Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi wants his side to learn lessons from their frustrating opening draw against Angola when they face Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.

The 2019 champions allowed Angola to score a second-half equaliser during a 1-1 draw on Monday in a disappointing start to the tournament, which means they are now without a win in their last four AFCON fixtures – having not win since lifting the trophy with victory over Senegal.

“It was not the result we expected,” Belmadi said. “We were expecting to have three points. We tried our best and didn’t want to lose the game so we did what we can do to get a point which was necessary.

“We were supposed to do better in the second half, but we can also talk about the moments we did well.

“We have identified our weakness as we didn’t defend very well for us to concede the penalty which was a big mistake. We are in a transitional period so we try for this team to work together and we have also learnt lessons from this game for our remaining games.

“We made some technical mistakes, but it’s not professional to start a tournament with the mindset of a loser so we will prepare for the match against Burkina Faso to put things right.”

Burkina Faso enjoyed an excellent start to the tournament with a 1-0 win over Mauritania on Tuesday courtesy of Bertrand Traore’s late penalty and they, are looking to win consecutive games for just a third time in their history and the first time since 2017.

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli has admitted his side must strengthen in the January transfer window if they are to chase down leading duo Inter Milan and Juventus in Serie A.

Milan head to struggling Udinese on Saturday looking to close a seven-point deficit to second-placed Juve, and with Pioli eyeing reinforcements in defence and midfield.

“Our decisions don’t change and the club are working on it. There are two weeks remaining,” he said.

Pioli pointed out the need for a “complete” defender, saying any new recruit would need to be able to help with build-up play from the back.

Milan have improved defensively since Simon Kjaer returned from injury, but the Denmark centre-half’s future is uncertain with his contract due to expire in the summer – perhaps a contributing factor in their search for a new defender.

“Simon is a leader,” Pioli said. “He knows what to say and he takes position. But for all of us, it’s too early to speak about the future.”

Udinese claimed a 1-0 win over Milan at San Siro in November, one of only two games they have won all season, and Pioli is determined to avoid a repeat.

“Only tomorrow’s game counts, not what we did in the past against them,” he said. “We are different teams now. They are in a good moment, but the same is true of us.

“We must be fearless and try to perform at our best. It’s a hard game tomorrow, but we want better results than in the first part of the season. Surely, we’ve had a good week.

“Milan must earn as many points as possible, that’s what we want from every single game. All games are worth three points and we want to take them home tomorrow.”

Reserve goalkeeper Marco Sportiello and defender Alessandro Florenzi have returned to training after injury, but Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu all remain out while Ismael Bennacer and Samuel Chukwueze are at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Udinese sit only one point above the relegation zone, but have taken four points from their last three games to offer some hope amid a miserable run.

It could have been better, but last weekend they conceded a late penalty in a 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, the seventh time this season they have lost a lead – having dropped 14 points from winning positions.

With away games against Atalanta and Juventus to come, things will not get any easier so coach Gabriele Cioffi would love what would be a third straight win over Milan.

Martin Payero could return from the muscle problem that kept him sidleined against Fiorentina, but Gerard Deulofeu, Jaka Bijol and Enzo Ebosse remain out.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is unaware of any concrete interest in Matt O’Riley and believes the midfielder is happy to continue improving in his team.

Reports claim Spanish league leaders Girona are considering making a move for the Denmark international ahead of the transfer deadline.

But the 23-year-old signed a new contract earlier in the season that ties him to Glasgow until 2027 and appears focused on his game.

Rodgers said: “I’m not aware of any (interest). But it’s natural, if you’ve got good players then of course they will attract attention. But I’m not focused on that at all.

“We don’t want to be losing any (of our best players). The plan was to add to the squad and that’s still the plan.

“If a player doesn’t want to be here then my experience is you are better off moving them on. It’s as simple as that.

“Of course the club is in a really strong position with no need to sell and no thoughts of selling.

“Matt is really, really happy here. He signed a new deal, he has really progressed, he is into double figures now in goals, and his assists are there.

“For him as a young player, he is a brilliant professional, all he wants to do is improve and he can see the improvement here. Just take it day by day and assess it from there.”

In terms of incomings, Rodgers was looking for quality rather than quantity this month and believes he has added that in former Ajax and Bayern Munich reserve winger Nicolas Kuhn.

“There’s a lot of work going on and hopefully before the window shuts, we can improve the squad,” he said.

“It normally goes right through to the end. I am quite relaxed on it. I know what we need to improve but unless it’s the right type of quality and player then we won’t be in a rush to do anything.

“And likewise if something comes in too late that doesn’t suit the squad and how strong we are then we won’t need to do anything.

“If it was just about numbers we could have had people in on January 1, but it’s not. It’s about getting quality in and that can take time.

“Nicolas has had that big-club experience before. He is a very talented player. Now he is at an age where he has done very well with Rapid Vienna and can make that next step.

“He fits the profile in terms of how we work – he is super quick, direct, dynamic and we feel we can continually improve his game.

Neither Kuhn nor Cameron Carter-Vickers, who is on his way back from a hamstring strain, will play in Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against Buckie Thistle.

Rodgers said: “Nic won’t be involved at the weekend. He had actually been quite a period out. He had an operation on his teeth so he lost a bit of strength. But he will be okay for Ross County.

“Cam won’t be involved this weekend but by Ross County he will be fine.

“He has been out on the field for a little while. It’s been a frustrating period for him in the opening part of the season, he has picked up some niggles on the back of not having a full pre-season. But we are really hoping he can stay fit and strong for the second part.”

Newcastle Thunder chairman Keith Christie has issued an ultimatum to the north-east’s rugby league community ahead of his team’s return to action in Betfred League One next season.

Christie has been integral to the resurrection of the club who announced their resignation from senior competition following relegation from the Championship in October, when departing owner Semore Kurdi said it was “not feasible” to continue.

A group of volunteers led by Christie responded by stepping in to chisel a viable business plan which resulted in an application to effectively rejoin the domestic league’s third tier being accepted two days before Christmas.

The heady days of full-time professionalism and aspirations of Super League have been shelved for the time being, as Christie works to grow the club from the bottom up, a project for which he stresses the backing of local fans and businesses is critical.

“The club has gone through a couple of guises with serious investment, and it hasn’t worked,” Christie told the PA news agency.

“My question was, do we have the desire for a rugby league team in the north-east? And the overwhelming response was, we do. To which my answer is – prove it.

“I’ve been through the mill a couple of times with this club and it’s not something I do lightly. It takes a lot of time and effort. We have a financial commitment and a ground, but it is fundamentally balanced on the investment and support we get from the people in the north-east.”

Christie has been involved with the club in an official capacity since he was first appointed general manager in 2009, and has observed their fluctuating fortunes, including a decision to go full-time in 2022, which was reversed the following year, plunging them to the foot of the Championship.

With the club having been left debt-free following talks with outgoing owner Kurdi, and striking a deal to continue playing at Kingston Park, at least in the short-term, Christie sees plenty of cause for optimism.

Newcastle-born former Super League player Chris Thorman has committed to another season as head coach, while there was also an unexpected boost in the first list of ratings issued by sports media giant IMG, which will determine the make-up of the top-flight from the 2025 season onwards, which rated Thunder – ironically dormant at the time – in 18th position.

“The IMG ranking is a bit of a bonus but it wasn’t a driving factor,” added Christie. “We have been through a lot of areas where mistakes were made, and one thing we learned is that we can’t expect to go out and buy a winning team.

“We’ve got a huge opportunity to grow the game organically and develop our own players. To do that we have to be sustainable, but we also have to have investment, and that’s the message I’ll be sending throughout the year.

“As romantic as it sounds, I’ve been part of rugby league in the north-east since 1989, and I don’t want to lose this.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan coasted into the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix in Leicester with a 5-1 win over Gary Wilson.

Following a controversial eighth Masters triumph over Ali Carter, O’Sullivan has continued to questioned his snooker future, admitting he no longer gets enjoyment from the way he is playing.

However, the 48-year-old, set to take a break of a couple of months following the end of the tournament, showed no lack of sharpness as he recovered from losing the opening frame to move 3-1 ahead with a clearance of 129 either side of two half-centuries.

Wilson, the reigning Northern Ireland Open champion, fell further behind after his break finished on 52, allowing O’Sullivan back to the table to secure the snooker needed before going on to clear the colours.

O’Sullivan swiftly completed a comfortable win with another break of 58 in the sixth frame.

Six games in the English Football League this weekend have fallen victim to freezing conditions gripping the UK.

Saturday’s Sky Bet League One matches between Cheltenham and Carlisle and Port Vale and Wycombe were both postponed due to frozen pitches.

League Two games at AFC Wimbledon, Bradford, Mansfield and Swindon were also called off, with temperatures dropping to minus 7C in some parts this week.

“A Football League appointed match official conducted an 11am pitch inspection at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium this morning,” read a Cheltenham club statement on Friday.

“After consultation with the Football League the decision has been made to postpone tomorrow’s fixture.

“The frost covers have been on the pitch all week, but temperatures for the past two nights have fallen so low that a considerable amount of frost has got into the pitch.

“On balance it was felt that temperatures are not forecast to rise high enough to remove the frost before kick-off so the decision has been taken to postpone the match.

“The timing of the decision has also taken into account the considerable journey faced by opponents Carlisle and a desire to inconvenience them as little as possible.”

Wycombe’s fixture at Port Vale also fell later in the day following a pitch inspection.

Mansfield, who quickly announced that Sutton will now visit on Tuesday, said: “Frost covers have been in place on the pitch for 10 days as part of the club’s efforts to protect the pitch from sub zero temperatures as well as industrial hot-air blowers.

“Temperatures in Mansfield, however, have been as low as minus 7C. Following a pitch inspection by an EFL appointed referee the pitch has been deemed unplayable.”

Bradford reported sub-zero temperatures of up to minus 7C this week ahead of their Yorkshire derby with Doncaster, saying areas of the Valley Parade surface had been left frozen.

The Bantams added: “Frost covers, effective to minus 4C, have been covering the pitch since last Friday, with every effort made to host the fixture.”

Wimbledon said of their Plough Lane fixture with Crawley being called off: “Every effort was made to get this game on by our staff, and volunteers helped to cover the playing surface earlier this week to protect against the elements.

“However, the pitch was today deemed to be unplayable with parts of it still frozen.

“Though temperatures are due to increase by mid-morning on Saturday, conditions are still predicted to be low at this time, so there’s no guarantee that the pitch would be playable by 1.45 pm when it’s needed for pre-match.”

Swindon’s home game with Tranmere was also postponed on Friday.

Ben Brookhouse has not lost faith in his star bumper performer Brechin Castle, who is set to warm up for a trip to the Cheltenham Festival with an outing at Newbury next month.

A £165,000 recruit from the Irish point-to-point field, the six-year-old bolted up on his debut under rules at Sedgefield before successfully transitioning to Listed class at Cheltenham in November.

He met with defeat for the first time when filling the runner-up spot in another Listed event at Ascot before Christmas, but was far from disgraced in finishing second to Dan Skelton’s exciting mare Let It Rain, to whom he was conceding 11lb.

“I think it was one of his best runs, to be fair,” Brookhouse said of his Ascot performance.

“We were giving 11lb to the winner and when she won it wasn’t a massive surprise to me because I did think she was the one to be worried about, because of the weight we were giving her.

“We gave 4lb to everything else and gave them a good beating, it was just giving 11lb to the Skelton horse that proved too much for us.”

Next on Brechin Castle’s is the Betfair Bumper, the finale on Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle card on February 10, and Brookhouse would relish a rematch with Let It Rain should it happen.

He added: “He had a small break over Christmas and New Year out in the paddock with his rugs on and the plan would be to go to Newbury in February in preparation for Cheltenham.

“He seems in great order for his break. He put on weight and didn’t lose any muscle or anything. He just did exactly what we wanted him to, which was refill the petrol tank.

“If we bump into the Skelton horse at Newbury she is not a four-year-old anymore, so she won’t get the four-year-old allowance, and she’ll have a 4lb penalty for winning a Listed race, so all of a sudden that 11lb we gave her is nigh on non-existent.”

Brechin Castle is a 33-1 shot for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in March, and while he will undoubtedly have to contend with a formidable Irish contingent come the Festival, a return to winning ways at Newbury may well make him Britain’s leading candidate for the Grade One contest.

Brookhouse said: “He’s got course form at Cheltenham, he’s had plenty of racing and plenty of experience. You could argue he’s exposed, but all he can do is beat what’s put in front of him and the only chink in his armour was he was beaten trying to give 11lb to a nice filly.

“Weight stops train, let alone horses, so we can’t blame him for that. He was giving 4lb to several other horses who at the time were considered the best young bumper horses in the country and I don’t want to sound confident or cocky, but he was pulling away from the third at the finish and he wiped the floor with them.”

Mikel Arteta insists Emile Smith Rowe is settled at Arsenal amid reported interest from West Ham.

Smith Rowe has endured a frustrating time since he hit 10 goals in the 2021-22 campaign, with groin surgery restricting his role in the club’s unsuccessful title challenge last season.

England international Smith Rowe has also struggled with a knee issue this term, but even when he has been fit the 23-year-old has been reduced to cameo appearances with only one Premier League start among 12 outings in all competitions.

West Ham have reportedly made an approach to sign Smith Rowe on loan but Arteta played down talk the academy graduate could leave this month ahead of Saturday’s visit of Crystal Palace.

Arteta said: “I’m really happy with Emile. He’s in the right trajectory.

“Now, he’s settled, he’s training really well and you know I’m not going to talk about individual situations.

“Emile is Emile. We know he’s got incredible qualities and we’re really happy to have him.

“What he needs now is chances to put all the desire and quality that he has on the pitch. In order to do that we have to give him minutes.”

Chances have been few and far between for Smith Rowe in recent weeks despite Arsenal struggling to match their consistency from the opening months of the season.

An FA Cup defeat to Liverpool on January 7 made it three losses in a row and one victory from their last seven matches, but the players have returned from a warm-weather training camp in Dubai “fully recharged” according to their manager.

“We are recharged, full of energy and super motivated so we want to attack the second half of the season with a lot of ambition and the understanding that the team is capable of big things. They are convinced of that,” Arteta added.

“It was a phenomenal camp. We recharged our batteries and the context of the environment, in the beautiful weather, helps. The togetherness and moments we shared together were great, so yeah we’re fully recharged.”

Goals have been an issue for Arsenal during this poor seven-match run with only five goals scored in that period, but Arteta reiterated they would not move for a striker in the January transfer window.

“No, because I love the players that we have,” he insisted.

Arteta was also coy over Arsenal’s list of absentees, with Oleksandr Zinchenko (foot) and Gabriel Jesus (knee) notable absentees for the defeat to Liverpool before Arsenal’s mid-season break.

“Individually, I am not going to tell you exactly how everyone is,” Arteta explained. “We are touch and go with a few. You will see.”

The Arsenal boss was more forthcoming about the progress of Jurrien Timber, who sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage in August but joined the squad for the training camp.

Arteta revealed: “At the moment he’s still very far from competing. That’s the realistic picture of it.

“Are we hopeful that he could have a realistic impact before the end of the season? If everything goes well, it looks like that might happen. At the moment though it’s too early to make that call.”

Aymen Hussein scored both goals as Iraq shocked tournament favourites Japan 2-1 to claim a place in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup on Friday.

Hussein struck twice in the first half at Education City Stadium, with a 93rd-minute header from Wataru Endo proving to be too little, too late for Japan.

The famous win lifts Iraq, the 2007 champions, to the top of Group D with six points from two games and guarantees them a spot in the round of 16. 

Four-time winners Japan, Asia's highest-ranked team at 17, are second with three points.

Iraq took the lead after just six minutes when Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki palmed Ali Jasim's cross from the left straight to Hussein, who headed it home.

Japan streamed forward in search of an equaliser but Iraq defended in numbers before doubling their lead in first-half added time as Hussein headed in Aymed Yahya's cross. The goal was given following a VAR review to check if the ball had rolled out of play in the build-up.

It looked like Japan had been awarded a penalty 10 minutes into the second half as Takuma Asano was judged to have been fouled by Rebin Sulaka. However, referee Khalid Al-Turais overturned his original decision after viewing the pitchside monitor.

Liverpool midfielder Endo eventually got Japan within a goal in added time after goalkeeper Jalal Hachim failed to collect the ball but it was not enough to prevent his country's first group-stage loss at the Asian Cup since 1988.

Vietnam play Indonesia in the other Group D game on Friday, before Hong Kong meet Iran in Group C.

Novak Djokovic avoided his struggles of the first two rounds in a straight-sets win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Australian Open on Friday.

His fellow defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka, routed Lesia Tsurenko 6-0 6-0 while 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva recovered from 5-1 down in the deciding set to beat Diane Parry.

It was generally a good day for the big names, with Coco Gauff, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas also winning.

Picture of the dayTweet of the dayRod back in his houseOutfit of the dayFallen seeds

Women: Beatriz Haddad Maia (10), Lesia Tsurenko (28)

Men: Ben Shelton (16), Sebastian Baez (26), Sebastian Korda (29), Tomas Martin Etcheverry (30)

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Britain’s final singles hope, Cameron Norrie, takes on Casper Ruud for a place in the fourth round.

Chinese players take centre stage in the day on Rod Laver Arena, with Zheng Qinwen meeting Wang Yafan before Shang Juncheng faces Carlos Alcaraz.

Iga Swiatek is first up in the night session against Czech teenager Linda Noskova, while Daniil Medvedev meets Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Hampshire chief executive David Mann stressed he and majority shareholder Rod Bransgrove will “protect the legacy we’ve built” amid speculation the club could be sold to an Indian Premier League group.

Bransgrove is widely credited for rescuing Hampshire from the brink of bankruptcy when he first joined in 2000 and oversaw a period of great success for the club as chair before standing down last year.

It was reported last week he was in talks to sell his stake to GMR Group, part owners of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, and Hampshire have confirmed they are in “detailed negotiations” with new investors.

Mann would not be drawn on any specifics but, while he believes cricket must have more investment, any deal – especially with an Indian conglomerate – would not reshape the values of the club.

Speaking at the announcement of the club’s home ground being rebranded the Utilita Bowl, Mann told the PA news agency: “I don’t think anyone would argue private investment in Hampshire has been a bad thing.

“There wouldn’t be a Hampshire if there hadn’t been a private investor here so I think whatever we do with investment down the track, it’s about the quality of the person that you engage with.

“The game needs more investment and is crying out for it to underpin the viability going forward. But we’re the custodians for the time being and we’ve got the interests of that at heart more than anything else.

“Rod has been for 20-odd years, I’ve been here for 15 years; we’re very, very keen to protect the legacy we’ve built so we wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardise that.”

Bransgrove led the club’s move to a ground on the outskirts of Southampton, which is now a major international venue, regularly hosts England matches and will stage in 2027 its first Ashes contest.

Following the end of a longstanding union with Ageas, Hampshire have found a new naming rights partner, agreeing an eight-year partnership with energy supplier Utilita believed to be worth seven figures.

As well as pushing charitable ventures to make a bigger impact on the local community, Mann admitted the “real clincher” was the sustainability angle in which Hampshire will attempt to become the world’s greenest cricket ground.

The first step towards this ambition is the installation of 1,000 solar panels that could produce up to a quarter of the electricity used in the ground annually and save the club a six-figure sum each year.

Mann said: “This aspiration to be the greenest venue is something we’re able to back up with real tangible assets that are going to deliver measurable returns. It’s an exciting time.

“I’m not going to say we’ll be net zero by 2040, I want us to say something that we can back up with hard data and reducing your actual energy use by a quarter is hard data.

“Over time, if we can make other improvements to make another big hole in that, that’s how we’ll be able to say that we’re unique and doing stuff that nobody else is doing.

“We’ve got a massive footprint here as well – there’s 200 acres on the Utilita Bowl site so we can do things with tree planting, how we collect and use water and a whole range of other things.”