Harry Kane continued his record-breaking form by becoming the highest scoring Englishman in a single Bundesliga season with the winner in Bayern Munich’s 1-0 victory at struggling Cologne.

England captain Kane claimed his 18th goal of the season courtesy of a first-half tap-in to fire Bayern to the top of the table, above Bayer Leverkusen.

The 30-year-old striker’s remarkable tally is one more than Kevin Keegan managed for Hamburg in the 1978-79 campaign and the total Jadon Sancho registered for Borussia Dortmund in 2019-20.

His haul has come in just 12 league games since his big-money summer switch from Tottenham, while he has registered 22 goals in 17 outings in all competitions.

Thomas Tuchel’s side dominated proceedings against a team who remain second-bottom but squandered a host of chances to make the scoreline more emphatic, with Leroy Sane particularly culpable.

Unbeaten Bayern were back at RheinEnergieStadion for the first time since dramatically snatching the Bundesliga title from Dortmund on the final day of last season.

They began with purpose and were almost gifted an early lead when Cologne defender Timo Hubers inadvertently diverted the ball on to the outside of his own post with Kane waiting to pounce following fine work for Sane.

Former Manchester City forward Sane then failed to lift the ball over home goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe after being sent through on goal and later scuffed wastefully wide.

Kane’s decisive 20th-minute finish came between those golden chances.

He calmly slotted home on the rebound after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s initial effort was blocked on the line by Julian Chabot to cap a swift Bayern counter-attack, started by Konrad Laimer’s interception.

Choupo-Moting almost doubled the lead two minutes later when he was denied by Schwabe.

Lowly Cologne, whose only win of the season was a 3-1 success over Borussia Monchengladbach on October 22, offered little from an attacking perspective in the opening period.

Visiting goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to be alert to repel Rasmus Carstensen’s close-range header but the visitors were relatively untroubled.

For all of Bayern’s control, head coach Tuchel would have been eager to grab a second to secure the points.

However, chances were scant in a largely-forgettable second period which lacked tempo.

Sane saw a powerful effort blocked behind by Chabot, before Kingsley Coman headed against the crossbar from the resulting corner.

Bayern’s failure to kill off the game gave Cologne a glimmer of hope of snatching an unlikely draw going into the closing stages.

Yet the away side comfortably held on to move to the summit as the prolific Kane once again grabbed the headlines.

Everton fans have staged a protest outside the Premier League’s headquarters in London in response to the club’s 10-point punishment for breaching financial regulations.

The Toffees were handed the sanction by an independent commission last week after they exceeded losses permitted under the league’s profitability and sustainability rules by £19.5million in the three seasons ending in 2021-22.

Manager Sean Dyche expressed shock at the “disproportionate” penalty on Friday, a sentiment shared by the fans who gathered outside the Premier League’s offices in Paddington, west London.

Paul, 36, who lives in East Dulwich but is originally from St Helens, is a season-ticket holder who will be at Sunday’s game against Manchester United.

He told the PA news agency that the points deduction “felt draconian”, adding: “It just feels like the rules were deliberately vague to give flexibility for this kind of situation.

“I think Everton have been deliberately targeted because of the threat of an independent regulator, and that feels wrong.”

Alan Newton, 46, who lives in London but is originally from Maghull, held a season ticket for 10 years.

He told PA: “Nobody’s saying that we’re not guilty as a club of anything, but the points that have been taken off is far too harsh a penalty.

“Do I think that some of the other bigger clubs are going to get penalties like this or it’s going to play out the same? Probably not.

“I think the likelihood is we’ll get a reduced penalty, it’ll set a precedent for other clubs and we’ll see what happens next.”

The points deduction has left Everton 19th in the table and above bottom side Burnley only on goal difference.

However, Amy Panayi, 28, who lives in Gravesend but is originally from Liverpool, does not believe the club will be relegated.

“If we just get consistency with your teams like Manchester City and Chelsea, I will take a 10-point deduction,” she told PA. “I will say I don’t think we will go down, because there’s too much fight (and) heart there.”

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson remains unconvinced that VAR is improving football, despite a positive independent assessment for Scotland’s match officials.

An independent review panel (IRP) has deemed that just three of the first 407 VAR checks this season produced the wrong outcome.

It is understood that the panel of former players, coaches and managers gave match officials a higher accuracy rating for major decisions than the Scottish Football Association referees department itself.

St Mirren were on the end of one of those perceived mistakes for a so-called double-hit penalty by Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski – and Dundee the other two – but Robinson believes it is supporters who are being short-changed by how the technology is being used.

The former Motherwell boss said: “It is not making football better for me and I would imagine the vast majority of fans.

“We have to remember football is about fans. Remember Covid, football wasn’t the same game. Fans should be asked ‘is it making it better?’ And from the fans I know and speak to, it isn’t. People pay a fortune to watch football and they should be asked.

“The authorities are trying to make things better but it needs to happen sooner rather than later because it is no consolation to us or any other team that has happened to. It has happened the right way for us as well but at least they are looking at it.”

Robinson believes improving communication is key to the success of VAR.

“Communication between the fourth official and managers has improved massively,” he said. “They do tell you what is going on when you have three or four checks at the same time.

“I think they should communicate with the fans. I wouldn’t have as many voices involved in it, it adds to the confusion.

“But the biggest thing for me, the referee should be called over to make the decision not influenced or told what somebody else thinks. He should still referee the game.

“He should be brought over to look at the incident – not, ‘I believe this is a red card, can you come and see it again’? And if he still makes the same decision, so be it.”

Miovski’s spot-kick equaliser in the 10th minute of stoppage-time in Paisley on August 27 prevented St Mirren going top of the cinch Premiership.

There was a VAR check after Saints goalkeeper Zach Hemming claimed the Aberdeen striker had touched the ball twice after slipping, but the goal was given without referee John Beaton being asked to review the footage.

The panel’s verdict was handed down to the 12 Premiership clubs during a meeting with the referees department on Thursday.

Audio of conversations between match officials and the VAR control room was relayed to the club representatives and explanations were given over how some key match incidents were dealt with.

The IRP was set up by the governing body ahead of the start of the season. Three people are called up from a pool of former players, managers and coaches for each review meeting and are guided by experts on the Laws of the Game.

They looked at the most contentious issues of the 407 reviews in the first round of cinch Premiership fixtures and the Viaplay Cup, 24 of which led to on-field reviews.

Other than Miovski’s penalty, the other two perceived errors went against Dundee.

The panel felt Josh Mulligan should not have been sent off for a challenge on Kilmarnock winger Danny Armstrong on September 23.

Video assistant referee Euan Anderson asked David Munro to review the incident but the referee stuck by his original decision.

The IRP also felt Dundee were on the receiving end of an injustice when Amadou Bakayoko had a goal disallowed in a 2-0 win at Livingston on October 28. Referee Willie Collum ruled the goal out after reviewing footage, deciding the offside Jordan McGhee was interfering with play.

Derek McInnes wants a bit more “bravado” from his Kilmarnock side to get their first cinch Premiership win of the season when they face Ross County on Saturday.

The Rugby Park club are sitting sixth in the league after 13 games but are yet to win an away league game this season in six attempts.

Killie go into the game against the Staggies – who will be under new boss Derek Adams for the first time – on the back of a 1-0 defeat by Hibernian at Easter Road before the international break and the Killie boss is looking for better results on the road.

McInnes said: “I can analyse it to death but I think the best gauge for me is level of performance. The level of performance against Hibs was good.

“We have not had a bad performance on the road this season but the results haven’t mirrored our home form.

“We have had a lot of good moments in games and penalty box entries – I think we are fourth in the league behind Hearts and the Old Firm for touches in the opposition box – and we get up the pitch well and move the ball well but at Easter Road we were just looking for that bit of quality.

“The stats show that we don’t get as many shots on target when we are away from home. It is something that can easily be addressed in terms of analysis but in terms of performance it is different to last year.

“Last year we were poor on the road a lot of times, we deserved exactly what we got particularly in the early part of the season.

“This season doesn’t feel the same but obviously we still need to get results on the road and if we get something close to our home form we will be alright.

“But I am not getting caught up with it. I don’t want it to become a thing and hopefully we can go and put in a performance like we did at Easter Road but try to show a bit more quality, try to show a bit more confidence in the final bit, have a bit more bravado about us rather than snatching at things and overthinking things.

“We are a bit more instinctive with our work at Rugby Park and I just feel we get a lot more shots on target when we are at home.

“It is something we have spoken about to the players but I am not getting too caught up in level of performance, they have been decent.”

Defender Alejandro Balde is confident Barcelona can end their Rayo Vallecano “curse” on Saturday.

The reigning LaLiga champions have not beaten Rayo in four attempts and will hope to put the record straight when they head for the Estadio de Vallecas this weekend.

Balde told the club’s official website: “This is an important match for the team. We haven’t beaten Rayo Vallecano for two years and I think a win on Saturday will break the curse of not winning.

“The start of the season was good. We are in third place in the league and we are already close to qualifying for [the knockout stage of] the Champions League.

“We are four points away from the top, but the season is still long and anything can happen.”

Three of those four winless games against Rayo have come since Xavi replaced Ronald Koeman at the helm in November 2021.

Barca go into the game having lost two of their last four in all competitions, a 2-1 El Clasico defeat by Real Madrid and a shock 1-0 Champions League reverse at Shakhtar Donetsk, but lying third in the table two points behind Real and four adrift of leaders Girona.

However, they do so having lost the services of 19-year-old midfield star Gavi, who is not expected to play again this season after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage on international duty with Spain.

Frenkie De Jong is closing in on a return from an ankle injury which has sidelined him since the end of September, while keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is a doubt.

Asked about Gavi, Balde said: “I send him a lot of support. It is a very difficult and long injury, and the most important thing is for him to be patient because he must recover well because the team will need him.

“We are losing a great player, a key player in the team, we are losing his ferocity.”

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Rayo, who have won only one of their last eight league games, but drawn six of them, complete a run of fixtures against the top three which has seen them draw 0-0 at Real Madrid before losing 2-1 at home to Girona despite taking an early lead.

Manager Francisco told a press conference: “We respect our rival a lot. They are one of the best in Europe and the world.

“We have to do what we have been doing, be brave and try to take advantage of the moments we have.”

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Christopher Nkunku will not be fit to be involved in Chelsea’s visit to Newcastle on Saturday.

There had been hopes that the £52million summer signing from RB Leipzig would have sufficiently recovered from the knee injury he sustained on the pre-season tout of the United States to play a part at St James’ Park.

But, despite being fit enough to have taken part in training with the first team, the 26-year-old has not worked tactically with the squad and will not travel.

Chelsea struggled without the France international in Pochettino’s first Premier League games in charge, with the goalscoring problems that he had been acquired to help solve carrying over from a tumultuous campaign last season during which the team scored fewer league goals than they had in almost a century.

Those issues have become less urgent in recent weeks, with four goals scored on three separate occasions against Burnley, Tottenham and Manchester City.

By contrast, the team had not previously scored four times in a game since April 2022.

“(Nkunku) was doing things with the group last week,” said Pochettino. “But he’s not fully recovered to be part of the squad.

“He’s a fantastic player, top scorer in the Bundesliga last season. He can play different positions, his quality is amazing. It’s really bad luck to lose him from the beginning of the season.

“We’re going to find the best way for him to fit in the team. He’s going to find massive competition. His team-mates are ahead of him, they’ve had four months of competition. He needs to build his form and be at his best level.

“We need to understand he’s coming back from injury, he will need time. We will be patient with him.

“It’s not a competition (the Premier League) that he’s normally used to. He came from Europe, he needs to recover from injury but also to know the league. It’ll take time to perform at his best.”

Pochettino confirmed that Romeo Lavia, signed in the last week of the transfer window from Southampton for £53m, is also nearing fitness but is slightly behind the progress made by Nkunku.

Wesley Fofana has trained on grass at Cobham as he continues his rehabilitation from an ACL injury, though is unlikely to be available before the new year.

Chelsea had come into form prior to the international break with five wins from eight in all competitions, a run which saw them score 19 times having previously netted only seven in their first seven under Pochettino.

The manager is hopeful that the pause will not have disrupted his side’s rhythm ahead of their visit to face Eddie Howe’s side.

“The break came at a bad time,” he said. “It came in a moment we were building a way to play, results were on our side. But I believe we can keep momentum even after two weeks with no competition.”

Pochettino added that the squad has held group discussions about why performances and results have been better this season against the stronger teams – draws with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City and victory over Spurs – while there have been home losses to Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.

“It’s part of the process,” he said. “We’re a young team, we started to work four months ago. We need to be more mature, more patient. We cannot get frustrated so soon when things don’t work.

“Expectation creates nervousness when you play a team with less quality than you. You take rushed decisions, get frustrated. You want to do the job of your team-mate.”

AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli has urged his side to remain “consistent” ahead of their meeting with Fiorentina on Saturday.

Following the conclusion of the international break, Serie A action resumes with Milan hoping to return to winning ways at the San Siro.

Despite their good start to the season, Milan have not won a league game since the beginning of October and are now third in the table following two losses and two draws in their last four Serie A matches.

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Those last four matches have seen Milan’s opponents rally in the second half to snatch wins or come from behind to earn a draw, but Pioli has called on his team to achieve consistency throughout games.

He told a press conference: “I have many responsibilities, I remain focused on trying to always do better together with the club. So far, we haven’t achieved what we should have, but we’ve taken responsibility.

“The team are working well and are united, but we can do better. We’re only thinking about tomorrow’s game. For four consecutive matches, our second-half performances have cost us.

“Our concentration levels mustn’t drop, and we need to be consistent throughout the game. We haven’t lost our spirit.

“Words are meaningless and facts do the talking. We’ve analysed our mistakes and mustn’t repeat them. We have to perform at a high level for 90 minutes. We need to show that we’re a competitive side.

“Fiorentina have always caused us problems, and we’ll need to be compact, determined and decisive. They play attacking football, get a lot of men forward and are certainly a difficult side to face.”

Milan have been handed a boost with Christian Pulisic, Davide Calabria and Ruben Loftus-Cheek available for Saturday’s clash, but they will still be without Simon Kjaer, Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor.

Pioli also confirmed that 15-year-old forward Francesco Camarda has been training with the squad and could be used in future games if needed.

“I think talent is ageless, Francesco is talented. Sometimes, destiny creates certain opportunities, and both we and him need to remain calm,” Piolo added.

“He’s a very young lad but also very mature character-wise, and he’s ready to give us a hand if needed.

“Whether he’s used will depend on many factors, but he’s trained well with us in the past few days. I’m sure he has a great future ahead of him.”

The Premier League returns on Saturday lunchtime as league leaders Manchester City host second-placed Liverpool.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp joked that he loves playing at 12:30 in Friday’s press conference, but he has been a long-time critic of the slot and expressed his frustration again before the international break.

Here, the PA news agency looks at Liverpool’s record in early kick-offs under Klopp.

Early birds

The clash against Manchester City will be Liverpool’s 42nd Saturday lunchtime kick-off since the German arrived on Merseyside in October 2015, which is the most of any Premier League club in that time.

City and Tottenham will have both played 38, ahead of Manchester United (33) and Chelsea (31).

Klopp has overseen a total of 20 wins, 13 draws and eight defeats in the early Saturday slot, which equates to 1.78 points per game.

That represents the second-best record among ‘big six’ clubs, behind City (2.24), but is well below his average return across all other kick-off times (2.16).

Liverpool’s performances in Saturday lunchtime games have been indicative of their title prospects in recent years, with the Reds having won all 12 of such matches in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 – seasons in which they lifted the title or finished within a point of Pep Guardiola’s City.

In contrast, Klopp’s men won just one of five 12:30 kick-offs in 2020-21 – when they barely made it into the top four – and none of six on the way to finishing fifth last season.

Jet lag

Fourteen of Liverpool’s 42 Saturday lunchtime kick-offs under Klopp have come immediately after an international break, including three in three already this season.

That is more than twice as many as any other club, with Tottenham and Chelsea having done so six times since October 2015, ahead of the Manchester clubs on five apiece.

The Reds’ squad contains four South American internationals who all featured in continental qualifiers in midweek before making the return trip to the north-west.

Alexis Mac Allister and Alisson Becker faced each other in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Brazil, while Darwin Nunez scored twice for Uruguay against Bolivia and Luis Diaz played for Colombia against Paraguay.

Despite his unhappiness with the schedule, Klopp has a good record in lunchtime fixtures following an international hiatus.

Fittingly, his reign began with a post-international 12:45 kick-off against Spurs, which ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

He has since recorded eight wins – including victories over Wolves and Everton this term – two draws and two defeats in 12 subsequent games.

However, both losses came at the hands of Saturday’s opponents City, with Guardiola’s side recording 5-0 and 4-1 thrashings in 2017-18 and 2022-23 respectively.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his side can reap additional benefit from having Alexis Mac Allister as a makeshift holding midfielder.

The Reds boss was dismissive of the suggestion the Argentina international, who usually plays further forward, faces the biggest test of his adaptation into a new role at Manchester City on Saturday.

Mac Allister, who joined for £35million from Brighton, has coped well so far filling a hole in a newly-formed midfield with fellow summer signing Wataru Endo, a genuine number six, only entrusted with two Premier League starts, but the prospect of facing Pep Guardiola’s side on their own turf is an entirely different prospect.

The 24-year-old’s poorest performances in the role have come away from home – at Wolves, where he was replaced at half-time after returning from international duty in South America, Newcastle and his former club – but that is not a concern for Klopp at this moment in time.

When asked whether this will Mac Allister’s biggest test, Klopp replied “No.

“I understand that from the outside world it is always about how is a player in this position. but in the end it is all about how the whole team is set up.

“Is Macca a natural-born six? No. Did football develop in the last years in directions we couldn’t imagine before? Yes. Does that mean that a player like Macca can play the six. Definitely.

“It depends on how the whole team defends. Easy as that. If we do that properly then we have an incredible player in a central position who can find passes, a forward-thinking player.

“Do you want a player there who is just knocking players down and when we are in possession he thinks ‘not my job, give me a break’?

“I like him there a lot to be honest and we as a team can benefit a lot from it if we make sure we have a really compact formation and that’s what we especially need tomorrow.”

The top-of-the-table clash is being billed as the biggest game of the season as Klopp’s side have emerged from a summer midfield rebuild to become City’s main challengers, sitting just a point behind the leaders despite their fifth-place finish in May.

But the Liverpool manager insists it should not be used to gauge comparisons with the Premier League champions.

“It is not a test how close can we get to City, it is just a super-exciting football game,” he added.

“But for us it is not about being excited, we have to prepare it properly and we know we have to be at our best to get a chance. We have that then it is about us to take it.

“A lot of things can happen: can we play bad, lose? Possible. Can we play bad and win? I would say it is unlikely, it’s pretty much not possible against City. We can play very good and don’t win, it’s possible. We play very good and win.

“This team doesn’t have to pass a test now, the direction we are going – up – is really the right one, that is obvious.

“Toulouse (a 4-3 Europa League defeat) we were not good there. I made a lot of changes so it goes on my responsibility, but still no good. Against Luton (a 1-1 draw), we were not good and if we had won the game, we were not good that night.

“But in a lot of games this season we were good and deserved what we we got.”

Jonny Hayes believes Aberdeen can take inspiration from last season as they bid to belatedly spark their cinch Premiership campaign into life.

The Dons are currently ninth in the table with just three wins from their 11 games as they adapt to juggling the demands of domestic matters with competing in the Europa Conference League.

However, Hayes is not alarmed by their current predicament as he recalls how they ended up finishing third last term – despite being seventh in early February following a poor run that cost previous boss Jim Goodwin his job.

“There’s still a long time,” said the veteran wide player. “If you look at last season, we can take confidence from that.

“We weren’t in a great place around January time, we slipped down the league, but we still managed to come good and put a run together.

“Regardless of where we are in November, we know if we hit a bit of form and put a run together we can still compete and qualify for Europe next season.”

The Dons host Rangers on Sunday – three weeks prior to their Hampden rematch in the Viaplay Cup final – but Hayes is adamant they are not feeling any extra pressure as a result of their poor start to the league campaign.

Despite being ninth, and having lost their last match 6-0 away to Celtic, they are still within seven points of third-placed St Mirren.

“I think if you get towards March-April time, you want to make sure you’re at the right end of the table, but there’s still a long way to go,” he said.

“You want to win every game, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think we’re getting overly concerned with league positions considering how tight it is. If you’re playing in cup competitions and Europe, and the league is tight it can be of benefit because you know you’re not going to lose too much ground.

“But regardless of whether you’re first or ninth, you’re going out to try and win every game no matter who you’re playing.

“You look more at the league table towards the end of the season, that’s when you’re maybe under a bit more pressure to win games to survive, qualify for Europe or win the league, whatever it may be that you’re trying to do.”

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists he would stay at the club even if they were relegated to League One should they be found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules.

City’s fate has been brought back into focus following Everton’s 10-point deduction last week, but Guardiola insists the two cases are completely separate.

The Toffees were docked 10 points for breaching rules over a three-year period, while City are awaiting a ruling after being charged in February with more than 100 alleged breaches of the competition’s financial fair play regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club denies all the charges.

Asked whether there could be any severity of punishment which would make him consider his position, Guardiola replied: “It’s a good question. I will answer when I have the sentence.

“You are questioning like we have been punished. And in the moment we are innocent until guilt is proven. I know the people want it. I know, I feel it. I will wait.

“Wait and see it and after the sentence has been done we will come here and explain it. But absolutely I will not consider my future (if) it depends (on) being here or being in League One. Absolutely.

“There is more chance to stay if we are in League One than if we were in the Champions League.”

Guardiola claims people have already decided that City are guilty and are already clamouring for them to be relegated, especially after the severity of Everton’s punishment.

“I know when people are saying, ‘OK, City, why don’t they go to the Conference?’ Wait. Wait,” he said.

“And after what’s going to happen is going to happen.

“When you read [what is said] then we should be relegated, relegated, relegated, yeah, of course, but nobody knows exactly. All the people who say that didn’t read the statements, don’t know exactly what happened. Not even myself, I didn’t read all the breaches, I didn’t read our defence.

“But wait. What I said a month ago – OK, if we’ve done something wrong we’ll be punished. But wait – we can defend ourselves can’t we?

“What people accuse us of we do not agree with what they say, we are going to defend [ourselves] and after the resolution is done, I will be here, like a spokesman for my club.

“I want to say the case for Everton, and I don’t know what happened, but only I know from the lawyers and people at my club and the lawyers is that they are completely different cases. That’s why you cannot compare because every case is completely different.

“The other one is longer because it is more complicated because it’s 115 breaches. So wait. Then after with the lawyers from both sides present their cases in front of the judge and the verdict and after I will say in front of you and you can ask me the question.”

The topic overshadowed the build-up to one of the blockbusting Premier League fixtures as City welcome rivals Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime.

Guardiola hopes that Erling Haaland is fit after he withdrew from international duty with Norway with an injury, but there are several other injury concerns.

“He trained yesterday with some niggles, today we train and hope he can be part of it,” Guardiola said.

“We have a few problems like many clubs, we’ll see after our last training sessions, we’ll see.

“I will know at 6pm who we have available, it’s always plan A.”

Nick Montgomery expressed “pride” in Jair Tavares over the way the Portuguese winger has seized his second chance at Hibernian after being frozen out under previous boss Lee Johnson.

The 22-year-old spoke this week of the “mental devastation” he endured over his lack of game time following his move to the cinch Premiership club from Benfica in the summer of 2022.

Tavares made just nine appearances for Johnson last term and featured only twice this calendar year – both times as a late sub – before the Englishman was sacked in late August.

However, the winger has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence since Montgomery’s appointment in September, featuring in nine of the current manager’s 11 games in charge and starting each of the last five.

“Jair is a great example of a young player moving to a club and things not going as planned,” said Montgomery. “No doubt he’s had some tough times but the first thing I said to him when I came in was ‘you have to forget the past, you can’t have a victim mentality because if you do, it’s really hard to pick yourself up’.

“I think he’s been growing week by week with his confidence and I’ve been really proud of Jair.

“I think now people are really starting to see the ability he has. He’s a real team player, he’s working his socks off, and he’s been outstanding ever since he came back into the team.

“He’s a great story for any player, young or old, who is thinking their career at a club is finished. A change of manager or whatever it may be, and all of a sudden you get an opportunity and you have to grab it with both hands. I think he’s done that.”

Tavares had not kicked a competitive ball this term before Montgomery put him on as a sub in his first game in charge away to Kilmarnock. Asked why he felt compelled to give the winger a chance, the manager said: “I came in with an open mind to see what the players did in training, knowing their situations before I came in but not having any bias over that.

“Jair’s effort in training has always been very good. I think it was clear at the start he was lacking a bit of confidence and belief and a clear instruction of what was needed from him in the team.

“But he’s really receptive, an intelligent footballer and a real hard worker, and I think you can see he’s getting better all the time.

“I think he’s got a lot more to come. He’s got a lot to improve on but when you don’t play for a long time, sometimes it takes a couple of games to get that game awareness and full confidence. Right now he’s on an upward trajectory and we all hope that continues.”

Hibs head to Dundee on Sunday looking to leapfrog their hosts and climb into the top six after an inconsistent start to the season. Asked about his plans for the January transfer window, Montgomery said: “We don’t know what’s going to happen. We are always on the lookout for potential future Hibs players, whether that’s in January or the summer.

“That’s something we monitor on a weekly basis. Right now, I’ve no idea what’s going to happen over December. We’ve got a couple of players coming back from injury and we’re hoping in January-February we’ll have a few more back in full training, Chris Cadden, Harry McKirdy and Jake Doyle-Hayes, so we have got players on the horizon coming back to full fitness.

“They will be like new signings if we can get them back on the park.”

Everton boss Sean Dyche has expressed shock at the “disproportionate” 10-point penalty imposed on the club but insisted he and his players are ready to take on the latest challenge put in front of them.

Dyche was trying to enjoy a short break during the international window when he got word of the unprecedented sanction handed down by an independent commission for breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules – a penalty that Everton will appeal against.

Speaking publicly for the first time on the matter, Dyche said: “I think like everyone, certainly in these parts, I was shocked and seemingly from the wave of noise after that, most people in football are shocked by the enormity of it.

“Disproportionate is a word used by the club. Obviously we feel a bit aggrieved by that, but on the other hand it doesn’t change the focus. The focus since I got there is sorting things out on the pitch, getting the team to win.

“I think we were on the right lines, delivering strong performances. This has just given us a push backwards to come forwards again. The job hasn’t changed. It’s just made it more difficult under the current circumstances until the appeal…

“I don’t know every inch of the past, I don’t know why the commission have come out with what they have but I certainly believe in what the club put forward. It feels disproportionate, it feels unjust and plenty of voices out there feel the same.

“What is done is done for now, appeal pending, and we have to get on with it.”

Everton fans have hit out at the penalty, and have raised more than £40,000 to fund protests against the Premier League. A demonstration was due to take in London on Friday outside the league offices, while a plane carrying a banner will fly over Manchester City’s match against Liverpool on Saturday.

On Sunday, when Everton’s game against United will be televised, home fans will be asked to hold up red cards which call the Premier League “corrupt”.

Everton had been showing encouraging signs before the penalty, winning six out of nine in all competitions to climb up the table, but have now dropped to second bottom – level on four points with basement boys Burnley ahead of Sunday’s match against Manchester United.

“I spoke to the group and said, ‘Look, the league table is one thing but I don’t change my story very often and I believe the final league table is the truth of the season, and I’m not going to change now’,” Dyche added.

“For sure, it changes the viewpoint but it doesn’t change what we’re doing. In fact it enhances what we’re doing. We need to go harder, stronger. This is what it is. It’s been about refocus as much as anything.”

The penalty has raised all manner of questions at Everton, with suggestions that rival clubs may now pursue compensation claims potentially impacting the proposed takeover by 777 Partners.

On the pitch, there was a sense of optimism that after two seasons fighting relegation things were looking up but – for now at least – they are back in the bottom three.

Dyche said that did not concern him in the immediate term, but there was clear frustration from the boss that off-pitch dramas are once again dominating the agenda at Goodison Park.

“You have to take away the noise,” he said. “I’ve had to do it endlessly since I’ve been here, keep pushing away the noise around this football club.

“Bizarrely, we were talking about it before – the last press conference before (Crystal) Palace was one of the first ones that was just about football. And lo and behold while I was away we get a 10-point deficit. So what do you do? You just keep taking it on.”

Ange Postecoglou is excited to see Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur close to his best again amid a growing injury crisis at the club.

Spurs host Aston Villa on Sunday with at least nine first-team players ruled out and Pape Sarr a doubt after he returned with a knock from international duty with Senegal.

A much-needed positive for the Australian is the return to fitness of Bentancur, who made his first competitive start in nine months in Uruguay’s 3-0 win over Bolivia on Tuesday after a serious knee injury.

With first-choice midfielders James Maddison (ankle) and Yves Bissouma (suspended) definitely absent for the visit of Villa, Bentancur could be thrust into action.

“The back four is probably the major issue for us at the moment. We’re really low on depth there, but midfield as well. That’s just the period we’re going through,” Postecoglou reflected.

“The fact Rodrigo got an opportunity to start (for Uruguay) is good for us. It gives him that confidence that he’s able to get through a game.

“The beauty of him is he can play a couple of different areas. I think he can play as a six, he can play further forward as an eight and he’s even creative. I think he can score goals as well.

“We were kind of hoping with him, Madders, Pape, Biss and people like Pierre(-Emile Hojbjerg) we were well stocked in that midfield area for different kinds of combinations, but obviously that has been disrupted a bit.

“The key for Rodrigo is to get him back to that level physically and mentally where he feels really comfortable about playing at this level.

“I don’t think he is far off it from what I’ve seen and again certainly over the next few weeks he will get that opportunity.”

Bentancur was one of Tottenham’s best players last season and impressed in a box-to-box role before he sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage in February.

Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa used him at the base of a midfield three on Tuesday, which is where Bissouma has played for Spurs so far this season.

With Bissouma suspended for the Villa match after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign at Wolves, Postecoglou hinted Bentancur could fill that void.

He said: “Yeah, potentially. Watching the (Bolivia) game and how he played, he did it really well so you know he can play there.

“I don’t think he is that far off from a physical perspective of being able to play his normal game, whether that is box-to-box, and part of it is getting belief in himself and his own body that he is capable of doing it.”

Spurs’ hopes of returning to winning ways have been hit by their lengthy injury list, but Postecoglou insisted: “Aston Villa will be a great test for us, but we’re at home.

“Apart from the Chelsea game, our home form has been really strong and we need to make sure we get back to that.”

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag knows Everton’s players and fans will be “mad” about the 10-point penalty imposed on the club and has challenged his team to meet fire with fire on Sunday.

United make the short trip to Goodison Park this weekend to face a Toffees team fuelled by a sense of injustice after an independent commission imposed the sanction on the club a week ago for a breach of Premier League profitability and sustainability rules.

For the Red Devils, it is the first of three challenging away games in the space of six days.

On Wednesday they travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray knowing a defeat will end their hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16, before a trip to take on Newcastle a week on Saturday.

Ten Hag is expecting Goodison Park to be a bearpit on Sunday but is determined his players will not be outmuscled.

“It’s always about us, I can see the opposition and I can see they are mad, but then finally it’s about us,” he said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.

“If they are mad and that’s their fuel, we have to match those standards. When we match the standards we have a very good chance to win the game.”

United head into the game in good Premier League form, having won four out of their last five matches.

They are boosted by the return of England international Luke Shaw from a thigh strain which has sidelined him since August.

Goalkeeper Andre Onana has overcome a knock suffered on international duty with Cameroon, but a decision will be taken on Saturday about whether Rasmus Hojlund can feature.

The Dane suffered a muscle strain in the second half of the win over Luton just before the November international break.