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Leeds United have urged supporters to show respect when players who are observing Ramadan break their fast during Sunday’s FA Cup fifth-round match against Norwich City.

Loud boos were heard when play was paused to allow fasting players to take on fluids and energy supplements during last weekend’s match against Manchester City at Elland Road.

The club said the booing was “disappointing and unexpected”, but added there were “several mitigating circumstances”, including their own failure to properly explain the interruption to fans before it happened.

“To be clear, Leeds United explicitly condemn any supporters in the home or away sections who actively boo players observing Ramadan and use the protocol in place to break their fast,” said the Premier League club in a statement issued on Friday.

Leeds said they should have been “more proactive with our communications in advance of the Manchester City fixture, to explain to supporters that this was going to happen”, as “this was the first time a game at Elland Road has ever been paused to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast”.

The club added: “There was a clear lack of awareness by some attending the fixture. Whilst we displayed a message on our big screen at Elland Road to explain why the game had been paused, this was not visible for approximately 25% of the stadium.”

As a further explanation to why some fans may have reacted as they did, Leeds pointed to an incident during the away fixture against Manchester City in November, when Farke accused goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of feigning injury to “bend the rules” and allow Pep Guardiola’s side to hold a tactical timeout on the touchline.

Leeds say it is important “for respect to be shown” when the Norwich game pauses for players observing Ramadan to break their fast – including the club’s striker Joel Piroe – following sunset on Sunday.

Sunset, which is when Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan, is expected to fall around the 75th minute of a game that kicks off at 16:30 GMT.

Leeds also condemned discriminatory and tragedy chanting at football grounds, as well as continuing taunts referencing Leeds-born Jimmy Savile, one of the UK’s most prolific sexual predators, aimed at the club’s supporters by opposition fans.

“Football still has a long way to go in eradicating stains on the game, including racism, homophobia, tragedy chanting and the sickening Jimmy Savile taunts our own supporters are subjected to at every match from opposition fans,” Leeds said.

The possibility of Celtic ending the season without a trophy “should be a wake-up call for the football club”, according to interim manager Martin O’Neill.

Last season’s beaten finalists face a difficult trip across Glasgow to play city rivals Rangers in a Scottish Cup quarter-final on Sunday.

They have already lost to St Mirren in this season’s League Cup final, while the reigning champions sit five points behind long-time leaders Heart of Midlothian in a four-team race for the Premiership title along with Rangers and Motherwell.

O’Neill recalled that Celtic finished without a trophy when he led his side to the Uefa Cup final in 2003 and yet fans still regarded it as “a great season”.

However, he said: “You could say that in recent years the fans have maybe been spoiled with no real challenges in many aspects and been able to coast home in the last six or seven games of the season.

“Here, Hearts have arrived, maybe a few years before they thought they would do. Rangers have come strongly and spent some money in getting good players in.

“It has been a challenge all season and certainly been a challenge in my couple of spells in here when you’re winning some matches and you’re still trying to peg teams back.

“But we’re in with a chance anyway – that’s the point.”

Celtic came from two goals down to draw with Rangers in the league on Sunday and went on to overtake their city rivals in the table after beating Aberdeen on Wednesday.

“We’ve had three games in six days, which has been a tall order for us, all away from home,” O’Neill said. “We withstood that, which was a great effort.

“Because of that, we were able to withstand the game at Pittodrie. That was never going to be easy, but it was one we had to win to stay in the competition.

“If we play like we did in the first half [at Ibrox], we shouldn’t turn up, but the second half gave us great confidence.

“It is testament to the players’ character as much as anything else.”

O’Neill is not sure how much the quarter-final result will affect the league title race.

“Naturally, taking the game on its own, it would be a big boost for us getting to the semi-final,” he added.

“Will it eventually have a bearing on how the league will pan out? I don’t think it will have a serious bearing, but in terms of confidence building, of course it matters.

“There are tough matches ahead for us, tough matches ahead for the other sides concerned, so I really don’t know.

Rhian Wilkinson says the impact of her “finishers” is evidence of the increased options at Wales’ disposal as they plot a path to the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Wales’ bid to reach Brazil began with a creditable 2-2 draw in the Czech Republic on Tuesday thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser from Elise Hughes.

Crystal Palace forward Hughes came off the bench along with the likes of Carrie Jones, Mared Griffiths and Mia Ross to help Wales salvage what may prove to be a vital point.

Wilkinson, whose side play their second Group B1 game against Montenegro in Llanelli on Saturday, says she is “learning more and more” about the “depth of our squad”.

Hughes headed in her fifth international goal from Gemma Evans’ cross to prevent a costly opening defeat against the Czechs, who are expected to be Wales’ main rivals in the race to finish top of the group.

Hughes, 24, came on midway through the second period in Uherske Hradiste, replacing first-half goalscorer Hannah Cain.

“This is where we’re at now with Wales, that a player of Elise Hughes’ calibre is coming into a game and you saw her skillsets,” Wilkinson added.

Hughes will hope for more game-time as Wales take on Montenegro in their first competitive home fixture since the 4-1 Nations League defeat by Italy in Swansea last June.

Manchester United’s Safia Middleton-Patel will replace Olivia Clark – who suffered an injury scare in training on Friday – in goal for Wales, with Wilkinson hinting that further changes are possible.

Captain Angharad James says the impact of Wilkinson’s substitutes in midweek proves that numerous players are “ready to go” if required.

“We are a squad now – it’s not just an XI,” the 140-cap midfielder said.

“Elise and other players came into the [Czech Republic] game and changed the game for us.

On paper, Wales’ first fixture in this campaign was their toughest, given that the Czechs are ranked 31st in the world, one place higher than Wilkinson’s team.

Montenegro are 84th in the Fifa list, while the fourth nation in the group, Albania, are 71st.

Hughes said following the Czech Republic draw that Wales should aim to win their five remaining games in the group phase of qualifying.

Though Wales have won only one of their past 14 internationals, many of which have been against high-class opposition, Seattle Reign’s James says Hughes is right.

“I think within this group, I have every confidence that we can go out and perform and win every game.”

Wilkinson, who led Wales to a first women’s major tournament in the nation’s history last year, says she is excited by the belief within her squad.

“I like that my players are so freely and so confidently saying what our ambitions are and not being frightened to do that,” she said.

“We’re all clear that we’re on a journey to improve and to get better and to challenge top nations, and to be probably more consistent in delivering to that standard.

With no automatic qualification place available because they are in League B, Wales are targeting top spot in their group as that would mean a more favourable play-off path later this year.

Finishing first would mean Wales face a first-round play-off against a side who finish second or third in a League B pool.

If they come second or third, however, they would take on a team who finish in fourth place in League A or a Group B winner.

The second round of the play-offs is seeded and should Wales get that far, they would be likely to face League A opposition.

Even a win at that stage may not mean the job is done, because the lowest-ranked of the eight European sides who get through the play-offs – which could be Wales – will go into inter-confederation play-offs in February 2027.

For the moment, the focus is the short term – and anything other than a win against Montenegro would be a heavy blow to Wales’ prospects.

Having won promotion after an unbeaten Nations League campaign at League C level last year, Montenegro were beaten 2-1 at home by Albania on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, Wilkinson insists there is no room for Welsh complacency against opponents who are “filled with pride”.

“Every game is 90 minutes and that’s where you get upsets and that’s where you get a team that doesn’t show up and a team that has luck or whatever it is,” she added.

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo has called for clarity on what constitutes a foul at set-pieces, warning current levels of grappling and blocking are “almost crazy”.

The Hammers boss became the latest Premier League chief to weigh-in on the issue as he called for refereeing officials to visit clubs and explain to players “what is a foul, what is a contact, how far can you go… because we are seeing things that are not normal”.

Speaking before his side’s FA Cup match against Brentford on Monday, Nuno revealed he had raised concerns with Howard Webb, head of referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

“What the referee has now allowed, what’s happening in the set-piece situation is, I’ll say, almost crazy,” Nuno told reporters.

“I think they should review it. I can see that many of them are fouls – the contacts, the holding, the grabbing, the blocks.

“Many things are happening. Some of them are legal, some of them are OK, but most of them are contacts that go much further than what is allowed in football.”

Earlier this month, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said the growing emphasis on set-pieces meant Premier League games were no longer a “joy to watch”, with leaders Arsenal at the forefront of discussions around grabbing at corners.

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler has also hit out at the Gunners and went on to claim: “Some of the ways teams are blocking, there’s no real rule.

“Sometimes the referee whistles and it’s a foul, sometimes it isn’t a foul or they don’t whistle.”

Those comments were echoed by Nuno, who said levels of contact now allowed on goalkeepers made their jobs “very, very difficult” as attackers crowd them in an effort to block their movement.

“It’s my personal consideration, and I already had the chance to address this worry to [PGMOL chief] Howard Webb,” he added.