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RUGBY league bosses hope to get a home Ashes series signed and sealed, with hosts found, by the end of the year.

A change of thinking last week saw Australia decide to travel to these shores in 2025.

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Now talks have started both with the Aussies and potential venues, with one in Yorkshire, one in the north west and one in London.

And sources have told SunSport they want everything in place sooner rather than later, as ‘we want them sold.’

Leeds looks set to host one match, either at Headingley or Elland Road, and Wigan is leading the way for another.

The venue in the capital depends on ambition, with Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur’s ground, West Ham’s London Stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates all potentials.

Hosting an Ashes Series here has ignited dreams of England fans and boss Shaun Wane.

“All three in Wigan would be good,” he joked.

“We’ve got that many potential venues, Wigan holds 25,000, Bolton 28,000. Elland Road is a good one, I’ve had some good ones at Elland Road.

“I’m sure they’ll pick three really good venues with the atmosphere. They’ve not been here for 20 years and look at the superstars they have. We’ve got our own superstars, so it’s going to be fantastic.

“I remember years ago going down to Wembley to watch Great Britain play and there were tens of thousands there, the atmosphere was fantastic.

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“We want those times back. I want to play Australia and for there to be 50,000 or 60,000 baying for their blood with a good atmosphere.

“We’re all patriotic and that’s what I want. I’d love to be coach in a game like that.”

There was also late drama for Cliftonville who needed Corrigan’s late effort to book their place in the next round against Championship side Bangor.

Dungannon Swifts, who won the trophy in 2018, survived a scare against Premier Intermediate Side Dollingstown but ran out 3-1 winners.

Kyle McGuiggan put the third-tier side ahead at Stangmore Park before Andrew Mitchell equaised in the 68th minute.

John McGovern turned the game around 10 minutes later before James Knowles made sure of the win in injury-time.

Ballymena United secured a quarter-final berth thanks to Donal Rocks, who netted early at the Showgrounds to edge the Sky Blues past Ards.

Annagh United also booked their place in the next round with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to Queen’s Univeristy, who had stunned Carrick Rangers in the first round.

Kenny Ximines opened the scoring in the first half before Jack Hastings secured the win.

The draw for both the last eight and semi-finals will take place on Wednesday at 15:00 GMT.

THEY’LL be rolling out the red carpet for Ruben Amorim in Manchester on Monday now.

And they should be having a whip round at Old Trafford to get Viktor Gyokeres to follow him to Old Trafford as soon as possible.

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Together they produced the ultimate fairytale farewell to the Jose Alvalade Stadium for the United-bound boss.

What an extraordinary way to endear himself to his new fans.

His team inflicted a first Champions League defeat in 90 minutes on Pep Guardiola’s mighty Manchester City since May 2022 – 32 matches ago.

Not to mention the heaviest loss in any competition in over four years for the ‘noisy neighbours’.

If this is the kind of entertainment that is heading for the Theatre of Dreams, then fasten your seatbelts.

Gyokeres got a hat-trick – including two penalties – to enhance his reputation as one of the hottest properties in Europe.

He could have had more too and looks exactly what goal-shy United need right now.  

They say if you can’t be a good manager then be a lucky one – and Amorim certainly had his share of good fortune.

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City bossed the first-half and should have been out of sight – while Erling Haaland also uncharacteristically missed a second-half pen.

But credit to Amorim and his team for hanging in there and then hitting the English champs with some stunning breakaways.

The manager was given a huge ovation by the crowd before kick-off – while a huge banner showed the trophies he has won and simply said “thank you”.

Yet he had expressed his worries before kick-off that the emotion of the last week might affect his players.

And sure enough they began nervously despite their excellent start to the season and fell behind within four minutes.

Keeper Franco Israel rolled a pass to Hidemasa Morita who didn’t look best pleased when he was dispossessed in the blink of an eye by Foden.

The England ace took a couple more touches before thumping a shot past the Sporting keeper – who might be disappointed not to keep it out.

Foden has now scored in eight of his last nine appearances in this competition and seems to be going through the gears after a slow start to the season.

Yet the home side could have levelled within a couple of minutes as Gyokeres nipped in ahead of Rico Lewis and raced through on goal from his own half.

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The in-form former Coventry man never looked confident though as Ederson stood up to him and his chipped effort was weak.

Back at the other end, Haaland saw one chance clawed away by Israel and blazed another wide after a delightful pass from Matheus Nunes.

The Norwegian was getting plenty of opportunities and saw a looping header hoofed off the line before Israel flung himself to keep out a volley.

Haaland was being made to wait for his 45^th goal in this competition – but you know with him it wont be long.

Stand-in skipper Bernardo Silva latched onto a cheeky back-heel from Foden but steered his shot just past the post.

Sporting have won all ten of their domestic league games this season and were neck-and-neck with City in the table.

City should have been out of sight given their chance – they weren’t though – and were made to pay shortly before the break.

Geovany Quenda found Gyokeres and this time he held off teenage defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey before clipping home his shot.

The Swedish forward – who now has 25 goals this season for club and country – is a huge cult figure in Lisbon and the fans went wild.

Don’t be surprised if a bid comes in from Old Trafford before long.

As the home fans celebrated, Amorim called a quartet of players over to dish out some tactical advice. No sign of him clocking off early.

He can clearly give a half-time team talk too as his side came roaring out for the second-half.

Just 19 seconds after the restart the home side were ahead as Pedro Goncalves threaded a pass to Max Araujo whose shot went straight through Ederson.

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The home fans were still celebrating as Josko Gvardiol lost the ball on the left and then upended Francisco Trincao.

It was a clear penalty and Gyokeres did the rest – sending the City keeper the wrong way with an emphatic spot-kick.

City were shell-shocked as they faced up to the prospect of losing three games in a row for the first time in six years.

They got a lifeline midway through the second-half as Silva’s shot hit the arm of Ousmane Diomande.

After a long VAR check a penalty was given and after an even longer wait, Haaland hammered his spot-kick against the bar.

It was clearly Amorim’s night – and not City’s.

And that much was clear as former Sporting star Nunes shoved over Geny Catamo in the box to earn the third pen of the night.

Gyokeres kept his cool and rattled in from the spot again to spark more bedlam and complete his hat-trick.

Welcome to Manchester, Ruben Amorim.

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Gyokeres’ breakthrough into the first team at Brommapojkarna came as a teenager, and he soon became a key member of the team, scoring 20 goals in 56 games.

“They were struggling in the second division when he was 16, and the coach from the first team came to me when all of his strikers were injured,” Eklund continues.

“He said, ‘David, do you have any players who can play at that level now?’ I said, ‘I have Viktor. He is a good player; he’s strong enough to play with older players and he’s working hard.’

“Nobody at Bromma was thinking about him. It took time – maybe two or three months – but then he started to settle. The coach called me back and said, ‘wow’.”

Gyokeres’ permanent move in 2021 from Brighton to Coventry, where he scored 39 goals, was a seminal moment. He became the main man for the Sky Blues and developed a great understanding with manager Mark Robins, who once again saw through initial scepticism.

“He first joined on loan for half a season and did OK, but not all fans were keen on his returning the following season,” BBC CWR’s Clive Eakin says. “But Mark Robins clearly saw something in his and bought him permanently.

“From then, it was clear he was something special. His ability to run at and through defenders [stood out]. Any time he collected the ball around the halfway line, you fancied his chances of going through to score. He has strength and is confident with his finishing.”

Premier League clubs were linked before Gyokeres joined Sporting. It was Manchester City-bound director Hugo Viana who seized the opportunity to sign him, and the Swede’s reputation has since soared.