Ben Godfrey was delighted to repay the faith put in him by Forward Plan’s connections as he rode the biggest winner of his career in the bet365 Handicap Chase at Doncaster.

Godfrey partnered Anthony Honeyball’s seven-year-old to three wins last season but none came close to matching the £26,000 first prize on offer on Town Moor.

Punters who had backed him at 6-1 never had a moment of worry in truth, as Godfrey cruised into contention as Mister Coffey and Whistleinthedark kicked on.

As soon as Forward Plan drew level, the race was as good as over, and he put it to bed in a matter of strides – possibly helped by the fact there were no fences in the straight, with them having been omitted due to the low sun.

Forward Plan had finished sixth behind stablemate Blackjack Magic in the Badger Beer Chase at Wincanton on his return and Godfrey felt that put him spot on for this.

“He travelled really well, he’s only a little horse but he’s been holding his own in some nice races,” said Godfrey.

“He ran a really nice race in the Badger Beer and back down to three miles today, as opposed to the extended three, was a big help.

“I knew with the fences out he’d have a big turn of foot. I think that helped him, as he’s a nifty little horse, so when I pressed the button, he put the race to bed. He idled a little but stuck on gamely in the end.

“That’s my biggest win to date. He’s taken me to some nice Saturday races. We all need horses like that and he’s been great for me – and to win a big one on him feels good to be able to repay the faith the owners have in me and Anthony.”

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli will do his best to make amends for their disheartening Champions League exit by guiding the Rossoneri back into the competition through Serie A once again.

Milan are keen to get over the disappointment of their failure to progress to the knockout stages – Wednesday’s victory at Newcastle was only enough to secure third in their group and Europa League football – with a home win against Monza that will help them maintain their pursuit of second-placed Juventus, currently eight points clear.

Back-to-back league successes against Fiorentina and Frosinone were followed by a frustrating last-minute defeat at Atalanta last weekend and Pioli wants a response to both setbacks in Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off.

Pioli said at a press conference: “My big regret is that the team are not making the most of their potential right now, in Europe and in the league, so that’s what I must work on trying to change.

“This squad has so much potential, we created so many chances especially in the Champions League and lacked that bit of determination and quality. With that, we would have been here celebrating Champions League progress.

“Clearly, we can only now try to consolidate third place in Serie A and then try to do more. Our minimum objective is to qualify for the Champions League again, that is the very least we can aim for.”

Davide Calabria is suspended for the Monza clash after his dismissal in Bergamo so Theo Hernandez will be captain as Pioli tries to reckon with a defensive crisis.

Pierre Kalulu, Mattia Caldara, Marco Pellegrino and Malick Thiaw are all out injured, along with goalkeeper Marco Sportiello, and only one of academy product Jan-Carlo Simic and Simon Kjaer is likely to be fit enough to slot into the backline.

For Monza, Argentinian midfielder Alejandro Gomez is only two months into a two-year doping ban, with on-loan Torino defender Armando Izzo and Hellas Verona loan forward Gianluca Caprari among the key injury absentees.

Sunday’s visitors snapped a poor run of three games without a win by beating Genoa 1-0 last time out but away wins have been hard to come by so far for the mid-table side from the Stadio Brianteo.

Monza boss Raffaele Palladino said at his Saturday press conference: “We are satisfied so far but must keep our feet on the ground and improve on many aspects, such as being more effective in front of goal.

“Playing at San Siro is a source of pride. I believe Monza can do well and put Milan in difficulty. We are set up for this, to compete with anyone, anywhere. We must not be afraid of anybody.”

Broadway Boy continued his steep upward trajectory over fences with a determined victory in the Favourite From The Sun Now Daily Handicap Chase at Cheltenham.

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained five-year-old had won two of his first three starts since having his attentions switched to the larger obstacles, his only defeat coming at the hands of dual Stayers’ Hurdle hero Flooring Porter at this track in October.

Having since returned to Cheltenham to win a Listed novice event by 20 lengths, Broadway Boy was a heavily supported 11-8 favourite stepping into a £100,000 handicap that featured a Betfair Chase winner and Gold Cup third in Protektorat – and the Twiston-Davies runner proved more than up to the task.

Given an attacking ride from the front by the trainer’s son Sam, the Malinas gelding did make a couple of jumping errors along the way but was always doing enough on the run-in to see off his long-time challenger Threeunderthrufive by a length and a quarter.

Dan Skelton can rightly take plenty of heart from the performance of Protektorat, who bounced back from a disappointing defence of his Betfair Chase crown at Haydock last month to finish an honourable third under the welter burden of 12 stone.

Of the winner, Twiston-Davies senior said: “His jumping was brilliant on the whole, but he made three mistakes down the back and if it wasn’t for those, he would have won quite easily. He is very tough and really good.

“After the last day, this race came onto the agenda. We are always looking for big money and this race was worth a lot of money.

“We certainly do like pitching novice chasers against experienced horses when we get the chance. We have done all our lives, and we have earned a lot of money doing that.

“I was delighted when Protektorat was declared to keep the weights down – it meant the world to us.

“He could go for either the National Hunt Chase or the Brown Advisory come the Festival. We will just have to see what the opposition looks like before making those decisions.”

Jonjo O’Neill senior and junior combined to land the John Wyke Memorial Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase with 5-1 shot Are U Wise To That.

The six-year-old travelled like the best horse in the race for much of the extended three-mile-one-furlong contest, but looked set to come off second best when Irish raider Midnight Our Fred kicked a couple of lengths clear between the final two fences.

To his credit, though, Are U Wise To That gritted his teeth to stay in the fight and finished the stronger of the pair up the hill to prevail by a length and three-quarters.

“When he missed the second-last, I thought he was beaten, to be honest,” said the winning trainer. “Then he jumped the last okay, but he stuck to his guns well, to be fair, so we are happy.

“His jumping was average, but he has got around. He does it in his own fashion, but he won nicely.

“It is nice to know that he can get around Cheltenham and you would have to look at the Ultima at the Festival with him.”

The Sophie Leech-trained Madara secured top honours in the two-mile Quintessentially Handicap Chase.

Favourite backers will have been getting excited after In Excelsis Deo moved to the front, but 9-1 shot Madara proved too strong on the run-in and passed the post with three and a quarter lengths in hand.

Leech said: “I’m absolutely delighted. He is a lovely young horse to have and he is very straightforward. He is just a joy really.

“We really felt after his last run that he needed further, and we were really keen to run in the December Gold Cup, but because of his four-year-old allowance, Fakir D’Oudairies put us so far out of the weights it just wasn’t worthwhile.

“Hopefully, he will be back here in March somewhere.”

The concluding Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Mares’ Handicap Hurdle went to 11-2 shot Nurse Susan, trained by Dan Skelton and ridden by his brother Harry.

Shanagh Bob produced a determined performance to maintain his unbeaten record in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Bought for £200,000 after winning an Irish point-to-point 12 moths ago, the five-year-old began to repay that hefty price tag when making a successful debut under rules at Plumpton recently.

Nicky Henderson’s charge was a 15-8 favourite stepping up in trip and class for this three-mile Grade Two – and while Nico de Boinville had to get to work from before the home turn, Shanagh Bob did respond generously to his urgings to keep him in contention.

The experienced Destroytheevidence, winner of three of his five previous outings over hurdles, stuck to his guns to make a race of it in the straight, but he was ultimately unable to resist Shanagh Bob’s finishing kick, with a length and a quarter separating them at the line.

Moon D’Orange also ran with credit in third, as did the fourth placed Kerryhill.

Henderson said of the winner: “He has come from one ordinary novice hurdle at Plumpton into a Grade Two. I was looking for a three-mile race for him and stumbled across this.

“You always felt as if he was learning. He looked like he kept finding ways to get beaten. He is a really lovely, honest, hardy person that has got his whole life in front of him.

“He just needs to learn a bit. He doesn’t know what he is doing yet, and I don’t think he knew what he was doing there, to be honest with you.

“Nico said he doesn’t think he is there yet, but he tries very hard. It is a long way from Plumpton to here in one step. I’m pleasantly surprised.”

On whether the Albert Bartlett at the Festival in March is a likely target, the Seven Barrows handler added: “This is the road to it, but let’s see how things go before we jump into that water, as there is a long way to go before that.

“I thought this was a crazy step, but it has worked and he has got to stay in this company from here on in. If he can make the Albert Bartlett, that would be lovely. I know Joe (Donnelly, owner) would like to, and so would I.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna declared the long-awaited East Anglian derby with Norwich as a “great occasion” and claimed that his team were better by a “considerable margin” in spite of them drawing 2-2.

His opposite number at Carrow Road, David Wagner, meanwhile, said his first ‘Old Farm’ clash between the two sides – the first for nearly four years – was “exciting” and was what was expected.

Jonathan Rowe struck twice either side of the break for City while Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns were the Ipswich scorers.

Ipswich dominated the first half and should have been ahead by at least three goals but failed to capitalise on their superiority.

Broadhead spurned two chance to put the Town ahead. The first came when he danced round a couple of tackles to leave him one on one with Angus Gunn in the Norwich goal but he put his shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

Moments later he picked up a cross from Wes Burns but fired the ball just the wrong side of the same post.

Town then spurned their third good opportunity to take the lead when Burns smashed his shot over the bar.

McKenna said: “It was a great occasion in terms of the build up and the supporters did the club proud in terms of the atmosphere they created.

“I thought it was a really good performance and we were the better team by a considerable margin, created lots and lots of chances, give away very few chances and there was lots of things that we can build on from the performance.

“Of course the frustration is conceding two goals from hopeful balls that ricochet around in our box, but beyond that there’s so many positives that we can take from the performance.

“Of course, only a point and we would have loved to have given the supporters the victory, but I think the team can certainly take a lot from that game.

“We have been so clinical at home and I think that’s a 3-0 performance in the first half if I’m honest and we go in at 1-1.

“The goals we gave away were disappointing, it’s two moments of concentration in our penalty box and a little bit of fortune in both which can happen.”

Opposite number Wagner felt the game had gone as he anticipated.

He said: “It was exciting and more or less what you expect, what you like to have… a lot of battles, a lot of energy.

“The lead changes during the game as well and I’m absolutely delighted about the shift my players put on the pitch, great togetherness, great working attitude, super fighting spirit and this the reason why it’s a deserved point for me.

“Obviously if you can’t win it you make sure you can’t lose it and this is what the players have done. We take this point.

“You have seen why Ipswich is so good at home and so good in the season in general. This was their first draw, every other game they have won and this makes it a good result for us.

“It was deserved because of the fighting spirit and of the effort which they players bought the pitch and they always believed going and fighting and close the yards in between the lines.

“Technically it was a very, very good game, they are a good side. We take the draw and this is why it was a deserved point for me.”

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel insists his side will “give everything” to earn victory over fellow high-flyers Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Munich bounced back from their humiliating 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday thanks to a second-half strike from Kingsley Coman and Tuchel’s side will be looking to set the record straight in the league again.

Stuttgart sit just one place beneath Munich in the table and could leapfrog the German champions with victory at the Allianz Arena.

Tuchel thinks Sebastian Hoeness’ team deserve their lofty placing due to consistent performances.

He told a press conference: “They’re very consistent. Together they’re greater than the sum of their parts. They deserve to be up where they are. They’re very homogeneous, tactically very flexible.”

“It’s impressive how Stuttgart play. You can see Sebastian’s mark on the team. I think Stuttgart have had a consistent over performance, so there must be good unity between the team and the coach.

“It’s completely deserved, so we’ll give everything our greatest respect and recognise that.”

Coman and Noussair Mazraoui both featured at Old Trafford in midweek but picked up injuries and were subsequently substituted which will rule them out of the clash on Sunday.

The pair will join Serge Gnabry on the sidelines but Tuchel will be hoping to have top scorer Harry Kane in his ranks after an illness.

Tuchel continued: “We’ve got tough games. The fixture list is how it is, we know it beforehand.

“The two injuries on our right side hurt us. They were both in good form. King has had a very good season so far. Nous too.

“It came out of nowhere and hurts because both are important players.

“Harry Kane is a bit ill. We hope he can train again tomorrow. Jamal Musiala is fine.”

Bayern will be looking to extend their unbeaten run at home with a return to winning ways but Tuchel thinks his side need to be at their best to earn a result.

He added: “Everyone wants minutes. It’s even more important now we don’t have as much competition for places that the intrinsic motivation is high.

“We showed that at Old Trafford. It needs to be there again on Sunday. If we won’t match that with the same spirit as Stuttgart show every game, then we won’t win.”

Geromino provided 10lb conditional jockey Charlie Maggs with a notable success in the £50,000 bet365 Handicap Hurdle at Doncaster.

Attached to Donald McCain’s yard in Cheshire, just like twin brother William, he was riding only the fourth winner of his career.

Geromino has been chasing of late and on his run behind subsequent Cheltenham winner Homme Public at Wetherby in October, he looked quite well handicapped off just 126 back over hurdles – especially when Maggs’ 10lb allowance was factored in.

However, there were some smart rivals amongst the opposition, chiefly top weight Tommy’s Oscar and Charlie Longsdon’s Rare Edition, who ran against the best novices last season.

Maggs judged things perfectly on the front end, though, and despite McCain fearing the loss of the hurdles in the straight due to low sun would work against the good jumper, it appeared to work in his favour.

First Impression, who cruised into contention, did not find as much as initially seemed likely and was beaten half a length, with a neck back to Rare Edition, who made late gains.

“Gary (Fitzpatrick, owner) is a great supporter and the old horse is just high enough in the handicap, and he’s a little horse for fences,” said McCain.

“I thought I’d give him a run over hurdles but when I went down to the last to watch the race with Gary and they started taking the hurdles out, I was moaning because he’s such a good jumper.

“But when you think about having a 10lb claim in a Flat race, it’s a lot and the horse is so genuine.

“Charlie judged it great. I’m very lucky, as I’ve got a great team of jockeys, led by Brian (Hughes), there’s Theo (Gilliard), Peter Kavanagh, William and Charlie and Abi (McCain), they’re a great bunch.

“Charlie and his brother have been coming every weekend since they were 12 and they’ve just turned 18. Charlie doesn’t have an agent yet because he’s not lost his 10lb. Will has had a few more winners because he’s lost his 10lb and Richard Hale looks after him. We’ll save his 10lb for nice races.”

Maggs said: “I’m delighted, he battled all the way to the line.

“He was happy in front, so I just let him bowl along and he was good. He’s a hardy horse and he kept going.

“That’s my fourth winner and it’s good to win a race like that.”

Victor Wembanyama vowed that the San Antonio Spurs will "keep working our a** off" after they ended their long wait for a win.

The Spurs overcame LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 129-115 on Friday.

That brought up just their fourth win of the season, and their first since November 2, ending an 18-game losing run.

"Kind of felt like a playoff game to me," No.1 draft pick Wembanyama said. "But, of course we have to feel good about it.

"We love that feeling. We want to repeat it, so yeah, we're going to keep working our a** off."

Wembanyama's teammate Zach Collins added: "We know we've been trending in the right direction, so nobody's shocked as far as the players go. 

"We just knew we had to catch a couple breaks, make some more shots. We knew our defense was getting better, so we feel good about it."

Wembanyama had 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Devin Vassell led the Spurs with a career-high 36 points.

James, who was missing from the Lakers starting lineup as Los Angeles defeated the Spurs on Wednesday, could not inspire Darvin Ham's team, who were without Anthony Davis.

"That's going to be challenging on us," James said when asked how the Lakers regroup for a home game against the New York Knicks on Monday.

"We've got to mentally and physically prepare ourselves. We've got to take care of our bodies. We've got to get our sleep. We've got to get our nutrition. We've got to hydrate.

"Whatever we've got to do to refuel, we've got to do, because the games are going to continue to come."

Fugitif came from the clouds to secure a last-gasp victory in a thrilling renewal of the Virgin Bet December Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

A field of 12 runners went to post for the prestigious handicap, although for much of the way it looked a two-horse race, with Il Ridoto and Bryony Frost and the Charlie Deutsch-ridden Frero Banbou going hammer and tongs on the front end and pulling clear of the chasing pack.

It was obvious from the fourth-last fence that several of those in behind were struggling to keep up with the furious gallop being set, with 3-1 favourite Thunder Rock one of the first to cry enough before eventually being pulled up.

Il Ridoto and Frero Banbou were still locking horns in front rounding the home turn, at which stage Richard Hobson’s Fugitif still had six horses in front of him and seemingly a mountain to climb in the hands of Gavin Sheehan.

After eventually seeing off his long-time challenger, Il Ridoto looked the most likely winner between the final two obstacles.

However, Sheehan – who two weeks ago produced a similarly ice cool masterclass to land Newbury’s Coral Gold Cup aboard Datsalrightgino – conjured a late surge from Fugitif and the pair got up in the very last stride to score by a short head at 13-2.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has called on his side to show their resilience and step up to cover for absentees in the coming weeks.

Midfielder Yves Bissouma is facing a four-match suspension following his second dismissal of the season in Spurs’ 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Friday night.

Dejan Kulusevski picked out Richarlison to head home the opener in first-half stoppage-time before turning goalscorer to move Tottenham closer to the Champions League places.

Bissouma’s was the fourth sending off of the season for Tottenham and discipline remains a concern for Australian Postecoglou, who is also without Destiny Udogie for the clash with Everton.

Postecoglou told Sky Sports Premier League: “We lose him (Bissouma), we lose Destiny Udogie (also suspended) but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be that type of season for us. It’s building resilience in the group.

“We’ve got plenty of reason to make excuses, we haven’t, we’ve gone through a rough trot, we’ve still got some tough games coming up.

“I think when you get through these periods and you’re steadfast in what you’re trying to do, I think you come out stronger provided you maintain belief.

“It’s (discipline) been a little bit of an issue. It’s a fine line with those things.

“The players are aware of that, they don’t want to miss games. I think today was more of a desperation tackle than something nasty.

I’m working with fantastic footballers. That makes a big difference. I’ve been pleased with the progress and I just think there’s so much more to come.”

Steve Cooper urged Forest to keep their heads held high.

They came close in the latter stages to getting something out of the game as Harry Toffolo saw an effort superbly clawed off the line before Neco Williams struck the post.

Cooper said: “You’ve got to keep believing in the players. If the players are not believing in themselves and not as confident as they can be, they’re not going to commit to the decision making and the risks that we need them to take.

“There’s always pressure and you have to deal with that if you want to excel – and survive in our case – at this level. That will continue. We’ll stand up and be counted.”

Graeme Shinnie is desperate to lift the Viaplay Cup trophy as Aberdeen captain after being on the losing side the last time the Dons won it almost a decade ago.

The 32-year-old was playing for Inverness when they lost on penalties to the Pittodrie side in the League Cup final following a goalless draw at Celtic Park in March 2014.

Shinnie and his Caley Thistle colleagues bounced back to win the Scottish Cup by beating Falkirk just over a year later in what was his last game as captain of the Highland outfit before joining Aberdeen for his first spell.

Now back at Pittodrie for a second stint after a couple of years in England, the skipper would love to win his first trophy in Aberdeen colours by defeating Rangers at Hampden on Sunday.

“In football lifting trophies is some of the best memories you’ll ever have, as Aberdeen fans know from the 2014 cup final,” he told Aberdeen TV.

“It wasn’t a great final, was it? It was a bit nervy, nobody really wanted to attack and take the game by the scruff of the neck. And to lose that on penalties was a blow for Inverness.

“At that time we were flying high, we were a good team. We had almost built up to that moment and missing out at that time at Inverness, it probably felt like our best opportunity had gone.

“But luckily we got another one, and to lift the Scottish Cup at that age, 23, was a great feeling and a great honour.

“It happened so early in my career, it feels like a long time ago but at the end of my career, that is a moment I’ll look back on.

“If I could get my hands on the other cup now, it would be a cup double which would be great memories to look back on.”

Aberdeen are in the bottom half of the cinch Premiership with just four wins from their 15 league matches so far.

However, their form in the cup, allied to some strong performances in Europe, gives them hope that they can pull off an upset against a Rangers side they have already taken four points from in their two league meetings.

“Form doesn’t matter,” he said. “Cup games are very different. It’s a different game, there’s a prize at the end of it, there’s a different atmosphere in the ground, it’s at Hampden so it’s a neutral venue.

“I think we all know as a squad that we’re not where we want to be in terms of our league form, it’s not been good enough.

“Have we found it tough after some of the European games? Probably. It’s been a different challenge for the squad, but we need to do better. I think throughout the season there has been a lot of good performances, especially in Europe.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t take more out of the games because performance-wise some of them have been very good. We obviously beat Rangers away which was another top performance but we’ve let ourselves down in some of the other matches.

“It’s that kind of form we need to change but going into a cup final, the full focus is on trying to win the game and win the trophy so it’s a little bit of a different mindset.”

Trainer Jack Jones can justifiably dream of Cheltenham Festival glory after his star juvenile An Bradan Feasa ran out a decisive winner of the JCB Triumph Trial at Prestbury Park.

Successful on his hurdling debut at Ballinrobe in September for Joseph O’Brien, the three-year-old subsequently moved across the Irish Sea to join Newmarket-based Jones in the autumn.

An Bradan Feasa made a promising debut for his new connections when second to leading Triumph Hurdle contender Burdett Road at Cheltenham last month, and he was a 5-4 shot to go one better four weeks on in the hands of Tom Bellamy.

Dan Skelton’s Kourosh, a runaway winner on his British bow at Wetherby, set out to make all the running in the two-mile-one-furlong contest, and had built up a clear lead halfway down the back straight.

However, the market leader bridged the gap before the home turn and appeared to be getting the better of the argument when Kourosh crashed out at the final flight.

His exit left An Bradan Feasa in the clear racing up the hill and he kept galloping to score by three lengths from the staying-on Balboa.

“It is unreal,” said Jones. “I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember. To have a runner here a month ago was the stuff of dreams, and for him to do it like that today, I’m speechless.

“Tom gave him a peach of a ride, he jumped and travelled and he was very push button when Tom wanted to give him an inch. I’m very happy.

“It was his first run for us here in November. It was a serious run considering he had to do most of the donkey work and that horse (Burdett Road) looks a fair animal.

“I’m not sure of the depth of the form today, but he has got his win and for the owners to have a winner here is what they have dreamt of – that is why they got him.”

Betfair cut the winner’s Triumph Hurdle odds to 33-1 from 40-1, but he appears more likely to switch to handicap company at the Festival.

“The Fred Winter (Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle) is what we discussed two or three weeks ago,” Jones added. “He could be 50-1 in a Triumph Hurdle but, although he will go up again today, he would have a competitive enough weight in the Fred Winter.

“He will have a quiet enough time now and will have one more run before March and see where we end up.”