Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw have returned to Manchester United training ahead of the FA Cup fourth-round trip to Newport.

Erik ten Hag’s side have endured a poor campaign punctuated by key absentees, but the Red Devils’ injury issues are finally beginning to ease.

Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez returned to the squad as United drew 2-2 with Tottenham last time out, with the latter coming on as a 63rd minute substitute in the January 14 Premier League fixture.

United play their first match since then in Sunday’s FA Cup trip to League Two outfit Newport, where Maguire and Shaw look to set to feature having returned to training.

Maguire has missed the last six matches in all competitions since sustaining a groin complaint against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on December 12.

The rejuvenated former United skipper was pictured in training at the club’s Carrington training base on Tuesday, as was left-back Shaw.

The England full-back has only managed 10 appearances in what has been an injury-interrupted campaign, with his most recent outing coming in the December 23 defeat at West Ham.

Amad Diallo, who has been absent from the previous two squads, was also pictured with Ten Hag’s group.

But there was no sign of Anthony Martial, Tyrell Malacia, Victor Lindelof or Mason Mount in the images. Andre Onana and Sofyan Amrabat remain at the Africa Cup of Nations.

DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre is determined to ensure his side’s fate remains solely in their hands with victory over Tanzania.

A win against the Taifa Stars on Wednesday will guarantee DR Congo a birth in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations, with Morocco taking on Zambia in the other fixture in Group F.

Morocco currently top the table with four points, with DR Congo and Zambia on two points and Tanzania bottom with a single point from two games.

The top two teams from each of the six groups will advance to the last 16, along with the four best third-placed sides.

“We intend to give our best,” Desabre said. “We are confident and concentrated on the task. We are playing to win and its very important that we win.

“We need the victory and we also want to qualify because that is very important. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation of making calculations.

“We want to win and gain automatic qualification because anything less than that puts our fate outside of our hands.”

Tanzania assistant coach Hemed Suleiman will again take charge of the side against DR Congo after Adel Amrouche’s meltdown following the 3-0 loss to Morocco saw him banned for eight games and subsequently sacked.

“It’s a final for us,” Suleiman said.

“We tried to work on our problems. These games are hard but there is solidarity in the group.

“Ours for now is to focus on tomorrow’s game. We have to forget about the previous games and focus on this new task.”

South Africa coach Hugo Broos knows his side will be in a “tricky situation” if they lose their final Africa Cup of Nations group game to Tunisia.

Broos is slightly underplaying matters as Bafana Bafana will exit the competition with defeat, with reports in South African media suggesting he will be sacked if they go out.

A win or a draw will see them advance to the knockout stages while Tunisia, after taking just two points from their opening two games, must win and hope Mali’s match with Namibia goes in their favour.

“Our first goal was to achieve the second round and pass the group stage,” Broos said on the tournament’s official website.

“Our opponent has a slight advantage since they have had a day more to prepare.

“However, after Sunday’s big victory (over Namibia), we have a boost of energy. The team will be ready.

“We know Tunisia is a great team. I think they underestimated Namibia, the match against Mali is what we will analyse. We will fight every second for a good result.

“It will be a very heated game. They are under pressure but the same applies to us because if we lose, it will be a tricky situation.”

Tunisia must win to have any chance of progressing.

Their boss Jalel Kadri said: “We know people are expecting a lot from us. We are in a difficult group and need to play well in order to succeed.

“We have to start with high concentration in the match. We have several players with experience, but we still need to work hard to get the victory.

“South Africa has a team of players who have experience on the continent from Mamelodi Sundowns. Tunisia needs to use its strength. SA is good offensively and we should be ready for that.”

The Miami Heat are in first place, but their offence ranks as one of the worst in the NBA.

The Heat strengthened their offence Tuesday by trading for Terry Rozier of the Charlotte Hornets.

To complete the deal, Miami is sending veteran Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round draft pick to Charlotte.

The trade was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Rozier should provide an immediate impact for the Heat, who rank 26th in scoring with an average of 110.9 points per game.

The 29-year-old is averaging career highs of 23.2 points per game and 6.6 assists. He is also shooting a career-best 45.9 per cent and hitting an average of 2.8 3-pointers per game.

He is making $23.2million this season and under contract for two more seasons, and leaves a Charlotte team that is 10-31 to join a Miami club that sits atop the Southeast Division with a 24-19 record, but has lost its last three games.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Heat have had some issues with their offence, scoring fewer than 100 points in three of their last four games. On the season, they've scored fewer than 100 points 10 times, and only the Hornets (12) and Trail Blazers (12) have had more game of being held to double digits.

Lowry had come off the bench in Miami's last two games after being in the starting lineup in each of his first 35 appearances of the season for the Heat.

A six-time All-Star and 2019 NBA champion with the Raptors, Lowry hasn't had much of a presence in Miami's rotation lately, totalling just 10 points, 18 assists and 15 rebounds in the last five games he's played.

The 37-year-old Lowry is in his 18th NBA season and is on a $29.7million expiring contract.

One-time Derby hope Reach For The Moon could yet have a starring role for the royal family after being entered for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The five-year-old had been viewed as a potential Classic contender for the late Queen in 2022 after winning the Group Three Solario Stakes as a juvenile, but an injury dashed those hopes and the son of Sea The Stars struggled to regain his form.

Out of luck in five subsequent starts, Reach For The Moon was last seen when beating just three horses in last year’s Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot, on what transpired to be his final start for John and Thady Gosden.

Now with Jamie Snowden, Reach For The Moon has yet to jump a hurdle in public, but his trainer feels his Flat rating of 105 merits at least having the Festival option, should things fall into place ahead of the March 12 feature.

Snowden said: “He was obviously a very good horse for John and Thady Gosden and he was a leading contender at one stage for the 2022 Derby.

“He had a few little issues on the Flat hence the reason why he has ended up jumping with us as opposed to doing anything else.

“With a horse that has that kind of rating on the Flat, we have to give him an entry in the Supreme, but we will see how he takes to everything over the next month to six weeks.

“Racing is steeped in the tradition of the royal family. The Queen Mother loved it, and the late Queen was a big supporter of the sport.

“It is wonderful that the King and the Queen are supporting racing as much as ever before.

“They have got a nice team on the Flat, and it was great to see them have a Royal Ascot winner last year in Desert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes.

“We have got some nice horses for them and hopefully Reach For The Moon can fly the flag high. We are lucky to have a horse of his talent and hopefully we can do him justice.”

Snowden has been satisfied with Reach For The Moon’s recent progress but has yet to decide on a starting point over obstacles for the gelding, who is owned by the Queen and former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick.

Snowden added: “He is a very talented individual and has taken well to his jumping. He did a lot of jumping when he came in off the Flat and then he went for a bit of a break back at Sandringham.

“He worked around the bowl (a gallop in Lambourn) nicely and his jumping is great. Hopefully he will be ready to run mid-February.

“We will see how he progresses and runs first time out over hurdles and then we will make a decision.

“We don’t need to make any big decisions just yet, but we have stuck the Supreme entry in as if you aren’t entered, you can’t run.

“He is a very exciting horse to have in the yard and it is great to have the support of the royal family.”

Barry Robson knows more than most what to expect from St Johstone boss Craig Levein when he takes his Aberdeen side to McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night.

The Dons manager was captain at Dundee United under Levein, who was also his boss at international level with Scotland.

Both are now dugout adversaries and the former Aberdeen, Middlesbrough and Celtic midfielder is looking forward to the cinch Premiership meeting in Perth.

“First and foremost, Craig Levein is a really good manager,” said Robson, who is frustrated that defender Jimmy McGarry could be out for another two weeks with a hamstring problem.

“I worked under him, I was his captain at Dundee United and I was with him at Scotland as well.

“I have lots of respect for him. I think he’s been a terrific manager over the years who knows exactly what he’s doing.

“He never gave me an inch as a captain or as a player either let me tell you, but very enjoyable to work under, demanding. I enjoyed it. Learned a lot.

“Good coach. Good manager. I get on very well with Craig, I have a lot of respect for him, but it doesn’t take away from me wanting to take the team down there and wanting to win.

“He will want to win, but I definitely want to go down there and pick up three points.

“Tomorrow’s game is really important just like every other game.

“It is a difficult game and it is always a hard place to go and play and get results. We understand that we know that, it will be a game that we have to go down and as I said, perform as well as we can.”

Namibia are relishing the opportunity to make history when they take on Mali in their final Africa Cup of Nations Group E match, head coach Collin Benjamin has said.

The Brave Warriors are looking to make it into the knockout rounds for the first time in a campaign that has already seen them register their maiden victory in the competition, 1-0 against Tunisia in their opener.

Having subsequently been thumped 4-0 by South Africa, Benjamin’s side are currently third in a pool that sees Mali top with four points, the Bafana Bafana second with three like them, and Tunisia bottom with one.

And he told a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s contest in San-Pedro Stadium: “We will not rely on other teams’ performance for qualification.

“We have the chance to write history for our country, and we look forward to the game.”

Namibia captain Peter Shalulile said: “Why should we wait for others to do us favours when we can do the job ourselves?

“We will show up tomorrow and give the game all we have got, and leave the rest to God.”

The shock result in Namibia’s opening game in the Ivory Coast was against opponents sat 87 places higher than them in FIFA’s world rankings, with Tunisia currently in 28th spot.

Wednesday’s clash at Laurent Pokou Stadium pits them against a Mali outfit ranked 51st who defeated South Africa 2-0 in their first fixture.

Eric Chelle’s team then battled out a 1-1 draw with the Tunisians in their second group game on Saturday.

Mystical Power, ante-post favourite for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, leads the way as bumper entries for the Cheltenham Festival contests were revealed.

Willie Mullins’ charge is bred to be a Prestbury Park superstar as a son of Champion Hurdle-winning mare Annie Power and the late Flat supersire Galileo and he propelled himself to the head of affairs for the two-mile curtain raiser with a seven-length stroll in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown earlier this month.

However, he is certainly not the only key contender for the Closutton team with 25-length Leopardstown winner Ballyburn also to the fore and Mullins responsible for 23 of the 63 initial entries.

Jeriko Du Reponet is the leading home-trained hope for Nicky Henderson, while Gordon Elliott is another with plenty to pick from, headed by Caldwell Potter, Farren Glory and Firefox.

As is usual at this early stage, plenty hold more than one Festival ticket, with Ballyburn at the top of the ante-post betting for the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle, which is run over two miles and five furlongs.

Mystical Power is also entered in that, although stablemates Readin Tommy Wrong and Ile Atlantique, who finished first and second in a Naas Grade One, have been popular picks so far.

Farren Glory and Caldwell Potter also feature on a list of 86 entries, with the Harry Fry-trained Gidleigh Park the shortest-priced British runner after winning each of his three starts to date.

Mullins appears to hold the aces in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, with Readin Tommy Wrong, High Class Hero, Lecky Watson and Loughglynn filling the top of the ante-post lists, with Paul Nicholls’ Challow winner Captain Teague, who is also entered in the Baring Bingham, rated the main opposition by the bookmakers in a race with 63 entries.

The JCB Triumph Hurdle bucks the Mullins trend with Burdett Road the current favourite for trainer James Owen having won each of his two starts over obstacles, both victories being registered in impressive style.

Ex-French runner Sir Gino is next best for Henderson after hacking up by 14 lengths on his British bow, while the Mullins-trained Storm Heart is the shortest-priced Irish contender at this point having won by 22 lengths on his debut for the team.

The 44 entries also include the Harry Derham-trained Givemefive, Monday’s Warwick winner who is owned by golf Major winners Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka.

Novak Djokovic suffered in the heat at the Australian Open but made it past Taylor Fritz and into the semi-finals.

There he will face Jannik Sinner, who finished his straight-sets victory over Andrey Rublev at 1.22am after long matches in the day session.

There will be a rematch of the US Open final in the women’s semi-finals, where defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will face Coco Gauff.

Picture of the dayStat of the dayBromanceMum’s the word

Gauff was not too impressed with mum Candi’s moment in the spotlight, saying: “I saw the video of her celebrating. I was, like, ‘it wasn’t that hard of a ball to catch. You know, celebrate your little wins’.

Fallen seeds

Women: Barbora Krejcikova (9)

Men: Andrey Rublev (5), Taylor Fritz (12)

Who’s up next?

The quarter-finals conclude on Wednesday, when Carlos Alcaraz’s battle with Alexander Zverev takes centre stage in the night session.

The winner will face either third seed Daniil Medvedev or ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz, while China’s Zheng Qinwen is the only seed left in the top half of the women’s draw and plays Anna Kalinskaya.

Czech teenager Linda Noskova, who beat Iga Swiatek in the third round, faces qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the opening match of the day.

Finn Russell believes Owen Farrell will be the ideal fit for Racing 92 as England’s fly-half follows in the footsteps of his 2021 Lions team-mate.

Farrell will become ineligible for England selection until 2026 after agreeing a two-year deal that will bring an end his trophy-laden time at Saracens, his only professional club.

The move to Paris next season will reunite the 32-year-old with Stuart Lancaster, Racing’s head coach who gave Farrell his England debut in 2012.

Russell spent five years with the Top 14 leaders before joining Bath after the World Cup and the Scotland playmaker, speaking before Racing confirmed the move on Monday, is backing Farrell to make it a success.

“I loved my time in Paris,” Russell told the PA news agency at the premiere of Netflix’s Six Nations: Full Contact documentary series.

“It’s really close to London so it will be easy for him to go backwards and forwards to his family.

“I don’t know what it’s like under Stuart Lancaster and it will potentially be better for Owen with Stuart being there. The two of them will know each other from the past because of Lancaster’s time at England.

“It’s a great club and a great city to live in. I loved my time there. Owen will be great, he will fit the way they are playing just now really well.

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“Everyone views him as a kicking 10 but he’s got a great attacking game as well. He will be great for them.”

Russell’s own change of scenery has revitalised the 31-year-old as well as Bath, who are riding high in the Gallagher Premiership and have reached the knockout phase of Europe.

Scotland fans will be hoping some of that magic rubs off on their team heading into the Guinness Six Nations in the wake of a disappointing group exit from the World Cup, albeit having competed in one of the toughest pools in the tournament’s history.

What is being seen as a ‘golden generation’ of Scottish talent has yet to produce tangible success in the Six Nations and Russell, one of two co-captains for the Championship, wants to end a period of underachievement.

“For us the Six Nations has been frustrating over the last few years,” Russell said. “Last year we got off to a good start but never managed to continue it.

“This year it’s ideally about doing a bit better and winning the first two, three or four games if we can.

“It would definitely be frustrating if we didn’t manage to finish up with a title given the players and strength in depth that we have in the squad. However, all the other teams are getting stronger as well.

“We’ve got great strength in depth in the squad now and we potentially have the chance to win something, but we’ve had that for the last few years and we haven’t managed it.”

Equinox has been crowned the world’s best racehorse of 2023 – and with it the highest-rated Japanese horse of all time.

A year that started with a brilliant three-and-a-half-length beating of Westover in the Dubai Sheema Classic featured another three Group Ones, culminating in his farewell to the track in the Japan Cup.

Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, Equinox was only beaten twice in his 10-race career, winning six Group Ones in total.

He was given a rating of 135 in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, which are compiled by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

His figure is 5lb below the 140 awarded to Flightline 12 months ago, which equalled the benchmark under the current system set by Frankel in 2012, but he sits 7lb ahead of last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact and dual Group One victor Mostahdaf, who were both rated 128.

Christophe Lemaire rode Equinox in every start and he attended a glittering ceremony in London on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the son of Kitasan Black’s achievement.

Asked what it was like to ride Equinox, Lemaire joked: “To be honest it was quite enjoyable!

“Each time he ran there were big expectations, but I had so much confidence in the horse that I had no fear. To ride him, it was just a pleasure to be on a galloping horse.

“The way he ran was just amazing. Of course, I tried to do my job as well as possible and it was a great journey – I will miss him a lot.

“As have most top athletes, he had a combination of physical strength and mental strength. His physical allowed him to run fast and further using his beautiful stride, very well balanced and also he was very clever, so he understood very quickly what he had to do to win the race.

“My job was just to take a good start and put him in the right position to let him express his talent.

“He was nearly the perfect racehorse and we have to congratulate the breeder (Northern Farm) who could produce such a beautiful horse and the trainer for getting him mature to compete at the best level.

“Just after his debut, I could feel he was special, the way he moved, his acceleration, his attitude on the track – I could feel very quickly he would become a very good horse. Most other people discovered him in Dubai, but in Japan he was already a rising star.”

Equinox officially retired at the end of November, with thousands of people attending a ceremony for the horse in mid-December before he headed to his new role at Shadai Stallion Station, where he will stand for ¥20 million – just over £106,000.

Speaking through a translator, Kimura said: “I wasn’t prepared for it all (the praise he received after Dubai), I feel like I’ve still been in a dream since then.

“The expectations were very high (before the Japan Cup) and it was very difficult to stay calm, but Equinox showed an amazing start and he has the most beautiful stride in the world and he managed to beat all his rivals with his amazing stamina, so I have nothing else that I wanted from him at all.”

To add to the Japanese laurels, the Japan Cup was named the best race in the world for the first time, with a rating assigned on the first four finishers.

Marco Silva has revealed last season’s embarrassing Carabao Cup exit to Crawley has spurred Fulham onto the semi-finals this year.

The Cottagers host Liverpool on Wednesday night trailing 2-1 on aggregate as they aim to reach a first major domestic cup final since 1975.

Silva’s side led at Anfield in the first leg before conceding twice in three minutes to find themselves as outsiders to down Liverpool and reach Wembley.

The journey is a far cry from their 2-0 loss to Crawley in the second round last August, where Silva made 10 changes from their previous Premier League game.

“My ambition is to always play cup competitions and go further,” Silva said on the eve of the tie.

“Last season we were promoted and we played in the quarter-final of the FA Cup and our aim was always to go further – of course it’s important to recognise that the Premier League was the main thing.

“But at the same time, when we played the other competitions we were trying to be strong enough – the first game in the Carabao was really poor last season.

“It was a good moment to speak with the players about what I demand from them and what we demand from any competitions that you play in the future.”

Silva has taken charge of 229 games in England across spells at Hull, Watford, Everton and Fulham.

The 46-year-old also reached the Greek Cup final with Olympiacos in 2016, having won the Taca de Portugal with Sporting the season before.

But he admits the visit of Liverpool and the potential for a first-ever game as a manager at Wembley means Wednesday is one of the biggest nights of his managerial career in England.

“It is one of them, yes,” he replied. “I did play a (League Cup) semi-final with Hull City as well against Manchester United but, if you ask me right now, I would prefer to have another more important one in one month’s time or two months’ time.”

Philippe Clement confirmed Abdallah Sima is set to be sidelined “long term” as the Rangers manager waits on the final prognosis of the striker’s injury.

The 22-year-old Senegal international, who has scored 15 goals since arriving on loan from Brighton in the summer, was sent home from the Africa Cup of Nations with a thigh problem.

The Senegal FA confirmed Sima picked up the injury in training and a statement warned he could face a “long period of unavailability.”

Clement was asked if had any further update on Sima at his media conference ahead of Wednesday’s Premiership trip to Hibernian, where Rangers will look to use one of their two games in hand on Celtic to cut the eight-point gap to the leaders.

“No, not yet and it is not that I want to keep things away from you,” said Clement.

“I expect to have more news today, tomorrow at the latest, from my medical staff and I always listen to them and not other people.

“So ask me this question after the game and then I will have the information.”

Asked if there was any indication if it would be a short-term or long-term absence, Clement replied: “It will be long term. That is also why I want to have the right information.

“Like I always say, I want to look at the glass half-full, I don’t want pity or disappointment.

“The team and squad has proven they always stand up when something happens and other players do the job and there have been really positive surprises that way so we are going to look for solutions and other surprises.”

Clement, meanwhile, refused to confirm reports that midfielder Mohamed Diomande will be arriving from Danish side FC Nordsjaelland.

So far in the winter transfer window only Fabio Silva has joined the Ibrox club, the Portuguese attacker coming on loan from Wolves.

While Clement expects to add further to his squad, he was tight-lipped about 22-year-old Diomande.

He said: “I don’t speak about many rumours because there has been how many, 50 names in the last couple of weeks?

“If you start to talk about one rumour you need to talk about the other rumours and then I am only busy about that and not making training any more or looking at players or talking to my own players, so I never do that.”

Clement also revealed that 20-year midfielder Alex Lowry will go back out on loan after returning from a temporary spell at Hearts which was cut short.

He said: “The plan is we want him to go on loan again to get minutes and come back in a good way. We will see what teams are interested and what is best for him.”