Roberto De Zerbi believes Brighton fully merit a place in Europe next season as they prepare to continue their quest with a “tough, tough game” against relegation-threatened Everton.

Memorable back-to-back Premier League victories over Wolves and Manchester United have boosted the south-coast club’s bid to qualify for a maiden continental campaign.

The high-flying Seagulls are vying with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham for a top-seven spot and have games in hand on each of their rivals.

De Zerbi urged his in-form players to remain focused on executing his possession-based game plan and not become preoccupied by results or the league table.

“It will be a very tough, tough game because they are a strong team,” the Italian said of the Toffees.

“But we want to achieve our target and I think it’s clear for everybody we are fighting against big teams – Tottenham, Aston Villa, Liverpool – for Europe.

“And at the moment, I think we are deserving to reach the best position.

“We have to think not of the results, we have to be focused only on our style and quality of play.

“We have to be focused only on to enjoy and to show our quality because we are not used to playing for this target.”

Brighton cantered to a 4-1 win at Goodison Park in early January.

Frank Lampard was sacked by Everton less than three weeks later and replaced by Sean Dyche.

Although the Toffees have won just one of their last 11 top-flight fixtures, De Zerbi is braced for a stern test as sides at the bottom scrap for survival with time running out.

“It’s a totally different situation,” he replied when asked about the resounding success on Merseyside.

“When we won in Everton, it was a different team.

“I think when there are not many games (remaining) in the last part of the season, the games are always more difficult.”

Brighton enjoyed a record-breaking 6-0 thrashing of Wolves last weekend before the euphoria extended to Thursday evening’s last-gasp 1-0 triumph over United.

De Zerbi wants Seagulls fans to once again act as a 12th man by creating another raucous Amex Stadium atmosphere.

“It’s fantastic, my players feel it’s different to play at home,” he said.

“Now there is an enthusiasm, there is an incredible energy and we are playing with 12 players.”

Hibernian manager Lee Johnson hailed Elie Youan’s work-rate in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren, although he admitted the unpredictable forward can leave him tearing his hair out in frustration at times.

The 24-year-old – on loan from Swiss side St Gallen – scored his seventh goal of the season after just four minutes and had supporters in raptures with his willingness to track back and make tackles.

“We expect that from our wingers,” said Johnson. “You’ve got to work hard. I’m pretty critical when they don’t, so when they do it’s fantastic.

“We call it (being) a ball thief when they nick it on the way back in. Elie’s earned his rest over the weekend because of the physical effort he put in, and that’s what Elie has got to do.

“He can frustrate the life out of us at times – I’m sure he even frustrates you guys (reporters), who are impartial – but he’s also got that real threat about him and can peg a team back and he can run all day.

“He’s still young and he’s got quite unique attributes so we just need to keep developing him.”

Hibs are keen to sign Youan permanently, and Johnson admits if the attacker was able to hit his best form consistently, he would be out of their reach.

“If he put it all together we wouldn’t have him,” he smiled. “That’s what we’ve got to try and do before we sell him!

“It’s difficult for me to talk about his contract but we do have an option to buy. Every negotiation is different. Some are done in advance and then put in a drawer, and some still need to be done. Obviously that’s not my bag, that’s for the CEO to deal with.”

Will Fish scored Hibs’ second before Alex Greive hit back for the Buddies who were unable to force an equaliser despite piling on the pressure in the closing stages.

The defeat saw Saints slip three points behind the fifth-placed Hibees in the battle for European places. Stephen Robinson’s men host fourth-placed Hearts next Saturday.

Robinson of his team’s Euro prospects: “They aren’t as good as they were before the game. You can pull that back very quickly, there are 12 points still to play for.

“We’ve got Hearts at home next week and we’ve been very good at home. We need to press more aggressively than we did in the first 20 minutes (against Hibs) and hope and pray we don’t make individual errors.”

Steve Borthwick has returned to Leicester to recruit yet another member of his England staff with Tom Harrison to join as scrum coach ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

Harrison will join on June 1 to replace the Montpellier-bound Richard Cockerill and follows Richard Wigglesworth, Aled Walters, Kevin Sinfield and Borthwick himself in leaving Leicester for England.

The RFU announced in February that Wigglesworth and Walters would join at the end of the Gallagher Premiership season, and Harrison’s arrival was confirmed on Sunday as Borthwick finalised his coaching staff for the World Cup.

Wigglesworth will lead the attack coaching and kicking strategy while Sinfield will continue as defence coach. England men’s sevens head coach Tony Roques will work as contact and skills coach during training camps, while Walters will be the strength and conditioning coach.

Harrison is the Tigers’ assistant coach, leading on scrum coaching, and was part of the team that won the Premiership title in 2022.

“Tom is an excellent coach and will have a real impact in area that will be fundamental to us as a team,” Borthwick said.

“Leicester’s scrum is renowned across Europe and Tom has played a leading role in that success. I have full confidence in him and I am very happy that he will be joining England.”

Leicester chief executive Andrea Pinchon wished Harrison well in his new role while acknowledging the continuing challenge the Tigers have faced considering the number of staff that have left for England.

“Since coming into Leicester Tigers, Tom has been an exceptional contributor to the club on and off the field,” Pinchen said. “While obviously disappointed to be losing him at the end of the season, we wish him all the very best for this next chapter in his career.

“Tom is a great reflection of our club’s ability to produce coaches as well as players through the pathway programme at Leicester Tigers and while it has been another challenge for us this year, with coaches being poached by the national side, we continue to see it as a badge of honour for the level at which we are viewed within the game.”

Roques will again lend his expertise during the build-up to the summer, having previously worked with the England squad as part of the preparations for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Borthwick added: “As a group, we know each other well and we know the areas we will focus on to continue developing and building this team and be the best prepared team that we can be.

“We know this World Cup will be highly competitive, but we are genuinely excited by what this group of coaches and players can achieve in France.”

England are due to hold training camps in mid-June before taking part in a Summer Series in August with fixtures home and away against Wales, a trip to Dublin to face Ireland and a clash with Fiji at Twickenham.

The Pool D World Cup campaign then begins against Argentina in Marseille on September 9.

American Wyndham Clark shot a bogey-free day to go two strokes clear of the pack while English pair Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood are still in the mix after day three of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte on Saturday.

Clark finished the day with eight-under 63 to become the outright leader going into the last day on the tournament with 16-under at Quail Hollow, with American Xander Schauffele two strokes behind.

If Clark can hold on to the lead on the last day it will be the 29-year-old’s first ever PGA Tour win.

After finishing day two tied in first place with Clark and Schauffele, Hatton continued his good form but could not keep up with the top two.

Hatton had six birdies and three bogeys to end the day with 68 and tied in third with Australian Adam Scott who are both on eleven-under, five strokes behind Clark.

Tommy Fleetwood had a strong outing with five birdies and just one bogey which came on the last hole of the day.

He finished the day tied fifth with South Korean Sungjae Im and American Harris English on ten-under.

Rory McIlroy had another inconsistent day in Charlotte and looks out of the running for his fourth Wells Fargo Championship, finishing the day tied in 50th place.

McIlroy hit four bogeys and four birdies and finished the day one-under.

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was criticised by Toto Wolff as being “a nasty piece of work” after the British driver qualified only 13th for the Miami Grand Prix.

As Sergio Perez took a surprise pole position – with Charles Leclerc’s late crash resulting in a red flag to leave Max Verstappen ninth on the grid – Hamilton endured another sobering evening in his unruly machine.

Fernando Alonso joins Perez on the front row following another impressive display by the evergreen Spaniard, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third.

Kevin Magnussen qualified fourth for Haas ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell. Leclerc, who broke his rear wing in the accident at Turn 7, qualified seventh.

On Friday, Hamilton described the performance of his lacklustre Mercedes as “a kick in the guts”, and his mood will only have worsened after he was eliminated from Q2, an eye-watering 1.1 seconds off the pace, and two tenths down on Russell.

He returned to the pits shaking his head and took aim at Mercedes for leaving him with too much to do by not releasing him early enough for his final attempt in Q2.

“We left that way too late, guys,” he said over the radio. Hamilton now trails team-mate Russell 4-1 in qualifying after the opening five rounds.

“There is not a lot to say to Lewis because the car is simply not fast enough,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff.

“Putting him in a situation on his out lap where the driver is not able to prepare his tyres makes it even worse.

“We are not trying to make mistakes. We are trying to give the drivers the best position on the track, and we have in the past got it wrong many times, and also got it right many times. But if things go badly, they compound the situation.

“I take no enjoyment from finishing sixth (with Russell) and it is the lack of comprehension of what is wrong that makes this car such a nasty piece of work.

“The car is not a good car. There are problems everywhere, with the base performance of the car and the lack of understanding of the car. The performance is just really bad. It is not acceptable.”

Hamilton, already 45 points behind championship leader Verstappen, started Saturday’s running on the backfoot following a near-miss with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

The 38-year-old was on his first speedy lap of the afternoon when he was blocked by the Dane under braking at Turn 17. Hamilton was forced to take evasive action, brushing the barriers in the process.

“Check the front wing”, said the Mercedes driver, who swiftly dived into the pits for repairs. “I just hit the wall.”

Commenting on his lowly grid slot for Sunday’s 57-lap race, Hamilton said: “We knew it would be very hard and there was a 50:50 chance we could get into Q3 so we needed to be better with our timing.

“But it’s done. I’ll try and get my head down tomorrow and see what I can do – 13th to God knows where.”

Verstappen looked set to secure pole after dominating practice, but he made a mistake in his first run in Q3.

Then, with less than two minutes remaining, Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari and thudded into the wall.

The session was red-flagged and did not restart, leaving Verstappen, who leads Perez by just six points in the standings, in the midfield.

“F*** sake,” said the Dutchman over the radio after he was unable to complete his final lap.

For Perez, his pole comes a week after winning in Azerbaijan, and provides him with the chance to assume control of the world championship.

“It has been a bad weekend,” said the Mexican, who had struggled to get up to speed in his Red Bull before qualifying.

“But we made a small change and everything came alive. Tomorrow is an opportunity starting from pole and we will go out there and enjoy this amazing crowd.”

Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix from 13th following a qualifying session to forget for the seven-time world champion in the United States.

As Sergio Perez took a surprise pole position after Charles Leclerc’s late crash resulted in a red flag to leave Max Verstappen ninth on the grid – Hamilton endured another sobering evening in his unruly Mercedes.

Fernando Alonso joins Perez on the front row following another impressive display by the evergreen Spaniard, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third.

Kevin Magnussen qualified fourth for Haas ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Russell. Leclerc, who broke his rear wing in the accident at Turn 8, qualified seventh.

Hamilton ended Q2 an eye-watering 1.1 seconds off the pace and two tenths down on team-mate Russell.

Hamilton, who returned to the pits shaking his head, took aim at Mercedes for leaving him with too much to do at the Hard Rock Stadium

“We left that way too late, guys,” he said over the radio. Hamilton now trails team-mate Russell 4-1 in qualifying after the opening five rounds.

Hamilton, already 45 points behind championship leader Verstappen, started Saturday’s running on the backfoot following a near-miss with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

The 38-year-old was on his first speedy lap of the afternoon when he was blocked by the Dane under braking at Turn 17.

Hamilton was forced to take evasive action, brushing the barriers in the process.

“Check the front wing”, said the Mercedes driver, who swiftly dived into the pits for repairs. “I just hit the wall.”

The incident will be investigated by the stewards.

Hamilton’s afternoon then took another major setback following a scruffy lap, leaving him way down the order for Sunday’s 57-lap race.

Verstappen looked set to secure pole after dominating practice, but he made a mistake in his first run in Q3.

With less than two minutes remaining, Leclerc then lost control of his Ferrari and thudded into the wall.

The session was red-flagged and did not restart, leaving Verstappen, who leads Perez by just six points in the standings, in the midfield.

“F*** sake,” said the Dutchman over the radio after he was unable to complete his final lap.

Perez’s pole comes a week after his victory in Azerbaijan and provides him with the chance to take the lead of the world championship.

“It has been a bad weekend,” said the Mexican, who had struggled to get up to speed in his Red Bull before qualifying. “But we made a small change and everything came alive.

“Tomorrow is an opportunity starting from pole and we will go out there and enjoy this amazing crowd.”

Both McLarens failed to progress from Q1 with Lando Norris 16th and rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri last but one on another sobering evening for the British team.

The television feed immediately cut to McLaren CEO Zak Brown whose pained expression was evident to see.

Williams driver Logan Sargeant, 22, who was raised in nearby Fort Lauderdale, will bring up the rear for his first F1 race on home soil.

Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix from 13th following a qualifying session to forget for the seven-time world champion in the United States.

Hamilton ended Q2 an eye-watering 1.1 seconds behind pacesetter Max Verstappen and two tenths down on team-mate George Russell, who progressed to the final phase.

Hamilton, who returned to the pits shaking his head, took aim at Mercedes for leaving him with too much to do at the Hard Rock Stadium.

“We left that way too late, guys,” he said over the radio. Hamilton trails team-mate Russell 4-1 in qualifying after the opening five rounds.

Hamilton started Saturday’s running on the backfoot following a near miss with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

The British driver, 38, was on his first speedy lap of the afternoon when he was blocked by the Dane under braking at Turn 17.

Hamilton was forced to take evasive action, brushing the barriers in the process.

“Check the front wing”, said the Mercedes driver, who swiftly dived into the pits for repairs. “I just hit the wall.”

The incident will be investigated by the stewards.

Both McLarens failed to progress from Q1, with Lando Norris 16th and rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri last but one on another sobering evening for the British team.

The television feed immediately cut to McLaren CEO Zak Brown, whose pained expression was evident to see.

Williams driver Logan Sargeant, 22, who was raised in nearby Fort Lauderdale, will bring up the rear for his first F1 race on home soil.

Aryna Sabalenka turned the tables on Iga Swiatek to win a gripping battle in the final of the Madrid Open.

The world’s two leading female players were meeting in the final for the second event in a row after Swiatek successfully defended her title in Stuttgart.

But the top seed had to settle for second best here as Australian Open champion Sabalenka powered to a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory to claim her third title of the season.

Although Swiatek still has a big lead in the rankings, the gap has certainly closed and Sabalenka confirmed her status as the best player in 2023 so far ahead of the French Open later this month.

Women’s tennis has been crying out for a rivalry at the top of the game for years and this is shaping up to be a good one, particularly as there appears to be little love lost between the pair.

They are contrasting players with very different personalities – Sabalenka bubbly and ultra-aggressive on court, while Swiatek is a self-declared introvert who uses her supreme athleticism to dominate.

Throw Wimbledon and Indian Wells champion Elena Rybakina into the mix, and the WTA can begin to look forward with optimism despite the lack of true household names.

Sabalenka was desperate to get revenge over Swiatek and she learned the lessons from Stuttgart with a controlled but relentlessly offensive first set.

The Belarusian looked frustrated after failing to take two break points at 3-2 but did not allow her head to drop and made the breakthrough to lead 5-3 before clinching her first set on clay against Swiatek.

The Pole responded impressively by opening up a 3-0 lead in the second set but back came Sabalenka to level with some tremendous power tennis and, had she taken her chance to make it four games in a row, the match might have been over.

However, Swiatek dug in and reeled off another three games in a row to level proceedings at the Caja Magica.

Both knew how important the start of the decider was and, with the intensity levels increasing still further, Sabalenka produced some of her best tennis of the match to move 3-0 in front.

Swiatek rallied again as she looked to maintain her proud record in finals – she had won 14 of her previous 16 – but, having levelled at 3-3, Sabalenka broke once more to lead 5-3 and overcame her nerves to clinch her fourth match point.