Tuesday’s briefing: Arsenal to begin defence and O’Reilly relishes England call

Heading into a men’s international break, women’s football takes centre stage on Tuesday night as Arsenal begin the defence of their Champions League title against old foes Lyon.

Nico O’Reilly is relishing his first call-up to Thomas Tuchel’s England senior squad while Craig Bellamy is playing down Wales’ chances of causing an upset in Thursday evening’s trip to Wembley.

“Humble” Arsenal prepare to kick off defence of their Champions League title

Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers said her side are “humble” as they begin their Women’s Champions League defence against Lyon.

The Gunners defeated Tuesday’s opponents in last season’s semi-final, pulling off a sensational 4-1 triumph away from home in the second leg after trailing at the midway point.

The European champions have the benefit of home advantage at Meadow Park as they look to pick up where they left off in triumphing over Barcelona in May’s Lisbon final.

“We start from scratch,” said Slegers. “We’re very proud of what we did last year, a lot went into that, but we all started over again.

“Everyone is constantly developing, teams change and we’re playing an extremely strong opponent tomorrow. We’re extremely humble but we look forward to this opportunity.”

O’Reilly revels in fast-track England call-up

Nico O’Reilly trained with the England squad for the first time on Monday afternoon following his fast-track to the senior set-up.

The 20-year-old Manchester City utility player was added to Thomas Tuchel’s group for Thursday’s friendly with Wales and next week’s World Cup qualifier in Latvia following the withdrawal of Chelsea captain Reece James.

O’Reilly, who has played nine times for Pep Guardiola’s side this season, has moved up from the under-21s, having never played for Lee Carsley’s squad after a maiden call-up in August.

“I found out last night, pretty late, about 11pm,” he told talkSPORT. “I got a text from Thomas, he said am I free to call, so I gave him a call and he let me know the good news.

“I was a bit shocked. I had to double check. But it was an amazing feeling.”

Rangers admit mistakes over Russell Martin appointment

Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh admitted culpability for getting the appointment of Russell Martin wrong and revealed a “rigorous, thoughtful recruitment process” to find a successor is already under way.

The former Southampton boss was sacked as head coach on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Falkirk left them in the bottom half of the William Hill Premiership.

Martin only presided over one victory in seven league games in charge and needed mounted police to help escort him out of the Falkirk Stadium car park as Gers fans vented their anger.

The Ibrox club confirmed that Martin’s assistant, Matt Gill, and first-team coach Mike Williamson would also be leaving.

Cavenagh admitted in an open letter to supporters: “We know you are frustrated – we are too. We did not get this right, and it’s our responsibility to fix it and get us back on track.”

Wales coach Craig Bellamy relishes challenge of facing England

Craig Bellamy says “ridiculous” England are so good that a boxing promoter would not match them against his Wales side.

The two teams meet in a Wembley friendly on Thursday for the first time since England coasted to a 3-0 group-stage victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

England ended up reaching the quarter-finals of that tournament, either side of two European Championship final appearances under Sir Gareth Southgate.

“England have a ridiculous squad, like France,” Bellamy said ahead of Wales’ first visit to Wembley since a 3-0 defeat five years ago played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions.

“They have a transfer market value of £1.4billion, ours is £170million. If you were a boxing promoter you wouldn’t put us together. It wouldn’t be allowed.”

Consortium withdraws interest in Tottenham takeover

A consortium led by American tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick will no longer make a bid for Tottenham.

An expression of interest by Earick’s consortium, which was reportedly ready to launch a £4.5billion takeover bid, was “unequivocally rejected” by ENIC, which is run by the Lewis family Trust, on September 26.

On Monday, it was confirmed via the London Stock Exchange that Earick had pulled out of the running, which was welcomed by the Lewis family Trust, who again reiterated a long-term commitment to Spurs.

“The Board of Tottenham Hotspur Limited (the “club”) notes the recent announcements from the Firehawk and Mr Earick’s consortiums that they do not intend to make an offer for the club,” a statement on London Stock Exchange read.

What’s on today

https://x.com/ArsenalWFC/status/1975252212495400981

Arsenal get the defence of their Women’s Champions League title under way against Lyon at Boreham Wood, whilst a number of League One and League Two clubs kick off their respective Football League Trophy campaigns.