Lucy Bronze admits it did not “seem quite fair” that she had to field a yellow card request from England’s Euro 2022 final hero Chloe Kelly.

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Wiegman's side claimed continental gloryWere hanging on to extra-time goalWilling to try every trick in the book late onWHAT HAPPENED?

Towards the end of an epic clash with Germany at Wembley Stadium, the Lionesses found themselves clinging on to the slenderest of leads – with Manchester City winger Kelly having edged them in front during extra-time.

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Wild celebrations led to Kelly being booked for taking off her shirt, meaning that others had to step up when it came to running down the clock. Bronze formed part of that process, in her role as a buccaneering full-back, with Sarina Wiegman’s side having to dig in and do the dirty work in order to get their hands on a historic piece of silverware.

WHAT BRONZE SAID

Bronze, who is now on the books of Catalan giants Barcelona, has told of her memories from the Euro 2022 final: “A lot of that game is a blur – the biggest moment I remember was time wasting in the corner with Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone! Chloe told me to take a yellow card because she already had one for taking her top off after scoring. I thought, ‘You’ve got a yellow card because you scored the winner in the final and you’re going to become an icon; I’m going to get a yellow card for wasting time from a throw-in – this doesn’t seem quite fair!’ Hundreds of thousands were watching and in that moment we were having a laugh – no one else was part of that apart from the three of us in that corner!”

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?

Bronze and Kelly went close to landing England another major honour at the 2023 World Cup, only to see the Lionesses fall agonisingly short in a 1-0 final defeat to Spain. A star-studded squad is, however, brimming with potential and more challenges are expected at future tournaments.

Jaydev Unadkat, Shaurya Sanandia and Kushang Patel dismissed Haryana cheaply in their first-innings in Lahli and the hosts need another 78 runs to make Saurashtra bat again

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2017Saurashtra’s bowlers took 16 wickets on the second day in Rohtak to take control against Haryana, who need another 78 runs to make Saurashtra bat again. Shaurya Sanandia took six wickets on the day – four in the first innings and two in the second – while Kushang Patel and Jaydev Unadkat took four wickets each on the day, as Haryana were forced to follow on after being bowled out for 107. In their second innings, Haryana’s batsmen – barring Chaitanya Bishnoi (53*) – struggled once again, finishing the day on 93 for 6.Resuming from 271 for 7, Saurashtra were all out in the eighth over after adding seven runs to their overnight score. Ashish Hooda took two more wickets for Haryana to finish with figures of 6 for 61. Unadkat delivered a fiery opening spell for Saurashtra after that, dismissing the top order to reduce Haryana to 28 for 3. Sanandia then took the next three wickets as Haryana slipped further to 41 for 6. Rahul Tewatia (23) and Deepak Punia (18) then added 34 runs for the seventh, but after that partnership was broken by Sanandia, offspinner Kushang cleaned up the tail.Saurashtra asked Haryana to bat again, and the hosts’ batting faltered once more. Sanandia and Unadkat together reduced Haryana to 14 for 3 in their opening spell, before Chaitanya Joshi took control with a 97-ball 53. Joshi hung on till stumps, but three more wickets fell along the way as Haryana ended the day staring at a probable innings defeat.Mohammed Mudhasir’s five-wicket haul helped Jammu & Kashmir wrap up Rajasthan’s first innings in short time on the second day of their Group B clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Robin Bist, the overnight centurion was dismissed after adding just eight runs to his tally, for 113, while his partner Tanvir-ul-Haq was sent back without scoring. Rajesh Bishnoi resisted with 43 at No. 7 before becoming Mudhasir’s fifth and final victim as Rajasthan, who resumed on 249 for 4, folded for 330. Medium-pacer Samiullah Beigh and Parvez Rasool, the J&K captain, split the rest of the wickets between them.J&K’s openers made a strong reply thereafter, putting on 109 before Shubham Khajuria was bowled by the medium pace of Tanvir-ul-Haq. Ahmed Bandy, Khajuria’s opening partner, remained unbeaten on 72 and took J&K to 150 for 1 at stumps in the company of Pranav Gupta.Jharkhand offspinner Sunny Gupta ripped through Kerala’s top order but a fifty from Mohammed Azharuddeen and Jalaj Saxena’s unbeaten 47 helped the hosts take a 48-run first-innings lead in Trivandrum.Sunny had dismissed Kerala’s top four batsmen with only 77 runs on the board but Azharuddeen and Sachin Baby led a brief recovery through a 43-run partnership. Once Azharuddeen was dismissed for 51 off 66 balls, Jalaj Saxena guided the lower order. Gupta went on to pick two more wickets to end the day with returns of 6 for 94.The day began with Jharkhand nine down for 200. It took Kerala’s bowlers just 14 deliveries to wrap up the innings for 202. Gupta was the last batsman dismissed, losing his stumps to seamer Sandeep Warrier.

Brendan Rodgers returned to Parkhead for a second spell last month to replace Ange Postecoglou as Celtic manager and has been backed by the board during the summer transfer window.

Who have Celtic signed this summer?

The Hoops officially confirmed the signing of Polish central defender Maik Nawrocki on a five-year deal from Legia Warsaw on Wednesday, which has made him the fifth arrival so far.

Australia international Marco Tilio, Norwegian midfielder Odin Thiago Holm, and South Korean duo Hyun-jun Yang and Kyeok-kyu Kwon have also joined the Scottish giants ahead of the 2023/24 Scottish Premiership campaign.

However, that may not be the end of their business as Rodgers may look to strengthen his side further before the deadline passes, which is in over a month's time.

One ambitious target the Bhoys have been linked with a possible swoop for is Manchester United central midfielder Donny van de Beek, who is also being eyed up by the likes of Milan, Sevilla, and Crystal Palace, among others.

How good is Donny van de Beek?

The Netherlands international has struggled during his time in England with the Red Devils but his Ajax form indicates that the quality is there for him to be a terrific signing for the Hoops to partner Liel Abada in attack.

Van de Beek has only started 11 Premier League matches in three years since his move to Old Trafford in 2020, which included a loan spell with Everton at the start of 2022.

Prior to that, the 26-year-old whiz, who former Scotland defender Alan Hutton recently claimed would be an "outstanding" signing for Celtic, produced 41 goals and 34 assists in 175 first-team outings for Ajax from a central or attacking midfield position.

The Dutch gem could be a brilliant fit for the number ten role in Rodgers' 4-2-3-1 system, which would see Abada line up alongside him as part of the trident of midfielders behind Kyogo Furuhashi.

Celtic's Israel international was one of the team's top performers last season.

He plundered ten goals in 13 Premiership starts, alongside 21 appearances as a substitute, and ended the campaign as the club's third-top scorer – only behind Jota (11) and Kyogo (27).

Abada also created ten 'big chances' for his teammates and was only rewarded with five assists, which suggests that the other attackers within the squad failed to make the most of his creativity.

Van de Beek, however, could come in and provide the 21-year-old wizard with a reliable scorer alongside him in the attacking midfield positions to finish off the opportunities that he creates.

The former Ajax star scored 28 goals across his last three Eredivisie seasons, which works out at around nine goals per league term.

This could make him an upgrade on Celtic's current options in that position if he is able to translate that form over to Scotland as no central midfielder managed more than six Premiership strikes.

Van de Beek also created 1.8 chances per game during his final league term with Ajax in 2019/20, which only Matt O'Riley (2.1) and Jota (1.9) outperformed for the Hoops throughout the 2022/23 campaign.

Therefore, Abada and the Manchester United man could form a lethal partnership as part of Rodgers' three attackers behind Kyogo due to their respective ability to score and assist goals on a regular basis.

Of course, there is a question mark over whether van de Beek can return to the form he showcased at Ajax but his impressive statistics in his home country suggest that is a gamble worth taking.

The Pakistan pacer is expected to be out of action for at least six months as a result of the injury

Umar Farooq04-Nov-2017Usman Khan, the Pakistan left-arm pacer, has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back in what is a career-threatening blow. The 23-year-old bowler, who had stunned Sri Lanka with figures of 5 for 34 in just his second ODI two weeks ago, will be out of action for at least six months as a result of the injury.He picked up the injury after second T20 against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, and missed the final game of the tour – the landmark T20 in Lahore. Medical screening confirmed lumbar-bone stress in his back. He had struggled with the same injury in the early days of his career, in 2013, after making debuting for Pakistan in T20 cricket. He has sustained back injuries twice before and missed a major chunk of season of 2014-15 as a result. “It is disappointing but this [course of treatment] will give him the best chance of recovering as quickly as possible,” Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan head coach, told ESPNcricinfo.Usman was brought into the ODI side for the Sri Lanka series after Mohammad Amir pulled out due to injury, and he made an immediate impact. His five wickets in the second game against Sri Lanka came within the space of 3.3 overs. The performance was a throwback to four years ago, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, when he announced himself with five wickets for nine runs in 3.1 overs for Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan.Usman’s injury is the latest in a string for Pakistan. Amir recently missed the ODIs against Sri Lanka before returning for the T20 series, and Ruman Raees Babar Azam and Imad Wasim are recovering from a wrist impingement, groin strain and knee injury respectively. When asked whether he was concerned by this sudden spate of injuries, Arthur said: “A little bit, but a lot of them niggles just needed a bit of rest and that is why we have put such a lot of effort in working on our bench strength.”

The Australia batsman says the level of on-field hostility could be brutal as Australia search for every possible advantage against England in the series

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide30-Nov-2017A ruthless Australia will keep pressing for every possible advantage over England by maintaining a level of on-field hostility that Pete Handscomb has no qualms in describing as “brutal”.The targeting of Jonny Bairstow with reminders of his ill-advised headbutt of Cameron Bancroft in a Perth bar on the first night of England’s tour has now passed into Ashes folklore, and Handscomb rated it among the “smartest” use of verbals he had seen in the game. It was Handscomb who instigated the attack on Bairstow at a pivotal moment of the Gabba Test, by asking whether he had headbutted Bancroft, before others, including David Warner, joined in.”I was just asking him a question, just wanted to get the facts before anything happened,” Handscomb said with a grin on Thursday. “We’ve just got to play it by ear and see what happens. It’s a bit of a spur of the moment thing. It’s how we’re feeling depending on what’s happening in the game and you’ve got to try and pick your right moments.”As far as sledging goes it was probably some of the smartest stuff we’ve ever come up with. Generally it’s just what the Aussie way is, it’s pretty brutal … but no, it was good to see that worked. It’s a part of the game. It has been for a long time and it will continue to be. If we can keep being smart with our sledges then if it opens up a weakness we’ll be pretty happy with it.”During Shield cricket we come pretty hard at each other even though we are team-mates in the Australian team. It’s something we’re used to and something we do, but we know it’s on the field. Once it’s off the field, relaxed, do whatever, but we’re trying our hardest to win games for this country and if that’s going to give us a slight edge, well we’re going to do it.”Australia have made no secret of deliberately targeting Bairstow as a potential point of English weakness, something that they also did when he was included in the team as wicketkeeper in place of Matt Prior in 2013-14. Handscomb emphasised that attempts to distract opponents from their own plans and zones of concentration would continue to be effective, provided they were allied, as was the case in Brisbane, with disciplined and sustained efforts with the ball and in the field.”It doesn’t work that often, I wouldn’t have thought,” Handscomb said when asked how often he had seen an episode of sledging reap the sorts of rewards seen in Brisbane. “It’s generally good bowling or good catching that gets guys out. But if you can get that 1% edge over an opposition, you’d be silly not to.”Getty ImagesPersonified by the prickly James Anderson, England have also been known to sledge liberally in the past, and he said the tourists were expecting more of the same in Adelaide. “It’s something I’ve always enjoyed. When someone is trying to get under my skin in all walks of life it makes me more determined to succeed,” Anderson said. “So from a personal point of view that excites me and will drive me on to do the best I can with bat and ball. From our point of view we know what they are going to come up with – they will go hard at us and we knew that from day one.”They were fairly quiet for the first few days when we were doing well. It was only on the fourth day when they became more vocal, now they are 1-0 up they are going to keep coming at us. But it is up to us individually and as a group to stick together and know that we are not just here to roll over.”For Handscomb, the verbals are likely to be turned against him provided Anderson can again find a way to pin him on the crease for an lbw, as was the case in the first innings in Brisbane. Nevertheless, Handscomb is committed to maintaining his unorthodox approach – backing himself to make plenty of runs despite opening himself up to more bowled and lbw dismissals than most.”I have batted deep in my crease for three years, I am not really that concerned. I batted deep last year and managed to hit balls on the stumps and made lots of runs,” Handscomb said. “Kyle Abbott was pretty good, Kagiso Rabada, good players, I am not concerned obviously I have got my plans, I just need to hit the ball, it’s as simple as that.”I knew way before [that England would attack his stumps], I know I get out lbw and bowled, that’s why I have tried to change a few things with my technique, that’s part of it, bat deep and all that to give myself more time, I knew the plans well before [Brisbane].”Confidence abounds in Australia’s squad after the Brisbane result, but vastly different conditions likely to be offered up by the historic day-night Ashes Test gave Handscomb reason to be cautious about what is about to unfold. “We are not looking too far ahead, we understand if we come out and play the game we want to, control our controllables, we come away with a 2-0 lead here,” Handscomb said.”I suppose complacency can set in, but that’s something we are obviously going to not try and do. We understand we have had a good game in Brisbane, but that’s gone now it’s completely different conditions as well, being a day-night test, pink ball, but we have got to make sure we do things right by our own team and play our own game.”

India’s T20I captain had an impressive WBBL debut with the Sydney Thunder last season

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-20170:34

Harmanpreet Kaur’s numbers from her WBBL stint last season

India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur has extended her association with the Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League by another two seasons. She was re-signed by the franchise on Friday, the final day of the tournament’s contracting period for the third edition, which starts from December 9.Last season, Harmanpreet became the first India women’s player to feature in an overseas T20 league, scoring 296 runs for the Thunder at an average of 59.2 and a strike rate of 117 – the second-highest run-getter for the side – while her offspin yielded six wickets, including a four-for against the Melbourne Stars. She was adjudged the Sydney Thunder’s Player of the Tournament for her stellar performances, even though the side failed to make the playoffs.

Current Sydney Thunder squad

Alex Blackwell (capt), Sam Bates, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Maisy Gibson, Lisa Griffith, Rachael Haynes, Rachel Priest, Naomi Stalenberg, Harmanpreet Kaur, Rachel Trenaman, Hannah Trethewy, Belinda Vakarewa.

Harmanpreet’s big-hitting prowess was in the headlines again after she steered India to a tense win in the final of the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in February, and, in July, propelled India to the final of the Women’s World Cup with an unbeaten 171 off 115 balls against Australia – the highest ever individual score in the tournament knockouts.Thunder general manager Lee Germon expressed his excitement at Harmanpreet’s re-signing.”Following the Women’s World Cup, Harmanpreet was the hottest property in cricket,” Germon said. “She showed during that tournament, and through her performances with the Thunder, that she is one of, if not the most, destructive batters in the game at the moment.”Thunder coach Jo Broadbent spoke about the value Harmanpreet brought to the side as a big-hitter.”She’s a match-winner and that’s what you need in T20, you need those match-winners,” Broadbent told . “She’s got that really good blend of technique and power, she really works on the basics. She’s just incredible and such a great person to have. Her bat does most of the talking.”Normally in the women’s (T20) game if you get your run rate up to eight runs an over, you rarely see players explode and get over 10 runs an over and do that for four or five overs. She can do that. If we had to get 10 or 12 runs an over and she was in the middle, you’d almost be backing her to win a game.”Harmanpreet’s signing comes more than a week after New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Rachel Priest’s move to the Thunder from the Melbourne Renegades. The side, however, still have to confirm two members of their 15-member squad for the third edition before the deadline.

The 2023 FIFPRO's Men's Best XI has been announced with treble-winners Manchester City dominating the line-up.

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• Mbappe and Haaland named to FIFPRO World XI
• Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham also make list
• No room for Cristiano Ronaldo

• Getty
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The FIFPRO men's World XI was announced at awards on Monday, with Manchester City's treble-winning squad dominating. John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Erling Haaland were all named in the team.

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• (C)Getty Images
  

  THE BIG PICTURE

  Ronaldo's move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabai has seemingly moved him out of the limelight, while Messi still shines in MLS for Inter Miami. Meanwhile, Real Madrid are firmly represented with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, midfielder Jude Bellingham and winger Vinicius Jr.
  However, the biggest takeaway from the XI is the oddity of the formation, with a 3-3-4 taking shape. Manchester City makes up the entire defense, with Walker, Stones and Dias all representing the backline, and has two more central with Silva and De Bruyne, alongside Bellingham.

  The attack sports City's Haaland and Madrid's Vinicius, alongside PSG's Kylian Mbappe and Inter Miami's Lionel Messi. It's a worthy front-four, but a lopsided XI. Regardless of that, though, how can you leave one of them out? What an XI.

• DID YOU KNOW

  The FIFPRO men's Best XI award only took into account the performances of the 2023 calendar year, meaning Argentina's World Cup win was not part of the voting process.

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  WHAT NEXT

  FIFA's awards will continue throughout Monday afternoon, but each respective player in the XI will return to the pitch shortly. Real Madrid will take on Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, while Inter Miami and Messi make their 2024 debut Friday, against the El Salvador national team. Manchester City, meanwhile, have a nice long break at the moment, with their next match coming in 11 days against Tottenham in the FA Cup. Then, it's PSG vs Orleans in the Coupe de France on Saturday.

Fans wishing to listen to commercial-free, ball-by-ball radio coverage of the Ashes series at the venue will need to bring their own radios after Cricket Australia froze out the ABC and the BBC from the three-channel earpieces sold and distributed at each ground.The commercial networks Channel Nine, BT Sport and Triple M are the networks included on the earpieces, which have been part of the at-ground experience in Ashes Tests since 2010-11. In recent summers the earpieces have generally been tuned to take coverage from Nine, the ABC and Fairfax radio.The choice of broadcasters, omitting the two leading radio providers with long histories of covering the game in Australia and England, raised numerous eyebrows during the first Test of the series in Brisbane.It was initially thought that CA may rotate the networks used on the earpieces on a match-by-match basis this series, in part to acknowledge the bigger-than-usual array of coverage options available for the Ashes and its wider-than-ever attendant following.However ESPNcricinfo has learned that Nine, BT and Triple M will retain their places on the device throughout all the remaining Tests in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, with the only likelihood of change to be for the limited-overs matches that follow the Ashes.”We have five broadcasters and three channels,” a CA spokesman said. “The Nine Network is allocated one because it engages with the largest audience (8 million Australians watched the Brisbane broadcast), and BT provides English fans at the match with the English commentary.”This year we are rotating the third slot to be fair to our radio broadcasters: the ABC and Macquarie have each had a channel for a number of years, when we had just the one TV broadcast, and this year it is Triple M’s turn.”In its strategy document released earlier this year, CA stated that its goal for followers of the game is that: “We will give fans what they want and grow the Big Bash.”This summer is the last of the existing domestic broadcast rights deals with Nine for international cricket and the Ten Network for the BBL and WBBL, which were signed in 2013 and worth A$590 million over five years. Formal negotiations are expected to begin in the new year, following Ten’s successful acquisition by the American broadcasting giant CBS.

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that he knew his hamstring was close to breaking point before he tore it at the start of the season.

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De Bruyne reveals hamstring painBelgian knew he was at risk of big injuryMidfielder made triumphant return to actionWHAT HAPPENED?

De Bruyne made his first appearance in almost five months when he came off the bench in the 5-0 hammering of Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup, after undergoing surgery in August to treat his ruptured hamstring. He took little time to get his first assist of the season, setting up Jeremy Doku. The Belgian spoke of his joy at returning to action after the game and admitted it was only a matter of time before he seriously injured the hamstring, which he also aggravated during the Champions League final.

AdvertisementWHAT DE BRUYNE SAID

"I had three hamstrings [injuries] in a row but they were nowhere near the same place. I had so much scar tissue that it could snap at any moment," De Bruyne told reporters. "People said I returned too quickly but when you train three weeks in a row without any issue it was fine. I played against Arsenal for 40 minutes or so but then after Burnley it just needed to be done."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

City coped well without De Bruyne, winning their first six Premier League games of the season before having a brief slump in form. But they are now clicking into gear again and his return comes just as they are preparing their assault on the Premier League title and looking to repeat their incredible success of last season. De Bruyne revealed how hard it was to watch City's games while he was recovering.

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'I DON'T LIKE IT'

"No. I can watch whatever football and I watched every game but I don't like it," De Bruyne added. "They've obviously been alright. After the year we had last year there will be ups and downs but most of the games except for Villa and maybe Wolves we did fairly well. We are there with the other teams. If you're here with all the teams around you're not going to be far away. We are where we need to be, but we need to try and continue that."

Leeds United continue to be linked with a man certain to ease the biggest issue emerging from Elland Road of late…

Who are Leeds United signing this summer?

Having already welcomed Ethan Ampadu and Karl Darlow to the club this summer, it could be argued that Daniel Farke has sufficiently bolstered a weak backline.

It seems like the German clearly feels that way too, given how reports are detailing their new pursuit of Swansea City striker Joel Piroe.

Football insider has offered a fresh update, suggesting that it will take a sum of around £20m to tempt the Welsh outfit to part with their star man, who has just one year left on his deal at The Swansea.com Stadium.

Read the latest Leeds transfer news HERE…

They are set to battle with a host of Championship clubs for his signature.

How good is Joel Piroe?

Whilst acquiring the Dutchman would mark outstanding business in its own right, the current injury crisis plaguing Farke's front line is a point of serious concern that makes this move even more important.

Journalist Graham Smyth wrote on Twitter: "Bamford (hamstring) and Rutter (core muscle injury) now doubtful for Cardiff but Farke not yet certain of timescale."

To be without these key attackers for the opening day of the new campaign will be a worry for the new boss, which he will seek to ease before that deadline in just under a week.

Although both struggled last season in the Premier League, at present this would leave them with only youth team strikers to occupy such a role, or else be forced to play someone out of position.

That is where Piroe would come in as a star above all else, likely even the injured pair.

After all, the 23-year-old has shone ever since trading his homeland for England, scoring 22 goals and assisting six in his debut year, before posting a further 21 goal contributions in the league just last season.

Such form unsurprisingly has drawn praise, with Chair of the Swansea City AFC Foundation Andrew Rhodes having predicted something "special" from their new frontman. That has since come to fruition.

Russell Martin would later outline this, detailing his lethal scoring touch as a fine asset in April 2022: "If you wanted it to fall to anyone, it is him, he is so clinical with both feet, and he is a great technician. But the most important thing he has is the right mentality when he gets around the goal.

“He shows composure, he is calm, and he just focuses on his technique, something that all top strikers possess."

Whilst Bamford might have scored 16 during his last Championship campaign, and Rutter boasts immense potential that could thrive under less pressure their new level brings, Piroe would still represent a far more reliable source of goals given he has shone for two consecutive years now.

The former proved himself far from the requisite level last campaign in the top flight, missing 13 big chances as they fell to the drop. Meanwhile, the Frenchman would start just once following his club-record switch in January.

For just £20m, the young finisher would take the goalscoring burden off both of these struggling forwards, hopefully to fire Farke to an instant promotion.