Wales manager Craig Bellamy recently hailed the former Nottingham Forest man as an “elite” player, adding that Johnson is a “ridiculous talent”.

Earnshaw hopes Johnson can realise his potential to be the “superstar” in the Wales side.

“I’m a big fan of Brennan Johnson, I think he’s brilliant,” added Earnshaw.

“What I really love is that he’s getting a result at the end of his play because sometimes his play is pace, his work-rate is brilliant and there was not that end result in goals in that last action.

“What I’m seeing right now is great finishing, great movement and, yes, I really want to see that in the Wales shirt.

“I think he’s a high-level talent and he needs to find that consistency; right now he’s doing that for Tottenham.

“I think he needs to realise ‘do you know what, I can be the superstar in the Wales team’ and be doing that for club and country.

“I’m happy for him, he’s been on fire, that’s six in six, unbelievable.”

A criticism of Cliftonville last season when they attempted to retain their title was that they didn’t have the squad capable of challenging on four fronts in comparison to Glentoran’s.

Their frontline players invariably lined out just about in every game they could which appeared to take its toll as they finished second and lost the Irish Cup final against the Glens.

How the tables turned this campaign however, as the Reds have won the league in style, retained the League Cup and are in the Women’s Challenge Cup final later this month against Lisburn Rangers.

They brought in experienced Women’s Premiership players in Erin McAllister and Carla Devine from Linfield as well as Sion Swifts trio Aoibhe O’Neill, Naomi McLaughlin and Tasmin McCartan.

McAllister quickly established herself as Cliftonville’s number one goalkeeper and pulled off a number of good saves throughout the season, whilst Devine has been the perfect impact player off the bench.

She has netted 10 league goals and has provided a more direct option to replace or play alongside Caitlin McGuinness.

O’Neill, McLaughlin and McCartan’s minutes have been limited but they have stepped in and performed well when called upon when Reds manager John McGrady opted to rotate.

None more so than McLaughlin, who despite having an injury-plagued season, scored twice as Cliftonville beat Linfield 5-2 last month.

ITV have confirmed a major broadcasting change to their coverage of a historic sporting event.

A new two-hour window has been reserved on ITV4 on the night of Saturday, November 2.

1

Punters will now be able to see City Of Troy’s bid to land the Breeders’ Cup Classic on terrestrial TV.

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The Derby, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte winner will aim to become the first horse ever to land the Epsom feature and American blockbuster.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien recently took the all-conquering colt to Southwell for a workout in front of delighted fans.

And now it is all systems go for Del Mar when he lines up in the feature contest of the two-day Breeders’ Cup.

ITV racing host Ed Chamberlin confirmed the good news – which came after ITV originally said they had been forced to axe coverage owing to a fixture clash.

He said: “Our determination to show you City Of Troy go for Breeders’ Cup glory means the ITV schedulers have had a re-jig.

“On Saturday, November 2 there will now be a two-hour show for you to enjoy.

“There will be three lives races that will include the Breeders’ Cup Turf and City Of Troy’s bid to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“It could be very special, it will be live and free-to-air for you from 8pm that Saturday night.

“I’m delighted to tell you that news.”

The Breeders’ Cup is the world championships of racing and also features a strong British and Irish contingent.

ITV have usually shown both nights in recent years – with Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV will show you live coverage of every single race.

Some of the big names expected to be in action include a mouthwatering clash between 2000 Guineas winner Notable Speech and awesome filly Porta Fortuna in the Mile.

While Bradsell will look to continue his amazing comeback season in the Turf Sprint.

Arc de Triomphe winner Bluestocking could run in the Turf, although she’s favourite for the Filly and Mare Turf as well.

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MANCHESTER UNITED eased the pressure slightly on boss Erik ten Hag with a hard-grafted stalemate at in-form Aston Villa.

United looked much more solid defensively after Ten Hag rung the changes – though the Red Devils still have just eight points from seven Prem games.

Here’s how SunSport’s Graeme Bryce rated 14th-placed United rated at Villa Park on Sunday.

ANDRE ONANA – 7

Guilty of sloppy distribution once or twice but his hands were safe enough and he did well to beat away a piledriver from Youri Tielemans to keep United on level terms.

NOUSSAIR MAZRAOUI – 6

Managed to contain Jaden Philogene comfortably enough in the first 45 minutes but failed to appear for the second half and was replaced by Victor Lindelof.

HARRY MAGUIRE – 6

Booked for a high forearm challenge on Ollie Watkins but his afternoon ended at half-time after he appeared to jar his knee defending a corner.

JONNY EVANS – 9

Handled Ollie Watkins well in the first 45 and showed all his experience to deal with the twin threat of Watkins and Jhon Duran for the final half hour. Rolled back the years with a five-star display to earn his Man of the Match rating.

DIOGO DALOT – 7

Sat in and rarely got forward but snuffed out the threat of Leon Bailey and was tidy enough. Crucial block to deny Philogene a stoppage time winner.

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN – 7

Used all his experience to plug any gaps in United’s carefully constructed midfield. Dealt with the threat from Morgan Rogers well.

KOBBIE MAINOO – 7

Nothing flashy from the England midfielder who had his work cut out preventing Youri Tielemans carrying out his magic.

ALEJANDRO GARNACHO – 6

Fired in a first-half shot which Emi Martinez dealt with comfortably but shot hopelessly wide a couple of times after the break. Sloppy finishing let him down. 

BRUNO FERNANDES – 8

United’s skipper only played after his red card against Spurs was overturned on appeal.

Kept his cool here to avoid a third red card in three games – came closest for United with a free kick which crashed off the Villa crossbar.

MARCUS RASHFORD – 7

Taken off at half-time in Oporto and taken off after 64 minutes to save himself a second yellow card here! 

Looked United’s likeliest match-winner after forcing an early save from Martinez before bringing the best out in the Argentine World Cup winner with a sizzling effort which the ‘keeper tipped over. Booked for a foul on Cash.

RASMUS HOJLUND – 6

Put himself about and was involved in the clash which led to Ezri Konsa limping off. But lacked service and was replaced by Zirkzee just beyond the hour mark. Below par.

SUBS

MATTHIJS DE LIGT for Maguire (46 minutes) – 5 – Conceded a few fouls in dangerous areas. Still finding his feet.

VICTOR LINDELOF for Mazraoui (46 mins) – 6 – First appearance since March but fitted in well as a stand-in right-back. Booked for a foul on Morgan Rogers.

JOSHUA ZIRKZEE for Hojlund (64 mins) – 5 – Miles off the pace, failed to make any impact.

ANTONY for Rashford (64 mins) – 6 – Brought out the best in Emi Martinez with a curler which was heading for the top bin until the keeper plucked it out of mid-air.

CASEMIRO for Mainoo (85 mins) – 6 – Helped see out the match for United.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has said his negotiations with the BBC over a new contract have “just started”, following speculation about his future.

Last week, the MailOnline reported that BBC bosses may be preparing to announce the 63-year-old’s departure after 25 years.

On the latest episode of his podcast The Rest is Football, posted on Monday, Lineker said: “I’m coming to the end of my contract in the summer, so it’s natural at some point that you have to have conversations, and they’ve just started.”

He said he didn’t know why the speculation had “spiralled out of control, but all is OK”, and that “there are bigger problems in the world”.

The former England striker made light of the situation at the start of Saturday’s edition of Match of the Day.

“Hello, seven games on the way and it’s my final show,” he told viewers, before pausing and adding: “Before the international break.”

The Premier League will take a break this weekend for the latest round of international fixtures.

Lineker joked about his future again on The Rest is Football with co-hosts Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Shearer told him: “Me and Micah have been worried about you the last few days. Can you tell us anything about your contract?

“It’s like you, [Mo] Salah, [Virgil] Van Dijk and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] are all coming to the end of your contract. What’s going on? Inform us, please.”

Lineker replied: “I think there is one significant difference – Liverpool fans really care about those three.”

He added that it had been “a strange few days”, and that his co-stars are “in a similar predicament”.

“So perhaps you’ll have the Daily Mail on your doorstep tomorrow now that they know that.”

When Richards remarked that he had been given odds of 4-1 to take over, Lineker replied: “Four to one? Blimey. I’d love to see you take over. I think you’d be brilliant in the chair.”

“No, I wouldn’t!” Richards laughed.

Shearer jokingly told the former Manchester City defender: “That is a massive concern. I’m not signing my new contract if you’re the presenter, by the way.”

Lineker has hosted Match of the Day since 1999 and is the BBC’s highest-paid star, of those whose salaries are declared, earning more than £1.3m a year.

However, the former footballer has also been involved in controversy at the corporation because of his social media activity.

He was briefly suspended by BBC bosses last year after an outcry over a post about the UK’s asylum policy.

Responding to the speculation about his future on Thursday, a BBC spokesperson said: “We have nothing to announce, and we have not agreed next steps with regard to his contract.

“He is under contract until the end of the season.”