BBC

After a lifetime of "pestering" from his father, Jamie Donley said it was a "really proud moment" for him and his family to make his Northern Ireland debut in the 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Friday night.

Or half of his family at any rate.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward joked that his mother was "not happy" with his decision to play for the country of his birth at international level after previously representing England youth sides.

The 20-year-old who is on loan at Leyton Orient spent the first few years of his life in Antrim, Northern Ireland before the family moved to Colchester.

Growing up he played for both Northern Ireland and England's underage sides before appearing to throw his lot in with the latter at under-19s level.

A concerted effort from his Northern Irish father and the side's manager Michael O'Neill, however, convinced him that his future was in a green jersey and confirmation of his international transfer arrived this week from Fifa.

"My dad's been pestering me my whole life to play for Northern Ireland," Donley said.

"I think it's the right time in my career to make the change and I'm delighted I've done it.

"Michael has been unbelievable the way he's sorted it out. He gave me my space to make my decision. I've made it now and hopefully it's the right one."

Donley came on in the 58th minute of the friendly against the Swiss, followed on to the pitch later by another debutant Terry Devlin.

For the the final 15 minutes of the game, Northern Ireland's four midfielders and two attackers were all 21 years old or younger and Donley said the age profile of the squad appealed to him.

"How young and promising the group is," he said when asked what was the key factor in his decision.

"I'm a young player as well and that helps me to fit in."

It was almost the dream debut for Donley when he met Justin Devenny's corner at the near post but his deft header drew a diving save from Gregor Kobel in the Switzerland goal.

While denied on this occasion, he knows it is hoped he can provide another creative spark for the side.

"That's my job as an attacking player," he added.

"Michael said they've lacked that a little bit, a goalscorer, someone who can create and score goals.

"Hopefully he can put his trust in me to do that for the team."

Donley has already made four appearances for the Spurs first team, all of which came during the 2023-24 campaign.

He has scored six times for Leyton Orient during his loan spell and came to wider attention in an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester City when he struck a 50-yard lob over Stefan Ortega that hit the crossbar and then the goalkeeper for a spectacular own goal.

Before returning to his parent club for pre-season training in the summer, he said he hopes to catch the eye at international level too.

"I've been able to show the Orient fans what I'm capable of. I think coming to play here [for Northern Ireland] will help my career and put my career to the next level.

"My aim obviously is to be a Tottenham player. That's what I want to do and that's what I want to be.

"Hopefully I can strive to do that. When I come back in pre-season hopefully I can show what I've been doing for Leyton Orient in training and in games."

Next up is Northern Ireland's trip to Sweden for another friendly on Tuesday where he could come up against his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Lucas Bergvall.

The 19-year-old midfielder has been a key player for manager Ange Postecoglou this season, featuring 38 times to date during his first campaign in English football.

"He's been unbelievable this season for Spurs. I still watch all the games and it'll be good to see him," Donley added.

"Hopefully we can beat them."

West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur: Women's Super League stats & head-to-head  BBC

Brighton & Hove Albion edged out Tottenham Hotspur to end a run of seven Women's Super League games without victory.

Fran Kirby struck three minutes before half-time with a smart finish into the bottom corner, but Dario Vidosic's side really should have added to their tally to make the success far more comfortable.

Three of the previous four WSL meetings between these two sides ended in draws and, for much of the first half, it felt like this would be another stalemate.

But Brighton grew into what was a scrappy opening period of little quality and few chances. They came close when Tottenham goalkeeper Lize Kop had to scramble to prevent Marisa Olislagers scoring directly from a corner.

Kop then did well to tip away Olislagers' rifled effort a few minutes later, but the Netherlands international was powerless to prevent the visitors' fortuitous winner.

Another effort from the lively full-back Olislagers cannoned off the face of Ella Morris into the path of Rachel McLauchlan, who cut the ball back for Kirby to sweep into the bottom corner from 10 yards.

Brighton continued strongly after the break, comfortably passing the ball around and creating the bulk of chances.

Tottenham struggled for fluidity in attack, something the injury absence of top scorer Bethany England won't have helped.

The visitors had two handball penalty appeals waved away by referee Ryan Atkin, before Kop kept out headers from Nikita Parris and Madison Haley.

A first ever away WSL victory against Tottenham moved Brighton back into fifth place, one point ahead of Liverpool.

Tottenham have now lost four WSL games in a row, while only Crystal Palace (40) have conceded more goals this season than them (34).

Robert Vilahamn's side remain seventh in the table, eight points above bottom club Palace, who gained a welcome 3-1 win against relegation rivals Aston Villa earlier on Sunday.

With both sides struggling for form in recent months, this was never going to be a free-scoring classic.

Before the match Brighton boss Vidosic said his side's winless run had taught him "a lot about the squad and myself, about things we can do differently, on and off the pitch".

The Seagulls had won just once away from home this season, although they came into Sunday's game with confidence following an impressive 2-2 draw against Chelsea earlier in the month.

Dutch international Olislagers - singled out for praise by Vidosic this week - posed a constant threat with her wicked deliveries, while Parris and Kirby combined well in central areas.

Defensively the visitors were solid, though they were up against an attack that failed to register a single shot on target.

Tottenham sorely missed forward England, who has scored three of their five league goals since the winter break.

January arrival Olivia Holdt struggled to make an impact on the Dane's first WSL start for the club, while striker Martha Thomas' goalless run in the competition extended to 25 games.

With a leaky defence and faltering attack, Spurs boss Vilahamn has a lot of work to do if his side are to match their best-ever WSL finish of fifth and go into next season with greater ambitions.

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It was a huge night for teams in the Europa League with all clubs playing the second leg of their round of 16 matches.

And it was great news for Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers as they all made it through to quarter-finals.

But how did they do and who will they face in the next round?

Keep reading to find out.

Manchester United went into the game knowing they needed to win against Spanish side Real Sociedad to go through to the quarter-finals, after drawing the first leg 1-1.

United got off to the worst possible start as Mikel Oyarzabal scored a penalty after being brought down by Matthijs de Ligt only ten minutes into the match.

However, they levelled six minutes later as captain Bruno Fernandes also scored from the penalty spot after Rasmus Hojlund was fouled in front of the Sociedad goal.

And it was Bruno Fernandes to the rescue again as he scored twice in the second half to complete his hat-trick.

Diogo Dalot added a fourth goal in stoppage time to complete a 5-2 victory on aggregate against 10-man Sociedad, who had a player sent off half-way through the second half.

Manchester United will now face French side Lyon in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Tottenham will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals after a 3-1 home win over AZ Alkmaar sealed a 3-2 victory for Ange Postecoglou's side over two legs.

Tottenham knew they had a huge task if they wanted to make it through to the next round.

They lost their first leg 1-0 against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

Wilson Odebert opened the scoring for Totteham with his first goal for the club in the first half, before Spurs took the lead in the tie early in the second half thanks to James Maddison.

AZ managed to snatch an aggregate equaliser but it was Tottenham's night as Odobert got his second goal of the match to seal a 3-1 home win and a 3-2 victory over the two legs.

Spurs will now face German side Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals.

'Having all four out there will be beneficial'

Tottenham v AZ Alkmaar (Thu, 20:00 GMT)

Tottenham Hotspur

More from Ange Postecoglou on relying on having the 'leadership group' back available: "I think so but we haven't had them that long, that includes Vicario as well. I think Vic was enormous for us in the first leg and on the weekend as well so yeah you want your experienced players to perform in these kinds of games for sure.

"We relied a lot on our younger players who have progressed really well. The likes of [Christian] Romero, Vicario, [James] Maddison and Sonny [Son Heung-min] out there, they are our four leaders, having all four out there will be beneficial."

'No extra pressure' for Postecoglou

Tottenham v AZ Alkmaar (Thu, 20:00 GMT)

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on if he feels any extra pressure to win the Europa League following his comments that he always wins a trophy in his second season with a club: "No, no extra pressure. We were obviously disappointed with our performance in the first leg. The important thing is we didn't make the tie impossible for us to get back into, it's still very tight.

"They've got the goal advantage but playing at home, if we can play with the intensity and tempo that we did in the weekend then I think we will have an opportunity to progress.

"Should we progress we will have another big challenge in the next round. The focus is to put in a strong performance tomorrow night."

'There aren't many professions where you have to answer questions like that'

Tottenham v AZ Alkmaar (Thu, 20:00 GMT)

Tottenham Hotspur

Ange Postecoglou on whether his time as Tottenham boss might come to an end if they were knocked out of the Europa League by AZ Alkmaar:"There aren't many professions where you have to come in and answer questions like that, is there?

"I'll be polite and say look we are focused on winning the game tomorrow night. We need to put in a better performance than last Thursday. That wasn't near the standard we want to play. We did some good things on the weekend, some not so good things. If we can play with the intensity and tempo we played on the weekend, we will give ourselves a good chance to progress."

'Amorim brought up Casemiro's name'

Man Utd v Real Sociedad (Thu, 20:00 GMT, agg 1-1)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said in his interview on Monday with the BBC's Sports editor Dan Roan that some of the club's players were overpaid and some were underperforming.

Ratcliffe didn't single anyone out but was responding to a question in which Antony, Casemiro, Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana, amongst others, were mentioned.

Today was the first opportunity to talk about the comments with United head coach Ruben Amorim.

I didn't mention any of the players by name.

Amorim did.

"If we are being honest in this moment, everybody, me, all the players, we are underperforming this season," said the former Sporting boss.

"We can always change that and I include myself in that part of the underperforming.

"You are talking about players like Casemiro, for example, that won everything and we know these kind of players can play so much better."

The former Real Madrid great is known to be the highest paid current United player and still has another year left on his contract.

'I like to get in the box and score goals'

Man Utd v Real Sociedad (Thu, 20:00 GMT, agg 1-1)

Manchester United

Manchester United's recent signing, Patrick Dorgu, also faced the media in today's news conference.

The 20-year-old Denmark full-back was asked about why he joined the club from Italian side Lecce: "It is a very attacking system [at Manchester United] and I like to get in the box and score goals, but also defend."

On whether he prefers to play on the left or right side of defence: "I am comfortable playing on both sides."

On his red card against Ipswich: "It was not nice to get the red card. I need to learn from it and improve my game. Training has been going well and I am getting on well with the team."

Man Utd will have money to spend in the summer

Man Utd v Real Sociedad (Thu, 20:00 GMT, agg 1-1)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada is adamant the club will have funds to spend on transfers this summer, even if they fail to qualify for Europe by winning the Europa League.

"There's no doubt that if we qualify to the Champions League, we will have more revenues and have more capacity to invest in the team," he said.

"But we are putting in place various financial measures to allow us to go and invest at the summer, even if we're outside of Europe.

"Ultimately, we want to be more efficient in our investment into the squad. So just because we'll have more revenues to invest if we're in the Champions League, it doesn't mean we're going to go and over-invest.

"We need to be cautious and try to make as many good decisions as we can in recruitment. And also when it comes to sales, we will do it purely on the basis of whether it helps improve the team or not, not for financial reasons."

Amorim gets Man Utd backing

Man Utd v Real Sociedad (Thu, 20:00 GMT, agg 1-1)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Amid all the words that been spoken about Manchester United from various senior figures over the last couple of days, one thing has come across loud and clear; head coach Ruben Amorim is going nowhere.

With United teetering on the brink of their worst season since the 1973-74 relegation campaign and, by his own admission, Amorim has found it difficult to get his ideas across, there had been suggestions the former Sporting coach might be in trouble.

My understanding is that is not the case.

Privately, United officials say they want to get out of the cycle of recruiting managers that last a couple of years and then run out of ideas.

Amorim is here to stay.

"I think it's riskier if you have a coach that doesn't have a clear idea of how he wants to play," said chief executive Omar Berrada. "With Ruben we don't see that risk.

"When it comes to our recruitment strategy, without commenting too much, the idea we have is to be able to bring in versatile players that can be adaptable to multiple systems.

"Ruben himself has said it's not about the 3-4-3 tactical formation, it's about an idea, a concept of how he wants to see the team playing.

"He wants to see the team playing more on the front foot, more of a possession, attacking-based style of football. So for that, you need players that can play in multiple positions that can adapt to that vision that Ruben has.

"And this is what we're going try to do over the next years in our recruitment."

'The focus is to change Ratcliffe's mind'

Man Utd v Real Sociedad (Thu, 20:00 GMT, agg 1-1)

Manchester United

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim on Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments that some of the squad were overpaid and underperforming: "Everyone is underperforming. Myself and the players. We can always change that, I include myself in that part of underperforming.

"You are talking about players like Casemiro that have won everything. We know these players can play so much better, that is the focus. He was honest on that. The focus is to change his mind.

"A lot of people will say you are not good enough for the club, but my feeling is you can change that with results.

"In training I feel they want this really bad."

Fulham are unbeaten in their last two Premier League games against Tottenham Hotspur, having lost 14 of the previous 16 against them beforehand (W1 D1). They last went three without defeat in the league against Spurs between November 2008 and December 2009.

After seven consecutive Premier League away wins against Fulham between 2010 and 2023, Tottenham lost this exact fixture 3-0 last season. They’ve not lost consecutive league visits to the Cottagers since a run of four between 2002 and 2006.

Tottenham have lost each of their last five Premier League games on a matchday immediately before an international break, including a 3-0 loss at Fulham last year. They had been unbeaten in 13 such matches before this (W10 D3).

Having lost just four of their first 20 Premier League games this season (W7 D9), Fulham have now lost four of their last eight (W4). The Cottagers have also lost their last two London derbies, having been unbeaten in the previous 10 (W5 D5).

Tottenham have won both of their last two away games in the Premier League, but haven’t won three in a row on the road since November 2020 (a run of 4).

Tottenham have the best big chance conversion rate in the Premier League this season (44.9%), while only Nottingham Forest (9) have overperformed their xG more than Spurs (55 goals from 47.2 xG).

No team’s Premier League games have seen more goals scored than Tottenham’s this season (96 – F55 A41). Only league leaders Liverpool (69) have scored more goals than Spurs so far.

This will be Fulham boss Marco Silva’s 200th Premier League game in charge, the second Portuguese to reach this milestone after José Mourinho (363). Silva has the highest win rate of any Fulham manager in the competition (37.5% - W39 D24 L41).

All 10 of Raúl Jiménez’s Premier League goals this season have either put Fulham ahead (7) or drawn them level (3) in the match, the most goals any player has scored with 100% of them doing so this term.

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There has been talk about Tottenham wanting Andoni Iraola as their next manager if they sack Ange Postecoglou. His stock is very high at the moment, but the Bournemouth boss will just be focused on trying to secure a top-five finish.

Spurs' season is really all about how they do in the Europa League now rather than their league position.

They do have some of their big-hitters like Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero coming back from injury, but the question is how match-sharp will they be, and also how much Thursday's tie with AZ Alkmaar has taken out of them.

Bournemouth have already beaten Spurs once this season, winning 1-0 on the south coast in December.

The Cherries play forward quickly and I am expecting them to cause Spurs more problems this time. There will definitely be goals in this, but I reckon Tottenham will score a couple too.

Sutton's prediction: 2-2