Kelly Cates mentions gripe Gary Lineker always faced on her Match of the Day debut

Kelly Cates paid tribute to Match of the Day icon Gary Lineker after hosting the BBC Premier League highlights show for the first time. That's after she was the last of the three replacement presenters to front coverage of the show this season.

The running order on MOTD became something of a gag in itself, with fans of various clubs regularly complaining about rarely being at the top of the bill. This even turned into genuine scepticism from some supporters, who suggested there was an intentional bias against their club.

Lineker, whose time at the BBC came to a halt at the end of last season, turned this into a quip of his own and signed off his farewell appearance by apologising for "your team always being last." However, that was all it was, and Lineker has in the past mapped out precisely how the decision is made over which games take precedence on the show.

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After Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan fronted Match of the Day's two slots on the opening weekend, Cates took her turn on Saturday's programme – not that she was bitter at all about being kept in the wings while her cohorts got their turns.

"Six games on tonight's Match of the Day, featuring two of last season's top three and all of the promoted sides," she said in her maiden introduction. "A new face in the studio as well, hello, and I've already been told about the significance of the running order... presumably that's why I'm third."

The 49-year-old daughter of Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish may have been last but was by no means least in terms of quality. Sky Sports regular Cates earned high praise on social media for her MOTD debut as the show included Arsenal's 5-0 trouncing of Leeds, Chelsea's 5-1 triumph over West Ham and Tottenham's surprise 2-0 win on the road to Manchester City.

Match of the Day's running order has long been a frequent source of discussion, with fans always disappointed not to be higher in the chain. For example, some Nottingham Forest supporters were disgruntled their victory over Liverpool early last season wasn't given the No. 1 billing, only for Lineker to explain why Aston Villa's 3-2 comeback over Everton got the nod.

"If you're picking the game of the day, that probably just edged Forest, which we thought would definitely lead but that went second," Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast. "If Forest were to beat Liverpool and they were in a title race, and it was the last couple months of the season, that would definitely have gone first."

It's not the only time Lineker has touched upon the timing of any given fixture being a chief factor when it comes to such decisions.

As for Cates, she has acknowledged the big shoes she is filling alongside Chapman and Logan, though she's not trying to become Lineker 2.0.

“I don’t want to be Gary," Cates recently told The Guardian. "I think there’s a temptation to try and be someone else, and I think that you get a job because of yourself.

"If then you try to be someone else, it can all just get a bit confused. I don’t need another thing to think about. I don’t need to be sitting there thinking, 'What would Gary do?'"

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