Manchester City’s Jack Grealish believes he should have been part of England’s Euro 2024 squad and “can’t speak highly enough” of interim manager Lee Carsley.

Grealish, 29, was “devastated” after being omitted from Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the tournament, in which England lost to Spain in the final.

However, Carsley has started the City playmaker in both games he has overseen since replacing Southgate on a temporary basis.

“I will be honest with you – I didn’t really agree with it,” Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Grealish admitted he felt he “didn’t have the best season” for his club, but added: “You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.

“I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn’t meant to be.”

On whether he felt he had a point to prove on his return to the England squad for September’s internationals, he said: “Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well.

“I thank the manager Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.

“It obviously really meant a lot, I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.

“It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can’t speak highly enough of him since I have been here.”

England recorded 2-0 victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland in the first games under Carsley last month, with Grealish scoring against the former.

A British record £100m signing when he joined City from Aston Villa in August 2021, Grealish will again hope to be in the starting line-up when England host Greece on Thursday, before taking on Finland on Sunday.

And while Grealish believes missing out on Euro 2024 was “probably the most difficult period of my life”, he said the birth of his daughter last week was “the best moment of my life”.

In an “unbelievable 24 hours”, Grealish had to leave training and take a train to London on Friday morning to be present for the birth, before flying to Newcastle – arriving after midnight – and starting for City in the Premier League at midday on Saturday.

“I don’t really know how to explain it, you know you feel so many good moments in your life but that just tops everything,” Grealish said.

Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe is expected to be out for at least a month after sustaining a freak hand injury while doing the washing up.

The 26-year-old DR Congo international sustained a deep cut to his thumb while he was washing the dishes last week.

The former Manchester United and Aston Villa player had started the first six Premier League games of the season for promoted Ipswich before missing Saturday’s 4-1 loss to West Ham.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said on Saturday Tuanzebe’s injury was a “very unfortunate accident”.

“He’s naturally a miss with the way he’s started the season. He’s going to be out for a little while,” McKenna said.

Ipswich told BBC Sport the accident had occurred at home and Tuanzebe has had successful surgery.

Ben Johnson replaced Tuanzebe at London Stadium, where defeat left Ipswich still winless after seven league games.

Liverpool have confirmed Sofie Lundgaard suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in Sunday’s Women’s Super League win over Tottenham.

The 22-year-old went down in the first half following a 50-50 challenge with Spurs defender Amanda Nilden.

The Danish midfielder signed a new contract for the Reds in September and had featured in their opening three WSL fixtures, but will now undergo knee surgery.

Reds boss Matt Beard said to the official Liverpool website, external: “We’re all devastated for Sofie.

“We have to rally around her because it’s going to be tough at times during the rehabilitation programme. Sometimes these things happen in football and it can be so cruel.

“This is going to be a test of her character but I’m sure she will come back stronger from it with the support network she has here and the closeness of our group of players and staff.”

Lundgaard has become the third player in the WSL this season to rupture her ACL following injuries to Everton duo Aurora Galli and Inma Gabarro.

Wayne Rooney has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following his red card in Plymouth Argyle’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.

The Pilgrims’ head coach faces three charges over the incident which came after Joe Rankin-Costello’s 87th-minute equaliser for the visitors. The Pilgrims felt there was a foul on Ryan Hardie in the build-up.

Rooney is accused of using insulting or abusive language towards a match official and that his conduct after he was red-carded was improper and/or violent.

He is also accused of a further improper conduct offence for returning to the field of play after his dismissal.

Argyle won the game thanks to a stoppage-time header from Morgan Whittaker, with Rooney’s assistant Pete Shuttleworth saying the former England captain’s “passion” spilled over in the incident.

Rooney, who has been Argyle boss since May, has until Tuesday, 15 October to respond.

Spain World Cup winner Andres Iniesta has retired from playing at the age of 40.

Iniesta is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, thanks in part to the midfield partnerships he formed with Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets for Spain and Barcelona.

He earned 131 caps for his country, scoring the winning goal in the 2010 Fifa World Cup final and winning the European Championship in 2008 and 2012.

Speaking at an event in Barcelona, a visibly emotional Iniesta said he planned to go into coaching.

“Being on the pitch is over,” he said. “I can’t stay away from football, it’s my life and will continue to be my life.

“Yes, all these tears we have shed these days are tears of emotion, of pride. They are not tears of sadness.

“They are tears of that boy from a small town like Fuentealbilla, who had the dream of being a footballer and we achieved it after a lot of hard work, sacrifice, of never giving up, essential values in my life.”

Iniesta spent the majority of his 22-year career at Barcelona after graduating from the club’s La Masia academy.

He made his senior debut in 2002 and went on to win 29 honours, including nine La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues crowns.

One of his most memorable goals was a spectacular stoppage-time equaliser to knock Chelsea out of the 2009 Champions League semi-final, with Barcelona going on to beat Manchester United in the final.

In 2018 Iniesta joined Japanese side Vissel Kobe before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2023 to play for UAE Pro League side Emirates.

He was runner-up in the 2010 Ballon d’Or and included in the Fifa Fifpro World 11 for nine successive years between 2009 and 2017.

Scotland “might have to suffer” in a difficult Nations League group but assistant manager John Carver is adamant there will be long-term gains as he looks to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Scotland visit Croatia on Saturday and host Portugal next Tuesday, having lost their opening matches at home to Poland and away to the Portuguese.

Those September defeats leave Steve Clarke’s side without a competitive victory in over a year and on a run of just one win in 14 matches.

“I think you can see what we’re trying to do,” said Carver. “There’s a clear identity, how we are going to play in and out of possession.

“We continue with that and you’d like to think results will come.”

Two calamitous penalties contributed to a 3-2 loss to Poland at Hampden, while Scotland led at the interval before going down 2-1 in Lisbon.

“We can take so much encouragement from our last two performances,” added Carver. “Nobody expected us to perform the way we did in Lisbon. We should have got at least a draw.

“People thought we were in for a drubbing but we were in the game. We didn’t sit back, we had a go at them.”