Jhon Duran climbed off the bench to sink the club who spent half the summer trying to sign him as Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win at West Ham.Colombian striker Duran was so close to moving to east London this summer that he even had to be reprimanded by Villa after doing a ‘crossed Hammers’ gesture with his arms on social media.However, new Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui could not agree a

Preston captain Ben Whiteman admitted his team are lacking in confidence as well as goals after they crashed to a 3-0 defeat against Swansea at the Swansea.Com Stadium.That made it seven successive Sky Bet Championship defeats for Preston and are still awaiting a goal over the same period.Whiteman came out to face the media after the game in place of interim manager Mike Marsh, who jumped into the

Eddie Howe has urged Newcastle to carry the siege mentality they demonstrated in victory over Southampton through the rest of the Premier League season if they are to achieve their dreams.The Magpies scrapped their way to a 1-0 win against the promoted Saints at St James’ Park despite playing with 10 men for 62 minutes after defender Fabian Schar was sent off.Asked afterwards if they could t

Reading manager Ruben Selles admitted he could not wait for the “suffering” of last season to be over after they earned a 2-0 League One win over Wigan, with the arrival of prospective new owner Rob Couhig now imminent.The 75-year-old American financier and members of his consortium watched on as Reading eased to their first victory of the league campaign, with goals from Charlie Savag

Paul Cook said Chesterfield’s stunning 5-0 romp at Crewe was “one of my best days in management”.The Spireites’ three-goal blitz inside the opening 12 minutes set them on the way, with James Berry netting twice and Will Grigg also on target.Skipper Tom Naylor punished the hosts’ tame defending after 28 minutes before Armando Dobra added a fifth in the second half as C

Bradford boss Graham Alexander insisted Andy Cook was wrongly denied a goal in their goalless draw against Salford.Cook thought he had broken the deadlock in the second half when his shot was cleared off the line by Stephan Negru, with the Bantams arguing the ball was already in.Alexander said: “It is over the line.“It’s a difficult job officiating games and the speed of it. But

Mikel Arteta praised an “unbelievable” contribution from Bukayo Saka after the winger fired in Arsenal’s second goal in their 2-0 win over Wolves at the Emirates to kick off their Premier League campaign.The Gunners are looking to end a 21-year wait for the title, having finished second to Manchester City in each of the last two seasons, missing out by two points in May despite w

New Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler is not getting carried away after marking his Premier League debut with a 3-0 victory at 10-man Everton.The 31-year-old, who arrived from St Pauli in the summer, saw goals from Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra burst the early-season optimism at Goodison Park.And he was pleased to see the work he has done in pre-season pay off.“I’m ve

Bristol City boss Liam Manning admitted to having trouble keeping a clear head during a crazy game that saw his side edge Millwall 4-3.City went 2-0 up inside 12 minutes, with striker Sinclair Armstrong crossing from the right for Anis Mehmeti to net the first and then rising to head the second himself from Max Bird’s centre.But Millwall roared back after the break, Romain Esse firing past M

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was critical of the way his side lost control of their game against QPR as they let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw.Gustavo Hamer and Kieffer Moore put the home side 2-0 up inside 13 minutes.But Jimmy Dunne pulled one back and, despite substitute Jack Colback being sent off with seven minutes left, Lyndon Dykes came off the bench to score a late equaliser.W