Wales suffered heartbreak in their first-ever penalty shoot-out as Poland booked their place at Euro 2024 after a goalless 120 minutes.

Spot-kicks were needed on a tense evening in which Ben Davies had a first-half header disallowed for offside but chances were scarce in this play-off final.

Wales were reduced to 10 in the final seconds as Chris Mepham was banished for a second yellow card and Cardiff City Stadium held its breath following an impromptu rendition of the national anthem.

Poland converted five perfect penalties with Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piątek successful against Danny Ward.

Wales matched them as Ben Davies, Kieffer Moore – via the underside of the crossbar – Harry Wilson and Neco Williams scored.

But Daniel James saw his effort pushed out by Wojciech Szczesny as Wales lost 5-4 on penalties and wild Polish celebrations began.

It was a cruel end for the hosts who had given everything to qualify for a third consecutive European Championship.

Wales had beaten the visitors only once – a maiden meeting in 1974 World Cup qualifying – and suffered seven defeats in 10 games, including six successive losses.

They also had to nullify the threat of Lewandowski with the 35-year-old striker in rich scoring form for Barcelona and seeking to add to his record 82 Poland goals.

Wales made one alteration from Thursday’s 4-1 semi-final thumping of Finland, with Moore replacing David Brooks in the forward line.

Poland were unchanged from the side that put five past Estonia in their Warsaw semi-final but Aston Villa’s Matty Cash was missing from the substitutes’ bench after damaging a hamstring.

South Wales Police had promised a zero-tolerance approach to anyone attempting to take pyrotechnics into Cardiff City Stadium after Poland’s previous visit in September 2022.

But the Polish end was lit up with flares as the two teams gathered for the pre-match anthems.

Poland sought to take the sting out of a fever-pitched atmosphere by frustrating Wales with their ball possession.

Karol Swiderski narrowly failed to get on the end of a Bartosz Slisz cross and Jakub Piotrowski fired over from 25 yards as Poland settled quickly.

Wales’ best moments were from set-pieces: Davies heading over a Wilson corner and Moore planting another chance wide.

Moore also came close to being the beneficiary of Joe Rodon’s flick-on from a Connor Roberts long throw but ran out of room by the byline.

Wales had edged their way back into the contest as the interval approached and had the ball in the net in the final moments of the half.

Moore met Williams’ cross at the far post and Davies guided his knockdown beyond Szczesny in the Poland goal.

The assistant referee’s flag cut short Welsh joy and VAR showed it was a correct call with Davies offside by a matter of inches.

Wales did manage the first on-target effort four minutes after the restart when Szczesny superbly clawed away Moore’s header from under his crossbar.

It looked as if Poland were wobbling but composure was rediscovered and crosses began to be swung into the Wales penalty area with increasing regularity.

Jakub Kiwior cleared the crossbar from six yards and Swiderski sent Piotr Zielinski’s free-kick wide.

The tension was also palpable as Szczesny held headers from Moore and Mepham and Lewandowski almost prevented extra time by fizzing just wide from 25 yards.

Piotrowski and Szymanski had openings in an additional 30 minutes that Poland dominated, but Ward did not have a single save to make in the entire match.

Ben Davies is confident Wales will prevail should they face a first-ever penalty shoot-out in their Euro 2024 play-off final against Poland.

Wales have never felt the tension of spot-kicks to settle matters at full-time, but that would be the deciding factor should Tuesday’s tie in Cardiff finish level after 120 minutes.

Poland have been involved in two shoot-outs, both at Euro 2016 – overcoming Switzerland in the round of 16 before losing to Portugal at the quarter-final stage.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get there,” Wales captain Davies said about the possibility of penalties at the Cardiff City Stadium.

“We’ve been practising all week. I don’t know what the line-up is, but we seem to have 11 pretty good ones at the moment.”

Wales do have experience of play-off football, however, having taken this route to beat Austria and Ukraine in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

Gareth Bale was the difference in both games, scoring all three Wales goals in 2-1 and 1-0 victories, but the Dragons must attempt to qualify now without their retired former captain and talisman.

Tottenham defender Davies said: “It’s been a bit of transition having lost Gareth, who brought so much to this squad.

“If we could get there this time it’s a real team effort and we’d be really proud.

“Most of us played in the game where we got the experience of beating Ukraine in the last play-off.

“It was high stress, the game with the biggest stakes on it, and everyone handled themselves well.

“That’s one thing we pride ourselves on. We’ve got discipline, energy and passion, but overall we’re a proper team.”

Davies is one of four survivors from the current squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016, alongside Aaron Ramsey, Danny Ward and Wayne Hennessey.

It has been a golden era for Welsh football as reaching Germany this summer would mean qualification for a third consecutive European Championship and a fourth major tournament out of five.

Wales did not qualify for a single major tournament between 1958 and 2016.

Davies said: “Welsh football was in a pretty sticky place before Euro 2016.

“We felt that would be our best chance to qualify and it was important to break down that barrier to show it is possible.

“To show that qualification is there in your hands, and we’ve had players stepping up in big moments over and over. To do it four times is something that I never imagined happening.”

Tottenham’s Premier League revival was halted in emphatic fashion after two Joao Pedro penalties and a stunning strike from Pervis Estupinan helped injury-hit Brighton record a thumping 4-2 win.

Spurs arrived at the Amex Stadium seeking a fourth successive top-flight success to reclaim fourth spot from reigning champions Manchester City.

But the north London club were ripped apart as Pedro’s double and Estupinan’s thunderbolt added to Jack Hinshelwood’s opener.

Tottenham, who claimed late consolations through substitute Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies, could easily have lost by more as rampant Albion twice hit the woodwork and had a Facundo Buonanotte effort disallowed.

Richarlison struck a post for the visitors and was twice denied by the offside flag, while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also hit the woodwork.

Yet, on this evidence, Champions League qualification looks a distant dream for Ange Postecoglou’s side, who had registered just one point from 15 before their recent upturn in form. Victory lifts Roberto De Zerbi’s hosts above Newcastle into eighth.

Depleted were missing eight first-team players while their visitors also had a lengthy list of absentees.

One-time Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck should have opened the scoring for Albion inside six minutes when he was twice denied by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, but the Seagulls deservedly edged ahead with 11 minutes on the clock.

Tottenham’s porous defence failed to halt Pedro’s mazy waltz across the 18-yard box and his offload was emphatically dispatched into the roof of the net by 18-year-old defender Hinshelwood.

Brazilian forward Pedro duly doubled the lead with a spot-kick awarded following VAR intervention.

Spurs thought they had escaped when Jan Paul van Hecke’s header from a Pascal Gross corner came back off the right post but replays showed Dejan Kulusevski pulled down Welbeck as he attempted to reach the rebound and Pedro coolly rolled home from 12 yards.

Stunned Spurs showed little response and were in danger of falling further behind. James Milner rattled the right post with a superb curling effort before Buonanotte’s clinical finish was flagged offside.

The away side almost gifted Brighton a third when Pedro was sent through by a calamitous back-pass from Pedro Porro, only to see his attempted dink pushed wide by Vicario.

Postecoglou would undoubtedly have been happy to reach the break only two behind, albeit his side’s predicament nearly improved as Richarlison swept against the outside of the left post in added time.

The Brazilian then put the ball in the net having already been ruled offside and then curled wide before again being denied by the flag of assistant referee Darren Cann.

Tottenham’s frustration was quickly compounded. Seagulls substitute Estupinan, making his first appearance since November 9 due to injury, did the damage, unleashing a thunderous, dipping effort into the top right corner from around 25 yards following Milner’s short corner.

Tormentor-in-chief Pedro rubbed salt into Spurs’ wounds 15 minutes from time by dispatching his second penalty after Evan Ferguson was brought down by Giovani Lo Celso.

Veliz’s first goal in English football, after Kulusevski and Son Heung-min capitalised on sloppy Seagulls defending, eased the embarrassment before Davies’ header from a Porro cross increased the anxiety among home fans.

But Brighton weathered a frantic nine minutes of added time, during which Hojbjerg hit the base of the right post, to claim the points.

Leon Balogun is happy to have earned the trust of Philippe Clement after taking advantage of a reset under the Rangers boss.

The 35-year-old centre-back returned to Ibrox for a second spell from QPR in the summer but, under former manager Michael Beale, he featured only against Livingston and Morton and was even left out of the Europa League squad.

Clement took over from Beale in October and Balogun was handed a start in the 5-0 cinch Premiership win over Dundee on Tayside at the start of the following month.

The former Mainz, Brighton and Wigan player has played in the six domestic games since and is building a partnership with Connor Goldson as John Souttar and Ben Davies provide competition.

Balogun is pleased that he has been able to capitalise on the clean slate Clement offered the whole squad upon his Ibrox arrival.

He said: “I’m really grateful for that and it means a lot because I’ve had a tough spell being on the sidelines and it seems to be a bit of trust at least.

“I’ve been a professional now for 16 years almost so it (clean slate) doesn’t always go that way.

“You always think that way and I’ve seen it turn out completely different but I’m happy it went that way.

“But I think he’s been a breath of fresh air for everyone. Just in his ways.

“I’m sure you (the media) had one or more encounters with him so you get an idea of his persona and I think the boys take it on really well and you can see that in our performances overall.”

Rangers’ 1-0 cinch Premiership win over Hearts at Tynecastle on Wednesday night courtesy of Abdallah Sima’s 12th goal of the season kept the Light Blues eight points behind leaders Celtic having played a game fewer.

Clement has gone 11 games unbeaten since becoming Gers boss but, after disappointing draws against Aberdeen in the league and Aris Limassol in the Europa League respectively, the 2-0 win over St Mirren on Sunday keeps them on the heels of the Hoops.

“I think what you can see is there is a momentum we are creating right now,” said Balogun. “It would be foolish of us to now think, ‘okay things are just going to go our way’.

“But if I look into the dressing room I hear everybody, I hear the players on the pitch talking to each other, there’s no-one taking anything for granted.

“So we have to keep building. The way we came off the last two games (Aberdeen and Aris) where we had a set-back, slap on the neck and then came back into the games, shows you the character we’re building at the moment.”

Ben Davies insists Wales are determined to prove the doubters wrong by making Euro 2024 and reaching a fourth major tournament in five attempts.

Wales are preparing for decisive Euro 2024 ties against Armenia and Turkey knowing qualification for next summer’s finals is in their own hands.

Last month’s stunning 2-1 upset win over World Cup semi-finalists Croatia has set Rob Page’s side up for what could be another momentous week in Welsh football.

Tottenham defender Davies, stand-in skipper for the injured Aaron Ramsey on the night and again this week, gave a rousing ‘huddle’ speech after the Croatia game that was caught on camera.

Evoking the words of Dafydd Iwan’s Yma O Hyd – the 1980s folk protest song which has been adopted by the Football Association of Wales as an anthem and translates as “Still Here” – Davies declared that the Dragons never give in.

“It was just a case of showing the reason why we’re here,” Davies said of a speech which came during a campaign in which Wales have had to adapt to life without the match-winning exploits of the retired Gareth Bale.

“It was backs against the walls stuff, it was showing that people doubted us again but we’re still standing.

“We’re standing up against the challenges and here we are with two games to go still in the fight.

“We never stopped believing in this group. The mindset we’ve got is we can get a result against anyone. We’ve shown that.”

If they fail to qualify automatically – dropped points will leave them relying on other results for a top-two place – Wales are guaranteed a play-off place through their elite status in the last edition of the Nations League.

But overcoming Armenia and already-qualified Turkey might be an easier proposition than beating the likes of Norway, Poland and Ukraine in March.

Automatic qualification, however, looked improbable after June’s 4-2 defeat to Armenia in Cardiff, and the subsequent 2-0 away loss in Turkey three days later.

Davies said: “It was obviously disappointing to lose to Armenia at home in the summer.

“In these groups your home record usually has to be very good, but we’ve been here before.

“We’ve had our backs against the wall and we’ve given ourselves a chance. It’s exactly the same now.

“It’s quite clear the second game doesn’t matter if the first one doesn’t go our way.

“This week it’s full focus on Armenia. We had a tough result against them at home, it was a real wake-up call.

“They’re a good side and showed that against us, and it’s important we go there knowing we’ve got a big job to do.”

Davies, Ramsey and goalkeepers Danny Ward and Wayne Hennessey are the four survivors remaining from the squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Wales went 58 years before their first major tournament – the 1958 World Cup – and their second in France.

But playing in Germany next summer would see them making four tournaments out of five – three successive European Championships and the 2022 World Cup.

“Growing up it was a dream of Welsh football to be going to these major tournaments,” Davies said.

“That dream still exists and this is another huge chance we’ve got.

“We don’t want to sit on the success and say: ‘OK, we’ve been there and had a nice time’.

“Once you get a taste of it you want to do it again. That’s exactly where we are as a group this time.”

Wales qualified for Euro 2020 by winning their final two games, away to Azerbaijan and at home to Hungary, and obvious parallels exist with a far-flung trip to Eastern Europe followed by a sell-out clash at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Davies said: “Of course there are similarities from the last time we qualified (for the European Championship).

“It’s a tight group and they’re always going to come down to it (last games), whatever happens. Most of us have been in this situation before and it’s an opportunity for us to do it again.”

Rangers moved clear into second place in Europa League Group C with what turned out to be a nervy 2-1 win over Sparta Prague at Ibrox.

The two sides fought out a goalless draw in the Czech Republic last month but it took only 11 minutes for Brazilian striker Danilo to get the breakthrough before midfielder Todd Cantwell added a second in the 20th minute.

The visitors smartened up after the break however, with substitute Lukas Haraslin reducing the deficit in the 77th minute and although Danilo soon had the ball in the net again it was ruled out after VAR check for a foul and in the end the home players and fans were glad to hear the final whistle.

Philippe Clement has now gone six games unbeaten since taking over as Light Blues boss and incremental improvement is clear, but they were holding on at the end.

Real Betis have nine points, Rangers have seven, Sparta Prague have four and Aris Limassol just three.

Rangers host Aris Limassol later in the month before concluding their campaign next month with a trip to Spain to face Real Betis and there is plenty still at stake.

The home side were buoyed by their commanding 3-1 Viaplay Cup semi-final win over Hearts on Sunday and Clement made one change with centre-back Ben Davies in for Leon Balogun, who, along with left-back Ridvan Yilmaz, was not included in the European squad by former boss Michael Beale.

Rangers’ first chance came in the fifth minute when a cut-back from Cantwell just missed the sliding Danilo, wearing a mask again to protect a cheekbone injury.

However, the Gers striker soon took advantage of a horror mistake by the visitors, intercepting a lazy backpass from defender James Gomez before racing through to slip the ball past keeper Peter Vindahl for his third goal in four games.

The Czech side were rattled and Vindahl soon had to make a save from a spectacular Cantwell effort.

At the other end, Rangers keeper Jack Butland tipped a header from Gomez over the bar for another corner which came to nothing, before Rangers stretched the lead.

Danilo took possession deep in the visitors’ half, moved the ball onto the right-hand side for Cantwell who turned back inside Gomez before bending a drive into the far corner for his first goal of the season and once again the home fans were celebrating.

Sparta players came together in an impromptu ring to try to sort things out but it got no better.

In the 27th minute a poor clearance from Sparta captain Asger Sorensen from an Abdallah Sima cross ended at the feet of Danilo and he smashed the outside of the post with a drive from 16 yards and 10 minutes later skipper James Tavernier came close with a 25-yard free-kick.

Gomez was having a torrid night and his slip allowed Cantwell  to run clear on to a Connor Goldson pass but his unconvincing shot was blocked by the foot of Vindahl.

There was no surprise when Gomez failed to emerge for the second half with Victor Olatunji also staying inside as Qazim Laci and Tomas Wiesner came on for Czech side who began to push Rangers back for the first time, with Laci sending a header past the post just after the hour mark.

Clement’s side could not get going and in the 69th minute Cantwell made way for  young attacker Ross McCausland to give a much-needed energy boost to the Govan side.

Still Sparta had the upper hand and Haraslin just missed the target with a shot into the ground following a corner.

Vindahl made saves from McCausland and midfielder Ryan Jack as Rangers tried to reassert themselves but they found themselves under real pressure when Haraslin played a one-two with Angelo Preciado and swept the ball into the net from 10 yards.

Danilo looked like he had immediately restored Rangers’ two-goal lead but Italian referee David Massa checked his pitch side monitor and decided that the Gers attacker had tripped Serensen to get his chance.

Butland made a fine save from Haraslin’s powerful drive as Rangers defended desperately for a valuable three points which looked like being a lot easier earned at the interval.

Rob Page says he has cleared the air with Football Association of Wales chief Noel Mooney after their public spat last month.

Mooney put Page’s future in the spotlight four days before the Euro 2024 qualifier against Croatia by saying the manager’s position would be reviewed if Wales did not qualify for Euro 2024 automatically.

Subsequent media reports suggested Mooney had wanted fellow Irishman Roy Keane, the former Sunderland and Ipswich manager and TV pundit, to replace Page following June defeats to Armenia and Turkey.

Page is just over 12 months into a four-year contract and promised to “ignore the noise” during the build-up to a game that Wales eventually won 2-1 to move into the second automatic qualifying place in Group D.

Captain Ben Davies described Mooney’s comments as “not helpful”, and Page said the issue has since been addressed at a meeting between himself, the chief executive and FAW president Steve Williams.

“It was a conversation all three of us needed,” Page said when announcing his squad on Wednesday for this month’s final Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey.

“I’m not going to go into details of what was said. It needed to be done and only positives will come from it.

“I’m due to meet him (Mooney) after the press conference and we’ll have a coffee and a chat.

“Things were said and that was it. We all move forward in the same direction. Full focus is now on the football.

“It was frustrating, unnecessary. But I don’t want to spend any more time thinking about it. We’re all on the same page.

“We all know what we’ve got to do. It would be disrespectful from me now to the players to keep going on about it.”

Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson returns to a 23-man squad after missing the win over Croatia with a hamstring injury.

Page maintains stand-in skipper Davies will be fit for both qualifiers, despite the defender missing Spurs’ 4-1 Premier League defeat against Chelsea on Monday and also being in danger of sitting out his club’s weekend game at Wolves.

Sunderland defender Niall Huggins has won his first senior call-up and Portsmouth midfielder Joe Morrell returns after a two-match suspension.

But Aaron Ramsey is again ruled out with the knee injury he sustained in September, and Page says the Cardiff midfielder has suffered a “setback” in his recovery.

He said: “It’s disappointing, I found out on Friday last week. As we all know Aaron was pushing and pushing to be part of this camp.

“Unfortunately it’s come a little too soon for him. He’s had a setback. He got up to about 90 per cent. If you’d seen him on the grass, straight lines, everything was fine.

“But there was something stopping him from going to that last step. So it’s not great for us, but it gives others an opportunity.

“He’ll be a part of it (the squad). I had that conversation with him last camp. He knew he wasn’t going to play any minutes in regards to the changing room, but to have Aaron around the lads is definitely beneficial.”

Wales can avoid the play-offs in March by beating Armenia in Yerevan on November 18 and Turkey in Cardiff three days later.

Dropped points in either game will leave them relying on other results to join already-qualified Turkey at next summer’s European Championship in Germany.

“June was a bump in the road,” Page said of damaging defeats to Armenia and Turkey in the space of four days.

“We didn’t like it. We didn’t appreciate it. We didn’t like what we saw, but we put it right in September (by beating Latvia) – and some.

“We built on that in October and capped it off with arguably one of the best performances that I’ve seen.

“We have to build on that. It will count for nothing if we don’t follow it up.”

Ben Davies has urged Wales to summon up the spirit of reaching the World Cup to beat Croatia and keep their European Championship qualification hopes alive.

Turkey’s shock win in Croatia on Thursday night damaged Welsh prospects of claiming a top-two place in Group D.

Wales must now realistically beat top seeds Croatia in Cardiff on Sunday and finish with wins over Armenia and Turkey next month to qualify for Euro 2024.

By doing so, Wales would qualify for a third successive major tournament – two European Championships either side of the 2022 World Cup.

“We know the situation we’re in and it’s definitely going to be challenging,” said Tottenham defender Davies, who will be wearing the Wales armband in the absence of injured captain Aaron Ramsey.

“We’ve shown in the past at Cardiff that against good teams we can win games. It’s the same mentality again that we go into it believing anything’s possible.

“The two World Cup qualifiers (play-offs against Austria and Ukraine) were big pressure moments for this team.

“Arguably people would say they were better sides than us, but we showed that we’re more than capable of making our home in Cardiff a fortress and making it difficult for the opposition.

“We’ve played some of the best teams in Europe there – like Belgium and the Netherlands – and we’ve put good performances in. Playing at home gives us that something special.”

Wales have not beaten Croatia in seven games between the two nations.

There have been three 1-1 draws, including the March meeting in Split when Nathan Broadhead equalised with virtually the last kick of the match to get Wales’ Euro campaign off to a promising start.

Davies said: “They’re a great footballing nation that have had great results over the last 10, 15, 20 years.

“They’re a team stacked with quality players playing at the highest level. We know it’s going to be a hard game, but we believe it’s one we can get something out of.

“It’s a huge opportunity playing at home. If we can get three points, then it will put us in a better situation going into next month.”

Wales warmed up for their Croatia task by sweeping aside friendly opponents Gibraltar 4-0 in Wrexham on Wednesday.

It was Wales’ third consecutive clean sheet following shut-outs against South Korea and Latvia last month, the first time the Dragons have achieved that for nearly three years.

Number one goalkeeper Danny Ward said: “We got back to what we do best in the last camp, being defensively sound.

“That was vital after the summer we had (4-2 and 2-0 defeats to Armenia and Turkey) and we’ve taken that into this camp.”

Ward has yet to play for Leicester this season after losing his first-team place at the Sky Bet Championship club, but the 30-year-old insists that is not an issue while he is on Wales duty.

He said: “It’s different for a goalkeeper as opposed to an outfield player.

“It’s not so much about rhythm, more about bearings, knowing where you are on the pitch, distances, getting up to speed if you like.

“That normally doesn’t take too long for our position thankfully.”

Aaron Ramsey will miss Wales’ November Euro 2024 qualifiers, according to his Cardiff manager Erol Bulut.

Ramsey had already been ruled out of October’s qualifier against Croatia with a knee injury sustained in training last month.

But Wales boss Rob Page, announcing his squad for that fixture on Wednesday, said he was hopeful Ramsey would recover in time to play in the final two group games against Armenia and Turkey in November.

However, Bulut has said Ramsey faces at least two months on the sidelines, and that timescale will be increased should the 32-year-old require surgery.

“Aaron, we were talking about how many weeks he would be out, we were waiting also,” Bulut said at his pre-match press conference for Cardiff’s home game against Watford on Saturday.

“Hopefully without surgery, he will be out at least eight to 10 weeks.

“If he does get surgery, it will be up to 12 weeks. If something happens in these weeks, it will add 12 weeks.

“You could see, when he was on the field, he was great. He linked the game. We will miss him.”

Former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder Ramsey rejoined hometown club Cardiff in July and had been in fine form for club and country.

He scored from the penalty spot in the two games before his injury, for Wales in their Euro qualifying victory over Latvia and against derby rivals Swansea in a 2-0 Sky Bet Championship win.

Tottenham defender Ben Davies, the Wales vice-captain, will lead the Dragons in Ramsey’s absence.

Wales realistically need to draw against World Cup semi-finalists Croatia and win both games of their November double-header to secure automatic qualification for next summer’s Euro 2024 finals in Germany and avoid the play-offs.

Ben Davies hopes Rangers got back on track with their 2-0 cinch Premiership win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

The 28-year-old defender made his first start of the season on Saturday after recovering from fitness issues dating back to a hamstring complaint picked up against Aberdeen in May.

Brazilian striker Danilo headed the Light Blues ahead after 16 minutes but had to be immediately substituted along with Saints captain Liam Gordon after both men clashed heads, with the Gers player taken to hospital with a fractured cheekbone.

Substitute Rabbi Matondo added a second in the 79th minute and, after damaging defeats to Celtic and PSV Eindhoven before the international break, the Govan side go into the Europa League opener against Real Betis at Ibrox on Thursday night with renewed confidence.

Davies told RangersTV: “It was good to be back, I felt my fitness – lungs wise – was good and I felt quite strong in the game.

“It was my first 90 minutes since before Aberdeen, so it’s been a long time and I was happy to be out there and involved.

“When I realised I was playing, I was just thinking, ‘Solid performance and clean sheet’. So I was happy that we’ve done that.

“I thought we controlled the game really well, limited them to not much at all. We scored two good goals and could have scored more.

“But it’s a step back in the right direction and the start of hopefully a good run.

“The most important game is always the next one and to bounce back from not a great start (to the season) is crucial to do so at the first opportunity and we’ve done that.

“We sent fans home pretty happy and now we can look forward to playing the next game.

“I’m looking forward to Thursday, under the lights at Ibrox is special, so it’s really important that we find a performance.

“I’ve got a few days now recovering until the next game so hopefully make the most of that and then we can go again.”

St Johnstone are bottom of the table with just two points and no wins in five games, but manager Steven MacLean believes there is better to come from his squad.

The former McDiarmid Park striker said: “I always said we will get better as we go on. We have 11 new signings and we are going to improve.

“There is certainly enough to work with. I was concerned at the start of the season, but the group I have got together now. if we keep working hard and improving we will be fine this season.”

Ben Davies will not feature for Wales in their Euro 2024 qualifier against Turkey.

The Football Association of Wales announced the Tottenham defender has stayed at home for the birth of his first child.

Kieffer Moore is also absent for Rob Page’s side after being sent off during their humiliating 4-2 defeat to Armenia in Cardiff on Friday.

The forward is suspended having been sent off after tangling with goalkeeper Ognjen Chancharevich.

Goalkeeper Tom King will also miss Monday’s clash in Samsun as Wales look to recover from Friday’s shock loss.

Ben Davies believes England would be weaker without Harry Kane ahead of Wales' crunch match with the Three Lions, while Joe Allen defended the performances of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.

The Golden Boot winner in Russia four years ago, Kane is yet to register a shot on target across England's 6-2 win over Iran and goalless draw with the United States.

With the Three Lions all but assured of a place in the knockout stage, Gareth Southgate may rest his captain for their final Group B match.

Davies saluted his Tottenham team-mate but even with his potential absence, the defender is well aware of the Dragons' task.

"Harry's a world-class player and one of the best in the world, so he's going to make any team better with him in there," he said.

"That doesn't mean that England don't have very capable replacements to come in. Whoever we're up against, we're facing a team of world-class players.

"They're a world-class side. It's going to be a very tough game, but we have to prep as well as we can, look for areas of weakness they have and try and capitalise on that.

"We're under no illusions it's not going to be anything other than very difficult."

Having collected a single point from their first two games, Rob Page's side must beat their rivals - while hoping Iran fail to beat USA - to stand any chance of extending their first finals appearance in 64 years.

Davies has urged his team-mates to respond to their surprise 2-0 defeat by Iran last time out with 100 per cent effort at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

"We've had that disappointment, and we've got no choice but to move on and give everything we can," the Tottenham defender added.

"We're a team that's set high standards for ourselves and that's the reason why we've got to where we are now.

"That's the reason why we've been critical of our last few results – it's only because of the bar we've set ourselves. We know we can play a lot better, and we hope to do that in the next game."

Meanwhile, Joe Allen leapt to the defence of Bale and Ramsey. Between them, the pair have scored 61 goals for Wales, and were expected to play a key role in Qatar.

But both came under scrutiny following a pair of below-par displays against the USA and Iran, with four-time Champions League winner Bale registering just one shot on goal against the latter. 

"They're two incredible players, and they have been for our country," Allen said. "I don't think there's anyone else in the squad who's reached the heights they're capable of.

"It's a huge game coming up, they're big-game players and always have been. Hopefully, if any criticism has come their way, then they'll be able to answer a few of those critics with a top performance."

Rodrigo Bentancur struck twice in the final 10 minutes as Tottenham battled back from behind three times to snatch a dramatic 4-3 victory against Leeds United on Saturday.

Spurs conceded the opening goal in a game for the eighth time in a row when Crysencio Summerville scored for a fourth Premier League match running inside the first 10 minutes.

Rodrigo Moreno matched that scoring streak when scoring either side of equalisers from Harry Kane and Ben Davies to give Leeds a 3-2 lead in the 76th minute.

But Bentancur equalised in the 81st minute and earned Tottenham a thrilling victory two minutes later as Leeds, who had Tyler Adams sent off late on, imploded in north London.

Ben Davies has signed a new contract with Tottenham, keeping him at the club until 2025.

The 29-year-old was one of seven signings upon Mauricio Pochettino's hire as Spurs manager in 2014, and has gone on to make 271 appearances for the club in all competitions.

With Davies coming into his ninth season with Spurs, it has been another busy transfer window for the North London club, who can count Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perisic among their six signings ahead of the new campaign.

The Wales international revealed Tottenham's upward trajectory and ambition under Antonio Conte made the decision to extend an even easier one, especially in a World Cup year.

"I'm delighted to sign my new contract," he told the club's website. "After last season and the summer this club has had, there's no more exciting time than right now to be at this club.

"I was enjoying my football and when the opportunity came from the club to extend my contract, I was more than happy to do so. I've had some really enjoyable times here, it really feels like home now.

"It's an exciting season for both club and country. It'll be a bit strange, stopping mid-season for that tournament, but I can't wait. It's been a long time since Wales have been there and we've given everything to get there, so you just have to enjoy it."

Antonio Conte heaped praise on the versatility and quality of Tottenham signing Richarlison after his first appearance for the Premier League side.

Spurs are in South Korea to start their pre-season, where they defeated a select XI from the K-League 6-3 on Wednesday.

Conte has already made five new additions to his side for the upcoming campaign, though Richarlison was the only one of those to feature at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

The Brazil international played 77 minutes before his removal, with attacking partners Harry Kane and home favourite Son Heung-min stealing the show with two goals each.

Richarlison, who scored (10) and assisted (five) more Premier League goals than any other Everton player in the 2021-22 season, operated across the front three in his first showing.

Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Gil and Lucas Moura are all competing with Richarlison for the final spot in attack for Conte, who hailed numerous features of his new arrival's debut.

"Today I have seen a lot of positive things about Richy," Conte told reporters.

"In the first half he played as a number nine and in the second half he played on the right and in behind the striker. He can play in all three positions.

"I think he is strong physically and a good personality, good character, good quality. For Richy he is working and we are working on the tactical aspects with him because he has to go into our idea.

"At the same time we have to work on the physical aspects for him to be fit. But for sure he is a player that gives me important positions up front.

"He's a player that is a good player, strong and very good to protect the ball and attack the space. I'm very happy that we signed him."

Fellow arrivals Yves Bissouma and back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster missed the pre-season opener due to COVID-19, while Clement Lenglet has not travelled and Ivan Perisic is yet to be fit enough.

Conte assures former Inter star Perisic will soon be available, though, and explained regular starters Kulusevski and Ben Davies were absent as they build-up their fitness.

"For Ben it was the second training session and he needed to recover and run and do the same training as the players did in the last two days. It was the same for Kulusevski," the Italian added.

"We had a problem with COVID, with Bissouma and Fraser because the test was positive. For this reason they weren't here with us. Yes, [they are isolating].

"Perisic is working very well. He's very close. I think tomorrow he could have a part of the training session with us.

"Honestly we are satisfied because his recovery is going very fast and we are happy about this and when we come back in London he will start to have some of the training session with us."

Tottenham face Sevilla at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on Saturday before clashing with Rangers and Roma ahead of their Premier League opener at home to Southampton on August 6.