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Already-qualified England complete their Euro 2024 qualification campaign away to North Macedonia on Monday evening. Ahead of the Group C finale in Skopje, the PA news agency has looked at five of the main talking points. England attempt to end year unbeaten Gareth Southgate’s men have ultimately cruised to qualification from a potentially tricky pool, going unbeaten across 2023 in the process. England have not looked back since rebounding from their World Cup quarter-final defeat to France by winning at reigning European champions Italy, going on to qualify with two games to spare. They all but sealed a place in the top pot for next month’s Euro 2024 draw by beating Malta 2-0 on Friday, taking this year’s record to eight wins in nine matches in all competitions. Southgate says he wants to end the year on a high and wants to build momentum by going go undefeated all the way through to Euro 2024. Final foreign assignment before the Euros England face March tests against Brazil and Belgium in Wembley friendlies, with another couple of home matches lined-up as Southgate’s side fine-tune for their shot at glory in Germany. It means Monday’s qualifier in Skopje will be their final match on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in June, with Southgate saying it will be good to be in “a challenging environment because that’s what we’re going to be in next summer”. There will be 2,332 travelling fans at the sold out 32,000-capacity Tose Proeski Arena, which may also end up playing host to Southgate’s final qualifier as England boss. How will Southgate juggle his selection? Southgate has dealt with a disruptive build-up and saw his already absentee-hit selection compounded by five of his initial group withdrawing through injury. A further three players have been absent for periods for the meet-up due to personal reasons, with Kieran Trippier among those and leaving the camp on Sunday. It means England have travelled to Skopje with just 22 players and Southgate is having to balance load, fitness and freshness for a potential dead rubber that will see wholesale changes. Cole Palmer will be hoping to make his first start after making his debut off the bench on Friday. The Chelsea talent was a late call-up along with Ezri Konsa and Rico Lewis, who will be hoping to win their first cap in the Balkans. Can back-up attackers impress? Record goalscorer Harry Kane would love to have the chance to pad his stats in Skopje, but surely Southgate will use this opportunity to give Ollie Watkins a run out as number nine. No England striker has been able to nail down a position as back-to the skipper but the in-form Aston Villa striker has a great chance with Ivan Toney banned and Callum Wilson suspended. Jarrod Bowen is another that needs to grasp his opportunity if Southgate turn his way. Selecting the 26-year-old over Raheem Sterling is a show of faith but the five-cap forward has so far failed to take his West Ham performances onto the international stage. Macedonian revenge mission North Macedonia were blown away in June’s reverse fixture at Old Trafford, where they were a far cry from the side that had recently shocked Germany and Italy. Kane struck twice in a 7-0 annihilation that also saw Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips get in on the act, but Bukayo Saka was the star of the show with his tremendous treble. Head coach Blagoja Milevski apologised to the nation in the post-match press conference and said on Sunday that he pledged to show a “new face” in the rematch. Given they held the Azzurri to a 1-1 draw in Skopje two months ago, it would be a shock if they are not vastly improved.

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Kieran Trippier may be a long-standing member of Gareth Southgate’s England squad but given the level of competition at full-back, he is not taking his place at Euro 2024 as a given. The Newcastle defender is now one of the senior men within Southgate’s ranks and has amassed 46 caps to date. His only senior goal was the opener in the 2018 World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia with his ability to play on either side of Southgate’s defence keeping him in and around the team ever since. Despite his consistency for club and country, Trippier is now arguably in the strongest pool of full-backs available to England. In recent times Kyle Walker, Reece James and Ben White have played at right-back – with the versatile pair of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rico Lewis also in contention – while Luke Shaw, Ben Chilwell and Levi Colwill have operated on the left. “I need to keep performing well for my club first,” he said of Euro 2024 selection. “There are so many good full-backs in England at the moment, I need to focus on my own performances. Obviously I want to be there but I know I need to be playing at a high level to be successful. “I’ve always believed in myself. I’ve always had challenges in my career. I’ve always been up against top right-backs for many years now and it’s just about believing in yourself. “I think the demands on a full-back these days playing now is so much. You’ve got to get forward. You’ve got to go on the overlaps but ultimately, you’ve got to defend as well. “I think there’s a big responsibility on full-backs the way we play in the Premier League now. I think you look at all the English full-backs, there’s incredible talent.” Southgate has largely put faith in youth since taking the reins as manager in 2016, with Trippier now one of the elder statesmen in the current squad alongside fellow 33-year-olds Walker and Jordan Henderson. He will be hoping to start again when England face North Macedonia in their final Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday night but, regardless of the changes made by Southgate, Trippier knows leadership does not necessarily come with age. We've got great characters and - the most important thing - a great togetherness in this squad Kieran Trippier “It only seems like yesterday when I was first walking into camp, when Gary Cahill was here and Joe Hart and all the experienced players,” he added. “Fast forward it to now, I’m one of the oldest so it just shows how quickly football goes. Even though I’m one of the oldest, we’ve got a lot of leaders in this room, you’ve got a lot of players playing at a high level. “You don’t need to be 33 to voice your opinion or whatever it may be. We’ve got great characters and – the most important thing – a great togetherness in this squad. “Everybody speaks whatever they need to speak and everybody listens. We’ve got a good, honest group here.”

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Jason Knight has admitted the Republic of Ireland’s new generation must develop a ruthless streak if they are to fulfil their potential. A difficult Euro 2024 Group B campaign drew to its seemingly inevitable conclusion on Saturday evening when a 1-0 defeat by the Netherlands in Amsterdam sent the Dutch through to next summer’s finals in Germany and Ireland home to lick their wounds. Stephen Kenny’s men knew in advance of the game at the Johan Cruyff Arena that even the safety net of a play-off place via the Nations League had evaporated, and they were left to reflect upon home and away defeats by France, the Netherlands and Greece and a return of just six points at Gibraltar’s expense to show for their efforts. Asked what lessons they had learned, Bristol City midfielder Knight said: “It’s fresh, but playing against Holland and France is about having a clinical edge. “That’s been a large part of all the games we’ve been equal in: they’ve taken their chances and we haven’t. We defended well in large of parts of all the games. Looking back briefly off the top of my head, we lacked a bit of creative spark and those goals when we needed to capitalise. “The confidence is good. We’re playing some good attractive football at times. We’ve fallen on the wrong side of results against good teams. France and Netherlands aren’t minnows of world football. “There’s confidence within the group and definitely confidence we’ll turn it around.” Knight, 22, is one of the flag-bearers for Kenny’s drastically overhauled squad which has seen the manager promote from the Under-21 ranks and promote a front-foot approach. His efforts have met with limited success – Ireland have won just six of the 29 competitive games they have played under his charge, and that bottom line is perhaps the most potent weapon in the armoury of those calling for change. Kenny is out of contract after Tuesday night’s friendly against New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium and his future will be decided at a meeting of the Football Association of Ireland’s board on November 28 when members consider a review of the campaign. Whatever the outside noise, the 52-year-old’s his players remain steadfastly behind him and Knight reiterated that message when asked about the future. He said: “Well, my view is that the manager is still here and we’re treating it as so. The manager has been great to me and the players. We want to be winning more games for him, but we’ll see what happens.” Defeat in Amsterdam came courtesy of Wout Weghorst’s 12th-minute strike, although the game was not as close as the scoreline suggested and but for some less than effective finishing and the efforts of Republic keeper Gavin Bazunu, Ronald Koeman’s men could have had qualification tied up long before the final whistle. Knight said: “We wanted a good performance and result, which ultimately we didn’t do. There were good parts to it. We just lacked a bit of creativity and cutting edge up top. “There’s no doubt they’re a good team, but we can certainly be better in all aspects of our game, especially creating and scoring goals.” Read More Neco Williams confident Armenia can aid Wales’ Euro 2024 qualification bid On this day in 2019: Mauricio Pochettino sacked by Tottenham Stephen Kenny confident with Republic of Ireland’s solid base for bright future England full-back Kieran Trippier not taking his place at Euro 2024 as a given Wout Weghorst fires Netherlands to Euro 2024 as Ireland end with whimper Saracens overcome injuries to England stars in thrashing of Harlequins

Neco Williams believes Armenia can do Wales a favour against Croatia and help them qualify for Euro 2024. Wales’ automatic qualification hopes were taken out of their own hands on Saturday by a wounding 1-1 away draw to Armenia and Croatia’s 2-0 victory in Latvia. Croatia will secure the second spot behind already-qualified Turkey by beating Armenia in their final qualifier on Tuesday. But were Armenia to draw or win in Zagreb, that would leave the door open for Wales who would then take second place by beating Turkey at the Cardiff City Stadium on the same evening. “Armenia are a top team,” wing-back Williams said of opponents who have damaged Wales’ qualification more than any other by taking four points from them. “They have got some very good players and, hopefully, they can do a job on Croatia like they did against us. “We still have a chance because you never know what’s going to happen. “It’s not in our hands and we have got to wait for the other results. There’s a lot of luck in football, and hopefully it will be on our side.” Wales lost 4-2 to Armenia at home in June and they were shaken again within five minutes of the Yerevan return. Lucas Zelarayan, who had scored twice in Cardiff, punished some sloppy Welsh defending and Armenia appeared in control until the final seconds of the first half. But Wales were gifted a lifeline when Nair Tiknizyan headed Connor Roberts’ long throw in to his own net. Williams said: “It was a tough game, end to end, and a lot of running. “Both teams were going for the win and probably at times it looked scrappy. “As soon as the lads came in after the game you could feel that, frustration. No-one talked and it felt like a loss. “But we take a point from it and all we can do now is focus on our last game against Turkey. “If we get the three points there you never know what’s going to happen.” The odds are that Wales will end up in the play-offs in March, the same route they negotiated to reach the 2022 World Cup by overcoming Austria and Ukraine. Finland, Iceland, Poland and Ukraine are all potential opponents this time, although the fixtures will not be determined until after the final qualifiers across Europe. “It could be something for us,” said Williams. “We did it for the World Cup and, if it does happen, we’ve still got a chance. “If we don’t qualify through the group, do it that way.” Daniel James admitted the early Zelarayan goal before a hostile Republican Stadium crowd had thrown Wales out of their stride. James said: “They scored early and you know it’s going to be difficult because it’s a tough place to come. “We dug deep and got back in the game, but we couldn’t get that second goal. “We’ve just got to pick our heads up and get ready for the next game against a very good Turkey team.” Central defender Chris Mepham will miss the Turkey game through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the campaign in Yerevan. Read More On this day in 2019: Mauricio Pochettino sacked by Tottenham Stephen Kenny confident with Republic of Ireland’s solid base for bright future England full-back Kieran Trippier not taking his place at Euro 2024 as a given Wout Weghorst fires Netherlands to Euro 2024 as Ireland end with whimper Saracens overcome injuries to England stars in thrashing of Harlequins Erling Haaland’s injury is not serious – Norway boss Stale Solbakken

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