Claudio Ranieri blamed his lack of attacking options for Inter Milan s 1-0 defeat at home to lowly Novara on Sunday.
Andrea Caracciolo s goal in the 56th minute at San Siro settled the encounter in favour of promoted team Novara, who occupy last place in Serie A.
It was Inter s fourth defeat from their past five matches in all competitions, a sharp contrast to the eight-game winning run they enjoyed during December and January.
We knew that we were facing a team that would clam up and go on the counter, so we tried to go around them to find a space, Ranieri said.
However, we kept plenty of possession and then lacked another striker to finish the moves off.
Giampaolo Pazzini had flu this week, so I introduced him only for the second half.
Stockport and Wrexham became the first two sides to be promoted in the EFL with victories on Saturday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what is required in each division.
Championship
This club
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC)
Southampton secured a play-off place as Flynn Downes’ stoppage-time goal gave them a 3-2 victory over Watford – and they could still figure in the automatic promotion battle with games in hand as Leicester, Leeds and Ipswich all failed to win.
Rotherham are already relegated but the survival battle will go down to the wire with a tight battle at the bottom.
League One
1 point on the board
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey)
Portsmouth still need a point to clinch promotion to the Championship a…
that Stoke City have made a £20m bid for West Bromwich Albion forward Saido Berahino.
The Potters have been strongly linked with a move to secure the twenty-two year old’s services and have tabled a number of offers.
Tottenham Hotspur seemed to be the most likley destination for the former England U21 international having long been interested though they have now turned their attention elsewhere.
Aside from loan spells with Brentford, Peterbrough United and Northampton Town, Berahino has spent his entire career at the Hawthorns.
He broke into the first team at the end of the 2012/13 campaign and has since racked up one hundred and thirteen appearances for the Midlands club in all competitions, scoring thirty-six times.
Stoke boss Mark Hu…
Veteran midfielder Egidio Arevalo said defending champions Uruguay are back to retain their Copa America title.
Uruguay claimed a 15th Copa America title after trumping Paraguay four years ago, with the South American giants led by Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan.
Oscar Tabarez will be without the front pair for the 2015 campaign, with Suarez suspended and Forlan retired from international duty, while veterans Diego Lugano and Sebastian Abreu are not in the squad.
However, Arevalo insists Uruguay who kick-off their title defence against invitees and Caribbean champions Jamaica in Group B action at Estadio Regional Calvo on Saturday are dreaming big in Chile.
We come with the same dreams and desire to get it [the Copa] back, Arevalo was quoted as saying.
…
Molla Wague and Abdoulaye Doucoure inspired Watford s turnaround as the Hornets came from behind to defeat Leicester City 2-1 in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Leicester had fought back valiantly for a last-gasp 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Saturday and their impressive improvement under Claude Puel looked set to continue when Riyad Mahrez headed home midway through the first period to score for the third straight game at Vicarage Road.
But Mali defender Wague, who spent the second half of last season on loan with the Foxes, marked his first Premier League start with the equaliser on the stroke of half-time in an entertaining Boxing Day clash.
Doucoure then did brilliantly to force the winner, stretching to keep Tom Cleverley s deep free-kick in p…
Nancy have announced that Mali midfielder Bakaye Traore will join AC Milan in the summer.
Traore penned a three-year contract with the Italian club, who will secure the player on a free transfer when his contract expires in June.
Traore had already announced the move on Tuesday, speaking of his delight to have signed for the Serie A side.
After what I went through, everything that s happening to me now feels particularly special, Traore told the FIFA website.
The 27-year-old, who had also been linked with Newcastle and Olympique de Marseille, reached an agreement with Milan in mid-April, but waited for the club to secure their Ligue 1 status before announcing the switch.
Traore has been at Nancy since 2009, when he joined the club from Ligue 2 …
Joe Jordan has criticised Tottenham Hotspur s decision to sack manager Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp, together with assistant coaches Jordan and Kevin Bond, were dismissed last month after Spurs failed to qualify for next year s Champions League.
The club missed out on UEFA s elite competition due to Chelsea s unexpected Champions League triumph, with the west London side securing the fourth and final berth on offer to English clubs, despite finishing outside the top four in the Premier League.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy took the decision to remove Redknapp, who had a year to run on his contract and was seeking a long-term extension.
Not for the life of me did I think I would go off on my holiday and return to find my contract had been terminated, Jordan…
Montreal Impact coach Frank Klopas is braced for an Alajuelense onslaught as the MLS outfit bid to preserve their first-leg advantage and qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League final.
The Impact hold a two-goal buffer heading into Tuesday s return semi-final leg after Ignacio Patti and Victor Cabrera inspired the Canadians to a 2-0 victory at Stade Olympique in Montreal on March 18.
Only one other MLS franchise Real Salt Lake in 2010-11 have made an appearance in the Champions League final but no team from Canada have progressed so deep into the tournament.
The Impact are in pole position to qualify for the two-legged decider to be played on April 21 and 29 but Klopas is wary of the Costa Rican giants on home soil at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto where they ha…
The Newcastle Jets have signed Swiss defender Dominik Ritter to a one-year contract.
Ritter has been playing with Swiss Challenge League club FC Winterthur since the 2009/10 season but made just six appearances for the team last season.
Ritter was initially loaned to Winterthur from FC Basel, where he was a member of their under-21 squad and also made the senior team for one appearance.
However the Jets have opted to give him a chance as coach Gary van Egmond gets the opportunity to build his squad, having inherited a team from former coach Branko Culina, who was sacked just before the league kicked off last year.
Dominik can play as fullback, which is his preferred position, or a left side stopper, van Egmond said.
He has a lot of pace, he wil…
Michel Platini retains the support of the Football Association in his bid for the FIFA presidency, despite being banned by world football s governing body.
Platini and current FIFA president Sepp Blatter were suspended for 90 days by the FIFA Ethics Committee on Thursday as investigations into their conduct continue.
Blatter is being investigated by the Swiss Attorney General, having been accused of making a disloyal payment in 2011 to Platini.
Both men have denied any wrongdoing, with the UEFA chief earlier on Thursday releasing a strongly worded statement lambasting a deliberate leak – which is insidious in nature and… is essentially an attempt to damage my reputation shortly before news of the sanctions was announced by world football s governing body.