Alfreton boss Billy Heath said he was “so proud” of his players despite the non-league side bowing out of the FA Cup in a narrow 1-0 second-round replay defeat at Walsall.Mat Sadler’s Saddlers scraped past the National League North side to nervously book a third-round trip to Southampton in January.But Heath could not have been happier with the way his side matched up the team fr

Jon Dahl Tomasson saluted his Blackburn side for “digging in” to secure a 2-1 win over Bristol City.Rovers were in control after Arnor Sigurdsson’s first goal since October finished off a well-worked 35th-minute move, and Scott Wharton’s second-half header from his brother Adam’s delivery put Rovers two up.But City fought back and after Mark Sykes slotted home on the

Goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond was the hero as Stevenage secured their place in the third round of the FA Cup with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory at Port Vale.After a 1-1 draw at Boro last time, another 120 minutes could not separate the two sides in the replay at Vale Park as they drew 3-3 after extra time.Ben Garrity scored either side of half-time to put Andy Crosby’s hosts two goals ahea

Paul Gallagher is unsure if he will remain in caretaker charge of Stoke for the weekend trip to West Brom but said it was a privilege to manage the Potters in the 1-1 draw against Swansea.Daniel Johnson’s second-half penalty looked to have given Stoke their first win in seven Championship games but Harry Darling, who conceded the spot-kick, headed home as full-time neared to give the Swans a

Kieran McKenna hailed his Ipswich players for coming back from behind to win 2-1 at Watford and move to the top of the Championship.Yaser Asprilla put the Hornets ahead early on but George Hirst’s equaliser set up an entertaining contest that was settled late on by Town captain Sam Morsy, who capitalised on an error by Wesley Hoedt.McKenna, whose side are now 10 points clear of third-placed

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag accepts he has to make the team better but he also called on the players to shoulder more responsibility.A 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich saw United’s European football ended by a bottom-place finish in their group with their lowest points return and highest number of defeats – both four.“We know we want to be more consistent; me as a manager I

New manager Matt Taylor savoured his first win since taking charge of Bristol Rovers as his side held off Crewe’s second-half fightback to win their FA Cup second-round replay 4-2.John Marquis, James Wilson and Anthony Evans all scored to give the League One side a 3-0 half-time lead.Ryan Cooney’s own goal made it four before Elliott Nevitt and Aaron Rowe struck to get the League Two s

Newport head coach Graham Coughlan believes his team learned their lesson as they defeated Vanarama National League side Barnet 4-1.After conceding late at Rodney Parade in the first game, the south Wales outfit settled the replay by netting three times in the first 25 minutes.The Sky Bet League Two club now host Eastleigh in the third round of the FA Cup, and Coughlan was pleased with the reactio

Forest Green finally saw off National League North part-timers Scarborough 4-2 in the FA Cup.Tyrese Omotoye, Callum Morton, Sean Robertson and Matty Stevens scored the goals as the first-round tie was settled following a third contest between the two clubs.Forest Green, who also won a home replay 5-2 last month, were found guilty of failing to inform the FA that they had permission to include a lo

Jobe Bellingham notched a second-half winner as managerless Sunderland ended high-flying Leeds’ seven-game unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light.The younger brother of Real Madrid and England superstar Jude scored the fourth goal of his fledgling career to eke out a 1-0 victory over Daniel Farke’s third-placed side, who slipped 10 points behind new EFL Championship leaders Ipswich.It wa