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• Head coach believes ‘competition for places is on’

• Bellingham, Palmer and Foden all still to come back

Thomas Tuchel has insisted he is brave enough to omit star names from his England XI if it better balances the team. The head coach feels competition for places has increased after the 5-0 World Cup qualifying win against Serbia in Belgrade on Tuesday – especially in the No 10 role.

Tuchel watched Morgan Rogers produce an outstanding performance in the position, the Aston Villa player’s best moment being the first-time flick that sent Noni Madueke through to score the second goal. Roy Keane, who covered the game for ITV, compared Rogers to Paul Gascoigne in terms of the X factor he provides.

Former Brentford striker missed out on England’s qualifiers but he believes the standard of Saudi football should not be ignored

Ivan Toney is aware of the outside noise. He hardly needs reminding that plenty of people have had their say since he swapped the Premier League for the Saudi Pro League just over a year ago. An Asian Champions League winner’s medal and 35 goals for Al-Ahli later, the striker is defiant, even if he found himself on the outside as England played their latest World Cup qualifiers.

“Those that know me, know that I do what I want to do,” Toney says. “If there is something I want to go for, to try, then I will do it. If people want to talk, they can talk. It doesn’t hurt me, doesn’t bother me, I just concentrate on myself. I do what makes me happy.”

An upbeat Jamie Vardy insists he is ‘never to old to learn’ on his unveiling at the newly promoted Serie A club

In Cremona everything is about music: the city, located in the heart of the Po Valley, is where the greatest luthier of all time, Antonio Stradivari, was born. His violins – unique pieces, each identified by a name – are today in the hands of some of the greatest musicians in the world and can fetch a price of more than £10m.

So it was no coincidence that the Violin Museum, in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, was chosen to unveil who the city’s football team, Cremonese, hope will become their greatest soloist: Jamie Vardy.

• Former official due to appear in court on Thursday

• Allegation refers to video recovered by police in February

The former Premier League referee David Coote, who lost his job last year after a series of scandals, has been charged with making an indecent image of a child. According to Nottinghamshire police, the charge is of the most serious Category A offence and relates to a video recovered by officers in February.

The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving abuse photos or videos. Images that are classified Category A customarily show children involved in “penetrative sexual activity”, according to Sentencing Council guidelines.

Defender’s understated brilliance during away win against Serbia, just days after Palace transfer saga, is nothing new

After a summer when the noise around the transfer window threatened to reach deafening levels, with players forcing moves through by going on strike and releasing angry statements on social media, it was refreshing to see Marc Guéhi do his talking on the pitch during England’s thrashing of Serbia on Tuesday.

The defender’s understated brilliance during an impeccable team performance in Belgrade was nothing new. Guéhi is a fine player, so smooth in everything he does on and off the ball. It is why Liverpool wanted to sign him. Unfortunately for the 25-year-old it is also why he became the main character in one of the transfer window’s biggest stories when Crystal Palace ended weeks of uncertainty by refusing to sell him to the Premier League champions on deadline day.

Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup and 30 places are still up for grabs

Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup, with the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the United States, granted automatic entry. A further 43 places are determined by qualifying competitions from the six confederations and the remaining two will be decided at March’s six-team intercontinental playoffs in Monterrey and Guadalajara. After this month’s internationals, 18 countries have places booked. The draw is due to take place on 5 December at Washington’s Kennedy Center.

• Striker ‘will never advise a child of mine’ to go into football

• Mpabbé remains in dispute with PSG a year after leaving

Kylian Mbappé has admitted the football world would have “disgusted” him long ago if he did not have a ­passion for playing the game. The France and Real Madrid forward also said he would never encourage a child of his to follow in his footsteps.

In a long and occasionally bitter interview, Mbappé told L’Équipe: “I’m fatalist about the world of football, but not about life. Life is won­derful. Football is what it is.

• Egypt forward injured knee in World Cup qualifier

• Rayan Cherki also out for six weeks with injury