Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah returned to training ahead of the Europa League last-16 first leg against Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic.

The Egypt international’s presence with the rest of the squad at the AXA training complex ahead of their flight out was more significant in the context of the week, with Premier League title rivals Manchester City due at Anfield on Sunday.

Salah has played just 46 minutes since leaving the African Cup of Nations early with a hamstring injury on January 18.

Those came in one substitute appearance against Brentford in mid-February, after which the 31-year-old was sidelined with what manager Jurgen Klopp said was muscle fatigue.

Jordan Henderson hopes former manager Jurgen Klopp can enjoy a “fairytale” ending at Liverpool.

The German announced his plan to leave the Reds at the end of the season at the start of 2024, bringing to an end a successful nine-year stint.

Henderson, who left Anfield in the summer for a controversial move to Saudi Arabia, was a massive part of Klopp’s success at Anfield, winning eight trophies, including the Champions League and Premier League.

Klopp’s farewell tour has already seen Liverpool win silverware as they lifted the Carabao Cup last month and they are still gunning for the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup.

And 33-year-old Henderson, who was speaking ahead of Ajax’s Europa Conference League game with Ajax in Amsterdam on Thursday, wants Klopp to enjoy the perfect send off.

“Jurgen has had an amazing time at Liverpool, everything we achieved was because of him,” he said. “He achieved everything when he came in and I just hope the end of the story is a fairytale for him and the boys because they all deserve it.

“They all work so hard, last season was so tough on many different aspects on and off the field so for this season to be going as well as it has, I’m so proud of them.

“I was a captain for a long time there. All of the team still feel like my brothers really.

“To watch them do so well, I’m so proud of how they’re doing and I really want to see them end the season the way they have been playing the whole year.

“Let’s hope they can end the season on a high and win as many trophies as possible.”

Henderson had his own emotional exit from Anfield in the summer, leaving after 12 seasons for a highly criticised move to Saudi Arabia.

His stay in the Middle East was short-lived as he returned to Europe with a move to Ajax in the January transfer window.

But the midfielder, who would certainly have been given game-time owing to Liverpool’s injury crisis, has no regrets.

“Looking back I think it was the right time for me as a player but also for them as a team and for them as a club, as much as that hurt at the time,” he said.

“I was very emotional. Looking back at that period of time now, it is easy to see that it was the right decision made by the manager and the club.

“It was the best decision to freshen things up.”

Henderson’s move to Ajax could keep his hopes of making England’s Euro 2024 squad in tact.

Boss Gareth Southgate watched Henderson’s debut and remains in regular contact but has not given any assurances he will be in the squad for this month’s friendlies with Brazil and Belgium or beyond.

“It was really nice for Gareth to come over and watch the game, it was my debut against a good side,” Henderson said.

“It was good for him to come and watch to see that he’s keeping an eye on me.

“I definitely feel I can offer something to the national team, but I have got to be playing and doing my job here, that is my main focus.

“But of course I feel I can help the squad and the team going forward in the next camp and hopefully in the summer.

“But I have just got to continue to play well here and stay fit and hopefully I will get the opportunity to do that because playing for my country is a huge thing and always has been.”

Jude Bellingham has been suspended for Real Madrid’s next two league matches after his red card against Valencia at the weekend.

The 20-year-old England midfielder was sent off after he remonstrated with referee Jesus Gil Manzano, who blew for full-time seconds before Bellingham headed in what would have been a winner for Real.

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) competitions committee confirmed Bellingham had been banned for two matches for “attitudes of contempt or disregard towards referees, directors or sports authorities”.

It confirmed Bellingham had also been fined 600 euros (£513), with his club fined 700 euros.

Nicky Henderson may be without Constitution Hill in the Unibet Champion Hurdle but is still set to be double-handed after deciding to supplement Iberico Lord for the Cheltenham Festival showpiece.

The reigning champion was ruled out on Monday due to a respiratory infection, which has prompted a rethink from Henderson and owner JP McManus on the Cotswolds target for Iberico Lord.

Winner of the Greatwood and Betfair Hurdles, the six-year-old had been among the leading lights for Friday’s County Hurdle – but Constitution Hill’s absence combined with the possibility of testing ground on the opening day will see him switched to the main event.

McManus has paid the £18,000 supplementary fee and Iberico Lord will now join stablemate Luccia, winner of Ascot’s Betfair Exchange Trophy when last seen, in the Champion Hurdle line-up.

In a statement on X, Henderson said: “We have decided to supplement Iberico Lord this morning for the Unibet Champion Hurdle.

“He is obviously a very progressive young hurdler that keeps improving having won both the Greatwood and the Betfair handicaps. He loves soft ground which it seems that it might well be on Tuesday and therefore possibly not so soft on Friday when he was originally intended to run in the County.

“Obviously with the unfortunate defection of Constitution Hill, the race has a different complexion and so he is due to join Luccia in the line-up.”

Wales will field a new centre partnership of Joe Roberts and Owen Watkin in Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations clash against France.

They take over from established midfield pairing George North and Nick Tompkins, who have 155 caps between them, at the Principality Stadium.

It will be Llanelli centre Roberts’ first Six Nations start after making his Test debut against England last summer in a World Cup warm-up match.

Elsewhere, Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins has been switched from lock to blindside flanker, with Will Rowlands called up as Adam Beard’s second-row partner, while hooker Ryan Elias replaces Elliot Dee.

The Betfair Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle could prove a more than suitable alternative to the Cheltenham Festival for connections of Go Dante, who are weighing up a shot at the valuable Sandown prize.

As well as his ticket to Saturday’s Sandown feature, Olly Murphy’s Betfair Hurdle third holds entries in both the Country Hurdle and Martin Pipe races at Prestbury Park the following week.

However, with the eight-year-old not certain to make the final line-up for those events in the Cotswolds, the Warren Chase handler is seriously considering a trip to Esher for the prestigious £100,000 contest, with Go Dante a 7-1 chance with the sponsors.

Murphy said: “It’s certainly something we are looking at. Ideally, we would have liked to have got into a Cheltenham handicap but that doesn’t look like happening, so the Imperial Cup looks the most likely race we will take our chance in.

“He’s in good form and had a very good run in the Betfair. I think soft ground and a stiff two miles at Sandown should suit him well.

“He’s got two entries at Cheltenham next week and it’s a case of looking at where he’s most likely to get in and making the right decision, but we’re certainly looking at Sandown on Saturday.”

Similar sentiments apply to Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s Making Headway, who also has a couple of options at the Cheltenham Festival but has connections leaning towards a crack at the Imperial Cup.

An impressive winner from the front in heavy ground at Newbury last month, it could be ground conditions once again that ultimately decide if the six-year-old’s team roll the dice or hold fire in case they make the cut in either the Coral Cup or Martin Pipe at Prestbury Park.

“I think he will (go to the Imperial Cup), as long as it doesn’t dry out too much,” said Greenall. “He will definitely want it no quicker than good to soft or soft – it looks a nice opportunity for him.

“He’s not guaranteed to get in at Cheltenham and we were going to go for the good novice race at Kelso (Premier Novices’ Hurdle) but that looked quite hot and there was a couple we didn’t want to take on.”

Ben Pauling’s recent Huntingdon scorer Jipcot currently heads the market, with the in-form handler also responsible for narrow Ascot runner-up Bad amongst the 23 in the mix for Saturday’s contest.

Owen Burrows is considering the Greenham Stakes at Newbury as a potential stepping-stone to the Qipco 2000 Guineas for his exciting colt Alyanaabi.

The son of Too Darn Hot won two of his four starts as a juvenile, including the Group Three Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket, and rounded off his campaign by finishing best of the rest behind star two-year-old City Of Troy in the Dewhurst in October.

While City Of Troy is odds-on to provide trainer Aidan O’Brien with an 11th victory in the season’s first Classic on the Rowley Mile, Alyanaabi is available at 25-1 and Burrows is keen to at least give him the opportunity to advertise his Guineas credentials this spring.

He said: “I’m very pleased with him, he’s done well (over the winter) and we’ve just started faster work with him, so all good.

“We might give him a run (in a Guineas trial), if he goes anywhere he’ll probably go to the Greenham at Newbury. It just sort of makes sense as it’s just up the road for us and luckily he had a couple of runs at Newmarket last year, so he handles the Rowley Mile well by the look of it.

“We’re a long way off and like most people, we’ve not been able to do much on the grass as yet. It would be nice for it to dry out a little bit so we can get a bit of work on the grass into him, but we’re happy that he might just go to Newbury and have a run before the Guineas.

“City Of Troy is the standout at the minute, but you can’t run away from one and we’d like to think that we’ll be up there with a few of the others, so we shall see.”

The Lambourn handler has also entered Futurity Trophy fourth Deira Mile for the 2000 Guineas, but his bid for Classic glory may have to wait until later in the year.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve got him in the English Derby and the French and the Irish (Derbys) and we’ve just put him in the Guineas in case for whatever reason he doesn’t stay,” Burrows added.

“I’d be amazed if he doesn’t because that’s all he did in the Futurity and obviously that was over a mile in heavy ground.

“The Guineas entry is just a speculative entry, but the owner was happy to cover all bases and he’s going to be treated like a Derby horse, who will start over a mile and a quarter at the beginning of April and then we’d be expecting to hopefully look at a Derby trial with him after that.”

England are confident Shoaib Bashir will be available for the fifth Test against India despite an upset stomach that has led to the tourists taking precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak.

Young off-spinner Bashir and seamer Ollie Robinson woke up on Wednesday morning feeling under the weather, so the pair missed the afternoon’s practice and have been separated from the rest of the team.

While Robinson has been replaced by Mark Wood as England try to salvage a consolation win in the final match in Dharamsala, Bashir was retained as one of two spinners alongside slow left-armer Tom Hartley.

Ben Stokes doubts a late change will be necessary, even if two umpires stopping at the team hotel are also unwell. Illness to on-field official Joel Wilson and TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena might lead to fourth umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal being on standby for duties in the middle.

“I don’t think it’s anything to be too concerned about,” said the England captain, whose side trail 3-1 in the five-match series.

“The day before the game you don’t want to put anybody at risk so we’ve decided to keep them away from the team. It’s the sensible thing to do.

“When you’ve got so many people contained in the same space all the time you want to limit the chance of it spreading.

“It’s not a major issue, we just wanted to safeguard against anything spreading to someone else.”

Stokes has “not thought too far ahead” about contingencies, although England are down to two frontline spinners after electing against drafting in replacements when Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed returned home.

With the picturesque HPCA Stadium situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, conditions are cooler than those England have experienced on the tour thus far.

Even Stokes expected England would have to play three seamers and a lone spinner but an inspection of a wicket he described as an “absolute belter” for batting in the last day or two has prompted a rethink.

“Playing two seamers and still having Bash and Tom gives us a good mixture when you’re a little bit unsure of what it will do as the Test goes on,” said Stokes.

Stokes insisted the XI was not predicated on him bowling competitively for the first time since July. While Stokes had surgery on a longstanding left knee injury in November, his recovery went better than expected and he has hinted in recent weeks he could send down a few overs before the trip is over.

“If I do bowl any overs in this game it will again be a bonus, just like when we picked the team for the four games before this,” he said.

Stokes wanted Wood’s “pace and firepower to break the game open”, while the 41-year-old James Anderson will go in search of the two wickets he needs to become the first non-spinner to reach 700 Test dismissals.

“It’s phenomenal to think about, especially as a seam bowler,” said Stokes. “It’s been an amazing career to date and I can’t see him stopping.

“I have played with Jimmy for a long time and I’ve never seen him as physically fit as he is right now. Being 41, showing that hunger and desire to get better every single day is testament to his attitude and commitment.”

Stokes threw his backing behind Robinson, who is England’s only change from Ranchi after struggling with back issues that led to him being down on pace and sending down 13 wicketless overs last time out.

“Ollie did everything in his power to put in a match-winning performance last week and unfortunately not everything works out the way we want it to,” added Stokes.

“When you see someone putting in the hard work and showing that desire to not only be physically and mentally fit and something happens to them that is uncontrollable, you can’t really moan about it.”

Jonny Bairstow is set for his 100th Test appearance this week and ahead of training on Wednesday, the Yorkshireman plus Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Tom Hartley, Gus Atkinson, Dan Lawrence and some members of the backroom team visited the Dalai Lama at his residence in McLeod Ganj – 10km north of Dharamsala.

England are confident Shoaib Bashir will be available for the fifth Test against India despite an upset stomach that has led to the tourists taking precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak.

Young off-spinner Bashir and seamer Ollie Robinson woke up on Wednesday morning feeling under the weather, so the pair missed the afternoon’s practice and have been separated from the rest of the team.

While Robinson has been replaced by Mark Wood as England try to salvage a consolation win in the final match in Dharamsala, Bashir was retained as one of two spinners alongside slow left-armer Tom Hartley.

Ben Stokes doubts a late change will be necessary, even if two umpires stopping at the team hotel are also unwell. Illness to on-field official Joel Wilson and TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena might lead to fourth umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal being on standby for duties in the middle.

“I don’t think it’s anything to be too concerned about,” said the England captain, whose side trail 3-1 in the five-match series.

“The day before the game you don’t want to put anybody at risk so we’ve decided to keep them away from the team. It’s the sensible thing to do.

“When you’ve got so many people contained in the same space all the time you want to limit the chance of it spreading.

“It’s not a major issue, we just wanted to safeguard against anything spreading to someone else.”

Stokes has “not thought too far ahead” about contingencies, although England are down to two frontline spinners after electing against drafting in replacements when Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed returned home.

With the picturesque HPCA Stadium situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, conditions are cooler than those England have experienced on the tour thus far.

Even Stokes expected England would have to play three seamers and a lone spinner but an inspection of a wicket he described as an “absolute belter” for batting in the last day or two has prompted a rethink.

“Playing two seamers and still having Bash and Tom gives us a good mixture when you’re a little bit unsure of what it will do as the Test goes on,” said Stokes.

Stokes insisted the XI was not predicated on him bowling competitively for the first time since July. While Stokes had surgery on a longstanding left knee injury in November, his recovery went better than expected and he has hinted in recent weeks he could send down a few overs before the trip is over.

“If I do bowl any overs in this game it will again be a bonus, just like when we picked the team for the four games before this,” he said.

Stokes wanted Wood’s “pace and firepower to break the game open”, while the 41-year-old James Anderson will go in search of the two wickets he needs to become the first non-spinner to reach 700 Test dismissals.

“It’s phenomenal to think about, especially as a seam bowler,” said Stokes. “It’s been an amazing career to date and I can’t see him stopping.

“I have played with Jimmy for a long time and I’ve never seen him as physically fit as he is right now. Being 41, showing that hunger and desire to get better every single day is testament to his attitude and commitment.”

Stokes threw his backing behind Robinson, who is England’s only change from Ranchi after struggling with back issues that led to him being down on pace and sending down 13 wicketless overs last time out.

“Ollie did everything in his power to put in a match-winning performance last week and unfortunately not everything works out the way we want it to,” added Stokes.

“When you see someone putting in the hard work and showing that desire to not only be physically and mentally fit and something happens to them that is uncontrollable, you can’t really moan about it.”

Jonny Bairstow is set for his 100th Test appearance this week and ahead of training on Wednesday, the Yorkshireman plus Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Tom Hartley, Gus Atkinson, Dan Lawrence and some members of the backroom team visited the Dalai Lama at his residence in McLeod Ganj – 10km north of Dharamsala.

Emma Raducanu insists working on her game rather than winning matches is the priority this year.

The former US Open champion has won three of the seven matches she has played in 2024 following her return from triple surgery last spring on both wrists and one ankle.

Raducanu will play Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova on Thursday in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she has been given a wild card.

The 21-year-old, who reached the fourth round in the Californian desert last year, has been training at home in London for the last couple of weeks, and she told the BBC: “I want to work on becoming a better tennis player.

“I think for me I’m not too concerned about this year’s tournaments. A lot of people out there would say that I need matches, but I think that for me I want to work on my game and development.

“Taking time to do that is very necessary and not just following the crowd, or playing a lot of matches, or dropping down (below the WTA Tour) to do that. I want to work on developing skills.”

Raducanu also said that she is likely to play in next month’s Billie Jean King Cup tie against France if selected by Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes under-fire successor Erik ten Hag comes good and says Sir Jim Ratcliffe is unlikely to have a “magic wand” to immediately turn around Manchester United’s fortunes.

This has been a miserable second season in the hotseat for the Dutchman, whose stuttering side are 11 points off the Premier League top four and have the FA Cup as their only remaining route to silverware.

But Ratcliffe’s recent minority purchase of the club from the Glazer family offers hope of long-term improvement, with the Ineos chairman also taking control of football operations.

Rumours continue about Ten Hag’s future as the summer approaches and Solskjaer, United’s previous permanent manager, would like to see him succeed at Old Trafford.

“I don’t think there’s a magic wand (at United) as in, ‘We’ve changed the owners’,” the 1999 treble hero said in the latest episode of Stick to Football in partnership with Sky Bet.

“Obviously, they’ve got their ways of working – the Glazers have still got their commercial – who knows how it’s going to be in football with that side of it.

“Obviously Erik, I hope he’s going to be successful. We hope he’s going to make it, but you never know what the new owners are thinking. It’s about results and consistency the rest of the season.”

Solskjaer knows all about any difficulties working under the Glazer family and with many of the current United squad, having been in charge between December 2018 and November 2021.

The Norwegian kept his counsel for a long time but is beginning to speak publicly again, including recently revealing some United players did not want to be captain for certain matches.

“No one said ‘no’ to being the club captain, it was just for certain games,” Solskjaer said.

“Yes, but they didn’t want to say it themselves, they had other people come up to me and say it. It was disappointing. It’s a different generation, its Gen Z. It’s petty and shows a lack of ambition.”

United players have not only been turning down the chance to skipper the side but even face a handful of underarm questions in a pre-match host broadcast interview.

“Many players said no to doing the pre-match interviews, the three questions,” Solskjaer said.

“You had the go-to’s, Bruno (Fernandes) always did it, Harry (Maguire) always did it, Victor (Lindelof) did it, David (De Gea) did it, Luke Shaw did it.

“The others were worried about the questions, so preferred not to do it. You’re scared of the whole reaction maybe, but you also understand some of the players’ mental health.”

Solskjaer has focused on the wellbeing of himself and his family since being sacked by United, turning down numerous opportunities to return to the game.

“I needed time out, and I have properly enjoyed it. Just prioritised myself, family – and I have had a few offers with (other clubs) and it’s like, ‘Nah, I’m not ready’,” he added.

“It’s one of them, it’s got to be somewhere where I can be myself, not like anyone dictating, ‘You need to do this, you need to do this’, because when you’ve been at United, you manage them, you learn a few things, and you want to do it your way next time. So, yeah, I’ve enjoyed myself.

“That’s the thing, you think, ‘I don’t really need a job’, but then if something pops up then yeah, why not?”

England have brought back express fast bowler Mark Wood as they attempt to salvage a consolation victory against India in the fifth Test in Dharamsala.

Ollie Robinson makes way after a wicketless outing last week on his competitive comeback in Ranchi, where India moved into an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Wood replacing Robinson is England’s only change to their XI as they persist with two spinners in Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir despite the coolest conditions of the tour in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Bashir – alongside Robinson – missed practice on Wednesday due to an upset stomach but it is not thought the issue will stop him from playing in 24 hours’ time, where middle-order batter Jonny Bairstow will make his 100th Test appearance.