learned a lot along the way.

“I had thought about the moment I’d be back playing in a competitive match many times and some days it genuinely felt like it would never come, but it has.”