Dwight McNeil’s clinical strike gave Everton their first win since they had 10 Premier League points deducted as they hung on to beat Nottingham Forest.

The win also helped Sean Dyche’s side, bottom at kick-off after Burnley’s 5-0 win over Sheffield United earlier, move off the foot of the table to 18th.

It heaps pressure on Forest boss Steve Cooper after consecutive home defeats.

Forest threw everything at Everton’s goal as the game headed towards the final whistle and the visitors were indebted to Jordan Pickford’s late heroics.

The England goalkeeper raced off his line to make a tackle to deny Anthony Elanga and produced a fine diving save to keep an effort from Murillo.

Everton’s margin of victory might have been greater had Beto not fluffed a golden chance and McNeil seen a goal-bound effort cleared off the line.

Forest, who had earlier seen Morgan Gibbs-White strike the side netting and Murillo hit the base of the post, were left to rue missed chances of their own.

Gritty win for Dyche’s battlers

Everton’s first game after they were handed a 10-point deduction by the Premier League for financial rule breaches ended in anti-climax last weekend.

The Goodison Park crowd were galvanised by the sense of injustice but on the pitch they surrendered to a tame 3-0 defeat to Manchester United..

Against Forest, the visiting fans continued to vocalise their views of the biggest sporting sanction meted out in Premier League history.

This time they had something to celebrate at the final whistle though, as Dyche’s side produced a determined performance bristling with the kind of unity which will serve them well as they look to climb out of the drop zone.

A familiar concern of last season’s relegation battle – just who will score the goals to keep them up? – had initially looked to damage those hopes.

Beto, handed an opportunity in place of the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, blazed over with the goal at his mercy midway through the first half.

Dyche turned on his heels and exhaled his frustrations with the Portuguese forward’s finishing in the direction of the bench.

The Everton manager’s breath cut through the night air again moments before half-time when McNeil saw his effort blocked on the line by Murillo.

By full-time though, Dyche was cheerfully slapping the backs of Everton’s players after victory was secured thanks to McNeil’s fine strike at the back post on 67 minutes.

Forest unable to deliver Cooper’s message

Curiously, before kick-off, Cooper emerged from the tunnel before both teams and applauded all four sides of the City Ground then made his way to his seat in the dug out.

The 43-year-old Welshman, who is respected and liked by supporters for his achievements with Forest, received a generous reception.

But whatever message Cooper had intended to send – to Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, or otherwise – was not matched by the result and he was left picking the bones out of their seventh defeat in 14 matches.

His side have now lost consecutive Premier League games at the City Ground for the first time since a run of three defeats in August and September last year.

Equally worryingly, they are now winless in the last 10 top-flight matches without Taiwo Awoniyi, having lost six of those. It looks like the Nigeria striker will not be back until early 2024 because of a groin injury.

The 26-year-old aggravated the problem playing for Nigeria during the international break and has had an operation for the issue.

Cooper will want to address the unwanted statistics and find some cutting edge elsewhere – and quickly – if he is keep both his job and Forest out of trouble.

Scotland will play Germany in the opening match of Euro 2024 after being drawn in the same group as the hosts.

Wales would be in Group D with France, the Netherlands and Austria at next summer’s tournament should they qualify via March’s play-offs.

Germany will face Steve Clarke’s Scotland in the opener at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Friday, 14 June.

Euro 2020 finalists England will begin their campaign on 16 June against Serbia.

Defending champions Italy, who beat Gareth Southgate’s side on penalties in the 2020 final, are up against three-time winners Spain, Croatia and Albania in Group B.

The final of Euro 2024 will take place on 14 July at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland

Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania

Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England

Group D: Play-off winners A, Netherlands, Austria, France

Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Play-off winners B

Group F: Turkey, Play-off winners C, Portugal, Czech Republic

Play-off winners A: Poland, Estonia, Wales, Finland, Estonia

Play-off winners B: Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, Iceland

Play-off winners C: Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg

Scotland will be ‘supremely confident’

Former Scotland forward James McFadden said Scotland “will be confident they can get out of” a difficult Group A that features three-time winners Germany.

“It’s a tough group, I’m not going to lie and say I’m delighted with the group,” he told BBC Two.

“The opening game against Germany will be a great occasion and all the pressure will be on Germany to go and get a result and that should suit Scotland because against the better sides, they tend to do OK.”

Scotland finished bottom of their group at Euro 2020, losing to Croatia and the Czech Republic, while they played out a goalless draw with England.

McFadden added: “I think Scotland will give a good account of themselves and be a very good side because they have had the experience of playing in the Euros before this group and the disappointment of those games. They will want to put it right.

“The players will be supremely confident going into this group stage.”

England ‘can’t complain’ about Group C

Southgate led England to the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley, which Italy won 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Former Three Lions striker Alan Shearer said Southgate will be “extremely happy” with England’s draw, with Serbia and Slovenia outside the world’s top 30, while 1992 champions Denmark are ranked 19th.

“I don’t think England can complain with that group,” Shearer said.

“I think it’s pretty favourable when you look at some of the teams that have been drawn out against each other.”

Ex-England forward Chris Sutton added that it was a “pretty soft” group for England.

Despite it not appearing the toughest group, Southgate says all the teams in Group C are “more than capable”.

“You can look at it on paper but the games aren’t played on paper,” he said.

Analysis

Phil McNulty, chief football writer

England will be highly satisfied with their draw for the Euro 2024 group stage and while it looks like a tougher route for Scotland, they will feel they can make their way through into the knockout phase.

As for Wales, if they get to Germany via the play-offs they will face a very hazardous assignment to take their campaign any further than the group.

England manager Gareth Southgate will ensure there is no complacency but a group containing Serbia, Denmark – who they beat in the semi-finals of Euro 2020 at Wembley – and Slovenia will surely hold no terrors for a side now ranked third in the latest Fifa rankings.

Scotland get the glamour of the opening game and the chance to make an instant impact against hosts Germany.

They will start that game as underdogs but manager Steve Clarke will know Germany are nowhere near the superpower of old and very much in transition under new coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Hungary and Switzerland are in with the Scots, who have been built into a solid and quietly confident unit under Clarke’s astute guidance. This is a group to certainly give them a measure of optimism.

If Wales make it to Germany they will have a daunting task as they will go into a group with the Netherlands, World Cup runners-up France and Ralf Rangnick’s Austria. Even if they successfully navigate the play-offs they will be rank outsiders.

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Paul Heckingbottom says he was “let down” by one or two of his Sheffield United players in their 5-0 loss away to Burnley.

MATCH REPORT: Burnley 5-0 Sheffield United

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The Women’s Champions League is set to become an 18-team league format from the 2025-26 season.

Uefa’s executive committee approved the changes at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday.

The women’s competition will align with the new men’s Champions League format which will be introduced next season.

From the 2024-25 campaign, the men’s tournament will become one 36-team league, in which clubs play four matches home and away in a seeded system before moving into the knockout stages.

Uefa has also given the green light to a second women’s European club competition and will release further details on Monday.

In addition the committee confirmed the match schedule for the Women’s Euros in Switzerland in 2025, with the final to be played at St Jakob-Park in Basel on 27 July.

Prize money for the men’s European Championship in Germany next summer will also remain at the same level as the delayed 2020 tournament.

A total of 331m euros (£283.5m) is set to be distributed, with the winning team potentially receiving a maximum payout of 28.25m euros (£24.2m).

The draw for Euro 2024 is live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app from 17:15 GMT.

Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca made a winning return to The Hawthorns as the Foxes left it late to beat his old club West Bromwich Albion.

Josh Maja’s late scrambled equaliser looked to have earned Albion a point in the 89th minute – his first goal for the Baggies.

But, with Albion chasing a winner, four minutes into added time, Dewsbury-Hall raced clear down the inside-left channel on a counter attack before squaring for Harry Winks to side-foot home the winner just inside the right post, to end a wobbly run of just one win in four games.

It stretched Leicester’s lead on top of the Championship to four points over second-placed Ipswich, ahead of the rest of the afternoon’s fixtures.

Carlos Corberan’s Baggies had won five of their previous six games but, in the end, were overpowered by the Foxes’ overall superiority.

Even Jamie Vardy, who had scored six times in five previous visits to The Hawthorns, was left on the bench as an unused substitute along with the likes of Conor Coady and Harry Souttar as the Foxes showed the true strength of their title-chasing squad.

Maresca’s promising 17 months as an Albion player ended happily for the Baggies when they banked £4m from his surprise sale to Juventus in January 2000, at a time when the club badly needed the money.

The Italian’s first return to The Hawthorns as a manager almost 24 years on coincided with another worrying time on the financial front for the Baggies, who are up for sale and this week announced that they had taken on an extra loan.

But the Baggies have remained remarkably competitive under boss Carlos Corberan – and gave the Foxes a very good game.

They were closest to breaking the deadlock when Cedric Kipre’s unwitting effort off his outstretched left leg from a corner cannoned back off the left upright.

But Leicester also hit the woodwork when Stephy Mavididi’s powerfully-struck effort deflected off Darnell Furlong, then the post and out for a corner.

Ndidi was then denied from a tight angle by Albion keeper Alex Palmer before Dewsbury-Hall, a late two-goal matchwinner against Coventry City on the opening weekend of the season, again showed his scorn for Midlands opposition when he timed his run to meet Ndidi’s cross and power home a closer-ranger header.

Substitute Maja then gave the Baggies hope when he levelled, just 14 minutes after coming on, only for that to be snuffed out by that Leicester breakaway winner.

Watch every England goal from Euro 2020 as goals from Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Raheem Sterling among others fire England to their first major men’s football final since 1966.

Follow the Euro 2024 draw on Saturday, 2 December at 17.15 GMT on BBC Two, the BBC Sport website and app.

Non-league Alfreton Town’s FA Cup second-round tie with League Two side Walsall was called off due to a frozen pitch just minutes before kick-off.

National League North club Alfreton are attempting to reach the third round for the first time in their history.

The game will be rearranged for a date yet to be confirmed.

The ground had filled up with fans after volunteers and club staff had worked hard to roll off covers they hoped had prevented the freezing temperatures from affecting the pitch.

However, referee Sam Allison made the decision to call the game off just after 12:20 GMT, less than 10 minutes before the scheduled kick-off.

The decision was met with boos from the home supporters who had turned up hoping to see a cup upset but Walsall boss Mat Sadler felt the correct call had been made.

“As soon as I walked in, I thought this game is going to be off. It was rock hard and I knew it wasn’t going to get any warmer,” he told BBC Match of the Day Live.

“I know they’ve tried to wait as long as they possibly can to see if we can get it played but I don’t think it was ever going to be played – it just looked dangerous to me.

“We all wanted to play because we don’t want a logjam of games but I think common sense has prevailed. The goalmouth is rock hard – it wasn’t safe and it was the right decision to call it off.”

Crewe’s FA Cup tie with Bristol Rovers and several National League matches had already fallen to the cold snap, along with several games in Scotland.