Related items

• Dujon Sterling urges Rangers to change mentality after poor run

  Dujon Sterling has called for a mentality change from Rangers for the season’s finale after a string of poor performances.

  The goalless draw at Dundee on Wednesday night in their game in hand left Philippe Clement’s side three points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic with five post-split fixtures remaining, which includes a trip to Parkhead.

  The loss of a valuable two points which swings the title further towards Celtic  came after their first ever defeat against Ross County on Sunday and a 3-3 draw against the Hoops at Ibrox, where they had to come from behind twice to salvage a point.

  Now the Light Blues need to focus on Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts at Hampden Park and Sterling, who signed from Chelsea last summer, was brutally honest about the current state of affairs at the Govan club who now have two wins in eight in all competition and he is looking for rapid change.

  Asked about possibly owing a performance on Sunday to Clement, who put up a stout defence of his players after the Dundee disappointment, and the fans who booed the players off in angry frustration, utility player Sterling said: “We owe ourselves a performance as well because we have been s*** the past three games.

  “We need to re-set and do it for the fans as well because they have come home and away, backing us, singing for 90, 95, 100 minutes and we owe it to them.

  “Obviously the results have been disappointing in the past two weeks and I know they have seen it before over the past years. Hopefully we can change that but we will see.

  “We are fighting for a title and the way we are playing is as if we are not playing for anything, like the season is dead and it is a dead rubber game.

  “Somehow it has got to switch. I don’t have the words to do it or know how to do it. It is a team thing, not just one person and not just the gaffer.

  “We just have to have that belief that we can (come back). We had the togetherness, we had the belief. We still have the togetherness but I don’t know if the belief is there.

  ” I think everyone has to switch their minds that we can have that belief that we can do this. It is not good enough on our part. We have a lot of work to do and we need to re-set.

  “We need to get our heads in the game, switch our mentality because for now, it is not going in the right direction.

  “There is still a lot of games to be played and there’s still things to fight for.
  
  “Of course anything can happen. We have five games left, five cup finals and hopefully the fans can push us to get through them.

  “The dressing room is down at the minute. But we dust this one off, get back to the training ground and review it, park it and focus on the semi-final.”

• Aldershot move into play-off places with victory at 10-man Gateshead

  Kwame Thomas headed Aldershot into the National League play-off places in a 1-0 win away to a Gateshead side who played almost half the match with a defender deputising in goal.

  Gateshead had goalkeeper Nathan Harness sent off in the 47th minute for bringing down James Daly outside the box and, with no stopper on the bench, Louis Storey went between the posts for the rest of the night.

  Storey made a good save to keep out Cian Harries’ free-kick in the 51st minute, but could do nothing as the visitors took the lead 10 minutes later.

  Thomas got on the end of a looping cross from Josh Barrett to head in, and it proved enough for a win that puts them one point above FC Halifax, who host Oldham on Thursday.

• Jarrod Bowen likely to be fit for West Ham’s Europa League clash with Leverkusen

  Jarrod Bowen looks set to be fit for West Ham’s bid for an unlikely Europa League comeback against new Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

  The Hammers’ 19-goal top scorer missed the 2-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat in Germany, and Sunday’s Premier League loss at home to Fulham, with a hip injury.

  But Bowen took part in training at West Ham’s Rush Green HQ on Wednesday morning and hopes are high that he will be available against Leverkusen.

  Manager David Moyes said: “It was great to see Jarrod out there.

  “We’re not sure yet. I would never risk a player if I thought they were injured but you always want your best players back in, your goalscorers as well, and Jarrod has been that this season.”

  The news is a major boost to the Hammers as they attempt to inflict a first defeat of the season on Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen.

  But they will be without key Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta through suspension after he was booked in Germany.

  “Most people know exactly what Jarrod has done for us over the season and others. It would give us and the crowd a real lift,” Moyes said.

  “We’ve lost Lucas through suspension, and had Jarrod out through injury. We have to find ways of making magic happen.”

  Left-back Emerson Palmieiri is also suspended while centre-half Konstantinos Mavropanos is a doubt.

  Leverkusen secured a first league title in their history when they beat Werder Bremen 5-0 on Sunday, and Moyes hopes the celebrations went on long into the night – and maybe spilled into the start of the week.

  “Rightly so, why would you not celebrate?” he said. “To be the champions, you should celebrate, you should enjoy it because the moments go very quickly.

  “I hope they’ve been downing those big giant glasses of beer they get in Germany!”

  Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who turns 39 on Thursday, hopes West Ham can lean on their experience of making unlikely comebacks.

  Fabianski was in the Hammers team who were 3-0 down at Tottenham with 10 minutes to go in 2020, and hit back to draw 3-3.

  “I think the confidence that we can take is from the experiences in recent years, games where we have been down and come back,” the former Poland international said.

  “The Spurs game is one of the best examples,  being 3-0 down and to score three in 10-15 minutes.

  “We’ve experienced some great moments as a team in recent history and that will help us prepare mentally for (Thursday’s) game.”