Fulham are in talks to appoint Alvaro Arbeloa as a replacement for outgoing manager Marco Silva.

Silva spent five years in charge at Craven Cottage but has opted to leave for Portuguese giants Benfica after they lost Jose Mourinho to Real Madrid.

Arbeloa, 43, was in charge at Madrid at the end of last season on an interim basis, having replaced incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso midway through the campaign.

He is now a strong contender for the role in west London, but sources close to the club have played down suggests that talks are advanced at this stage.

Arbeloa spent his entire coaching career at Madrid, working his way up from the youth teams to the interim position last season.

As a player, he had two spells at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid and also played in the Premier League for both Liverpool and West Ham.

The Cottagers are also known to have held talks with Kieran McKenna, but it would have cost £8m to release him from his contract at Ipswich Town. He has since departed the club, saying he wanted a break to spend time with his family.

Fulham finished 11th in the Premier League last season.

Donegal boss Jim McGuinness admitted “there wasn’t enough energy” in his side as they let slip a seven-point lead to lose 0-17 to 1-13 to Cork in their All-Ireland SFC round 2A game in Ballybofey.

McGuinness’ side had been heavily fancied for Saturday’s game as they looked to secure passage to the quarter-finals.

But Cork staged a comeback to reach the last eight, leaving Donegal with an unwanted extra game in round three next week.

“There wasn’t enough energy in us, there wasn’t enough fire, there wasn’t enough spark in us,” said McGuinness.

“It’s really disappointing to be honest with you, we didn’t do enough in the game.

“Cork came and they had the game plan to try and slow the game and take the sting out of the game but from our own point of view we just didn’t do enough.

Donegal looked comfortable early in the second half as they led by seven, but six two-pointers – including four from Steven Sherlock who finished with 0-9 – sealed a famous comeback win for the Rebel County.

“I think just a couple of moments here and there that kind of cost us. We conceded a couple of free kicks, a couple of two-point free kicks, put them back into it,” added McGuinness.

“The game changes very quickly then. Once that gap closes, in seven to five it really makes a difference on the scoreboard and the mentality and Cork sensed it then and you could sense that in the stadium that they sensed it and they kind of got after it more.”

This was Donegal’s third home championship loss in the past 12 months after their Ulster SFC quarter-final defeat by Down in Letterkenny in April and last year’s reverse to Tyrone.

Although the blow is not fatal, it makes the road towards winning the Sam Maguire Cup a lot more difficult.

“It feels that way at the moment to be very honest with you. It’s a really, really tough blow for us. We were very, very happy with our performance the last day.

“We’re coming home, it’s our second championship match this season we’ve lost at home, we lost last year as well against Tyrone.

“That’s three home games in a row. That’s not good enough, that just can’t happen.”

McGuinness added: “We had a long road last year. We had four games in Ulster and we had three games in a group. We still went into the preliminary quarter-final because we lost a game against Tyrone.

“We’ve only played half the games that we played last year. That shouldn’t be an issue, really. We just have to dust ourselves down.

“We’ve got to go again. When we wake up tomorrow morning and realise that we’re still in the Championship, even though we wanted to be heading to Croke Park on the back of this victory, particularly when you’re playing at home in front of your own supporters, that’s the part that gets stuck in your throat, really.”

T20 World Cup, Group 1, Edgbaston

Australia 172-8 (20 overs): Litchfield 50 (24), Perry 36 (26); Mlaba 2-22

South Africa 107 (16.4 overs): Wolvaardt 44 (39); Wareham 3-13

Australia won by 65 runs

Scorecard Tables

Australia opened their T20 World Cup campaign with a 65-run victory over fellow contenders South Africa to lay down an early marker in Group One.

With 50-over champions India also in this pool, making a tough battle for the two semi-final spots likely, Australia struck an early blow by fighting to 172-8 and confidently defending the total.

They removed Sune Luus, Annerie Dercksen and Nadine de Klerk in the first seven overs and applied the squeeze as Laura Wolvaardt attempted a rebuild with Marizanne Kapp.

Australia had dropped De Klerk in the powerplay but two interventions in the field from Georgia Wareham, who also took 3-13 and contributed an important 32, proved decisive.

She ran out the dangerous all-rounder Kapp for 12 with an accurate throw from the deep and then took a smart low catch at cover to see off Wolvaardt for 44.

Afterwards, Australia clinically knocked over the lower order to dismiss the Proteas, who have reached the past three world finals across formats, for 107

Australia, in their first tournament under new captain Sophie Molineux, were below their best with the bat, losing regular wickets, but their impressive depth meant they still posted a testing score.

Wareham’s knock came after 50 from Phoebe Litchfield. Ellyse Perry also contributed 36.

South Africa may now have to beat India when the sides meet on Sunday, 21 June on the same ground.