San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is not worrying about personal reputations as he prepares for Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Shanahan, the son of two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, has been here before, facing the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV four years ago, but came out on the wrong end of that one in a 31-20 defeat.

In each of the previous two seasons, the 44-year-old saw his 49ers lose in the NFC Championship game.

While he boasts a strong overall record in his seven seasons as a head coach, Shanahan faced questions in Las Vegas this week about whether another loss would feed a narrative that he could not win ‘the big one’.

“I’d deal with that the same as if we win,” Shanahan said. “I’d celebrate with my team, my family and then move on with the rest of my life, which is being a father, a son, coaching and working. A narrative, good or bad, is just a narrative.

“When you go into these games, what makes you prepare is you don’t want regrets. You want to do everything that makes sense to myself and to the team.

“When you do that, no matter how hard something is or how good something is, you keep perspective. If you want your perspective to be someone else’s narrative, good luck.”

Shanahan has a 72-54 overall record with the 49ers since they gave him his first head coaching job in 2017. But he acknowledged that now, only a Super Bowl win would represent a good season.

“That’s how it boils down for everybody in the NFL,” he said. “The only time in a season you’re satisfied without a Super Bowl is maybe the first year if you exceed expectations – that’s the only time if you don’t make the play-offs you don’t feel you’ve completely failed.

“Other than that, if you don’t make the play-offs in this league, no-one is happy. If you make the play-offs and lose your last game, no-one’s happy. If you get to the Super Bowl and lose the Super Bowl, you’re not happy.

“Only one team is happy at the end of the year. Whether it comes down to the Super Bowl or a play-off game, it’s the same. When you go for the big one it hurts when you get that close because it’s that hard to get there.

“We’re fortunate our team has been able to get here twice. The last one was a tough one.

“We have every opportunity but they made the plays and we didn’t. I think it will be a real tight game this weekend. We’ll see how it unfolds, but I like our chances.”

Iroko is on course to make the Cheltenham Festival but which race he runs in has still to be decided.

Trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, the six-year-old won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the meeting last season in the famous JP McManus colours.

He went on to finish third to Apple Away in Grade One company at Aintree and reappeared over fences at Warwick in early November, putting up a faultless chasing debut over two and a half miles.

Unfortunately he picked up an injury a couple of weeks later that connections initially felt would rule him out for the season, however, he has returned to full training much quicker than anticipated and has been entered in the Arkle and Turners Novices’ Chases next month.

While Greenall favours the Turners, McManus also owns ante-post favourite Fact To File which may have a bearing on his destination.

“I think he’ll get to Cheltenham,” said Greenall.

“He won’t be able to have a run before, there’s not enough time, but he’ll get to Cheltenham.

“Which race he’ll run in there, I’m still not sure. I’d rather go over two and a half miles but JP has obviously got other options in that, so we’ll just have to see.

“The Arkle may have opened up after last weekend but obviously he ran so well in the three-mile Grade One novice hurdle at Aintree.

“It’s great that he’s back anyway, and he’s back in full training.”

Saturday’s meeting at Warwick has been called off due to a waterlogged track.

The fixture was due to feature both the Grade Two Kingmaker Novices’ Chase and the Listed Warwick Mares’ Hurdle, in which Cheltenham candidate You Wear It Well was due to run.

However, a total of 36 millimetres of rain fell at the track on Thursday, leaving the course unfit for action.

Clerk of the course Tom Ryall said: “We had 36mm in total yesterday, it started about 4am and carried on through to midnight.

“When we came in this morning, parts of the back straight where it runs parallel with Gog Brook are waterlogged as that was put on red alert last night, while the owners and trainers car park has flooded and that has spilled on to the track.

“We are basically about 50 per cent under water, so there is really no hope of racing.”

Friday’s meeting at Kempton got the go-ahead after a morning inspection, although an area of the track is riding heavy, while the other scheduled jumps fixture at Bangor was called off on Thursday afternoon.

What the papers say

Manchester United have reportedly determined their ceiling for Brentford striker Ivan Toney. According to the Daily Star, the Red Devils value the 27-year-old at £70million, and will not be drawn into a bidding war should competition arise for Toney’s signature.

Elsewhere, the Daily Mirror says Arsenal scouts are keeping a close eye on Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams. The Gunners could chase Williams as an option to ease the pressure on Bukayo Saka, however the 21-year-old is also said to be attracting interest from a number of heavyweights including Real Madrid and Liverpool.

The Evening Standard reports AC Milan lead several Serie A sides in expressing interest in 23-year-old Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Thomas Partey: Spanish outlet Fichajes says the Arsenal midfielder is being circled by Juventus.

Alphonso Davies: Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool are all tracking the Bayern Munich left-back, according to the website HITC.

The Eastern Conference's top team made quick work of the best team from the West.

Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen each scored short-handed goals in the first period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Thursday in a showdown between the NHL's top two teams.

Charlie Coyle set up both short-handed goals and Boston extended the lead to 4-0 in the opening minute of the second period when Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha scored 15 seconds apart.

Linus Ullmark only needed to make 17 saves to register his first shutout of the season.

Boston (32-10-9) won for the eighth time in 10 games to move into a tie with Vancouver (34-12-5) for the most points in the NHL with 73.

The Canucks lost for the first time in regulation since January 4, after going 10-0-2 over their previous 12 games.

Thatcher Demko's nine-game winning streak ended with the Vancouver goaltender stopping just 21 of 25 shots.

The Canucks managed just four shots on goal in both the first and third period and were held without a score for the first time since October 17 - just their third game of the season.

Necas' first career hat trick helps Hurricanes beat Avalanche

Martin Necas recorded his first career hat trick in style.

Playing in his 330th career game, Necas registered a natural hat trick in the first 17 minutes of the Carolina Hurricanes' 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

His hat trick marked the second-fastest to begin a game in Carolina franchise history.

The Hurricanes won despite an odd goaltending situation.

Pyotr Kochetkov allowed two goals in the final 30 seconds of the first period and was pulled in favor of Antii Raanta.

Raanta stopped all nine shots he faced but suffered a lower-body injury and lasted just one period.

Kochetkov then re-entered for the final period and turned aside all 10 shots he faced in the third. He finished with 16 saves for the Hurricanes (29-16-5), who improved to 12-3-1 in their last 16 games.

Colorado netminder Alexandar Georgiev permitted the hat trick on just four shots before rebounding. He ended up with 23 saves.

Zach Parise and Samuel Girard scored seven seconds apart for the Avalanche (32-16-4), who lost their third in a row after entering the All-Star break on a 13-3-1 stretch.

Panthers pull away to beat Capitals

Ryan Lomberg scored the go-ahead goal with 6:52 remaining in the third period to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals.

Lomberg's goal was just his third of the season, and ended a 35-game stretch without one dating to November 14.

Sam Reinhart scored his team-leading 38th goal on a power play, while Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and two assists to give him 12 goals and 18 assists in his last 17 games.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots for Florida (32-15-4), which won for the fifth time in six games.

Washington (22-20-7), meanwhile, has lost six straight games.

Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring with a power-play goal - the 833rd goal of his career.

He has now scored in three straight games after failing to score in his previous eight contests.

Jenny Jones secured Great Britain’s first Winter Olympic medal on snow on this day in 2014 with bronze in the snowboard slopestyle event in Sochi.

Jones, aged 33, was the oldest entrant in the final by more than six years but her experience showed with her best run of the week on her last attempt.

Her score of 87.25 briefly put her top of the standings, but she was overtaken by American Jamie Anderson and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi and had to settle for third.

Jones said: “I feel absolutely ecstatic, I’m so chuffed to have made it onto that podium.

“It feels ridiculous, I still can’t actually believe it. I just thought, ‘oh my goodness, it’s gone my way today’, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Her success was made all the more remarkable by the fact she was out of action for nearly a month after suffering a concussion in mid-December 2013 following a crash in training in Austria.

“(It) was a bit of a tough time for me,” she said.

“I had to stay at home and not be on the snow, if you ask any athlete it’s just tough sitting and waiting. But I got through it and am genuinely very proud.”

Team GB chef de mission Mike Hay said: “This is a fantastic accomplishment for Jenny and a great moment for our entire delegation.

“Jenny will go down in the record books as the first-ever member of Team GB to win an Olympic medal in a snow sport.

“There is a strong spirit of camaraderie and support across our entire delegation and I know every member of Team GB is proud of Jenny and delighted to see her have this special moment.”

Prior to January, the Cleveland Cavaliers only had one winning streak of eight games in the last five seasons.

They now have two winning streaks of eight games in the last five weeks.

Donovon Mitchell scored 27 points and the Cavaliers beat the Brooklyn Nets 118-95 on Thursday for their eighth straight victory and 16th win in 17 games.

Cleveland led 59-51 when Ben Simmons shoved Jarrett Allen to the floor just 14 seconds into the second half. Allen retaliated by pushing Simmons back, and both players received technical fouls.

The altercation seemed to inspire the Cavs (34-16), as they responded with a 21-0 run to grab an 80-51 lead.

Allen finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Evan Mobley added 14 points and 12 boards.

The Cavs, who also won eight consecutive games last season, haven't had a longer winning streak since winning a franchise record-tying 13 in a row in 2017-18 - LeBron James' last season in Cleveland.

Brooklyn kept it close through two quarters despite being a bit undermanned after sending Spencer Dinwiddie to Toronto and Royce O'Neale to Phoenix before the trade deadline.

Mikal Bridges had a team-high 26 points for the Nets (20-31), who lost their third straight game.

Curry hits 11 3s as Warriors win again

Just 24 hours after one of his lowest-scoring outputs of the season, Stephen Curry dazzled in the Golden State Warriors' 131-109 rout of the Indiana Pacers.

Curry made his first seven 3-point tries and drained a season-high 11 3s on 16 attempts, scoring 42 points to help the Warriors win their third straight game.

His fifth 40-point game of the season came one night after he scored just nine points in a 127-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Golden State (24-25) has now won five of six to move within one game of .500 following a 4-10 stretch.

Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton struggled to get going offensively, finishing with just five points in 26 minutes, though he did dish out 11 assists.

Pascal Siakam had team highs of 16 points and eight rebounds for Indiana (29-24), while Myles Turner added 15 points and seven boards.

Timberwolves trounce slumping Bucks

The hot-shooting Minnesota Timberwolves rolled to a 129-105 win at Milwaukee to spoil the home debut of Bucks coach Doc Rivers.

Anthony Edwards had 26 points, and the Timberwolves made 21-of-41 3-pointers, with Mike Conley leading the 3-point barrage by making 6-of-7 shots from beyond the arc.

Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns each made four 3-pointers for Western Conference-leading Minnesota (36-16), which pulled away in the third quarter with a 17-3 run.

The Bucks (33-19) were without both Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton due to sprained ankles and reserve AJ Green paced the team with 27 points while making 7-of-8 3-pointers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 17 - his fewest since December 19 - after averaging 38.3 points in his previous three games as the Bucks lost for the fifth time in six games.

It was the first home game for Rivers after his Milwaukee coaching tenure began with a 1-4 road trip.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner will face a hearing on Friday as he prepares to defend himself against an accusation of “inappropriate behaviour”.

The 50-year-old team principal “completely denies” the claims which the PA news agency understands were made by another member of staff at the British-based team.

Red Bull, the Austrian energy drinks company which owns the team, confirmed on Monday an independent investigation had been launched after it was made aware of the allegations.

It is not clear where the hearing will be held, but PA understands it will not take place at Red Bull’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, while a conclusion is not expected on the day.

A spokesperson for Red Bull said on Monday: “After being made aware of certain recent allegations, the company launched an independent investigation.

“This process, which is already under way, is being carried out by an external specialist barrister.

“The company takes these matters extremely seriously and the investigation will be completed as soon as practically possible. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

Horner, who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, has been in charge at Red Bull since they entered Formula One 19 years ago.

During that time he has overseen seven drivers’ world championships and six constructors’ titles.

The team dominated last season, winning 21 of the 22 races in 2023 as Max Verstappen defended his drivers’ crown.

Regardless of the outcome of Friday’s planned investigation, it has overshadowed the start of the 2024 campaign, with Red Bull set to unveil their new car on February 15 ahead of pre-season testing and the opening race in Bahrain next month.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been named the NFL’s most valuable player for the second time.

Jackson, 27, who missed out on a place in Sunday’s Super Bowl when the Ravens lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, was the pick of 49 of the 50-strong panel.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was the only other player to receive a first-place vote from the panel of media, ex-players and coaches.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was a clear winner of the offensive player of the year award, having finished third in the MVP vote behind Jackson and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Myles Garrett was voted defensive player of the year, one of four awards for the Cleveland Browns – Joe Flacco winning comeback player of the year with Kevin Stefanski named coach of the year and defensive co-ordinator Jim Schwartz assistant coach of the year.

Houston Texans players collected both rookie of the year titles, quarterback CJ Stroud clearly winning the offensive crown with Will Anderson Jr picking up the defensive award.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson won his second Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award on Thursday.

Jackson, who won his first league MVP in 2019, was a near-unanimous winner, receiving 49 of 50 first-place votes. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen got the only other first-place vote.

An overwhelming favourite to win the NFL's top award, Jackson led the Ravens to the AFC North title with a 13-4 record and the conference's top seed.

He accounted for 29 offensive touchdowns and led Baltimore in passing yards and rushing yards for the fifth straight season, throwing for 3,678 and running for 821 to become just the second player to pass for 3,500+ yards and rush for 800+ yards in a season, joining Kyler Murray in 2020.

The 27-year-old is now part of an exclusive group, becoming just the fourth player to win two MVPs before turning 28 years old, joining Patrick Mahomes (27) and Hall of Famers Brett Favre (27) and Jim Brown (22).

The MVP was one of eight AP awards handed out at the "NFL Honors" awards show on Thursday in Las Vegas - the site of Sunday's Super Bowl.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey won the AP Offensive Player of the Year.

McCaffrey, whose 49ers are facing the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, led the league with 1,459 rushing yards, 2,023 scrimmage yards and 21 total touchdowns. 

The Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett took home the AP Defensive Player of the Year award.

The All-Pro edge rusher had 14 sacks, 30 quarterback hits and 17 tackles for loss, and was the focal point of a Cleveland defence that allowed a league-low 270.2 yards per game.

Garrett was one of four Browns to win an award, as quarterback Joe Flacco won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, narrowly beating out the Bills' Damar Hamlin.

Signed in November after being out of football, Flacco led the Browns to a 4-1 record down the stretch to help the franchise reach the playoffs.

Kevin Stefanski of the Browns won AP Coach of the Year, edging out the Houston Texans' DeMeco Ryans by one first-place vote.

Stefanski's defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award after directing the NFL's top-ranked defence.

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in a runaway, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua got the other two.

Stroud, the No. 2 pick in the draft, led the Texans to the AFC South crown one year after the team won just three games. He finished eighth in passing yards with 4,108 - the third-most yards passing by a rookie in NFL history behind Andrew Luck (4,374 in 2012) and Justin Herbert (4,336 in 2020).

His teammate, Will Anderson, won Defensive Rookie of the Year after registering seven sacks, 22 QB hits and 10 tackles for loss.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry is two shots off the lead held by American Sahith Theegala after a weather-hit opening day at the Phoenix Open.

Theegala hit seven birdies and a bogey in a six-under-par 65 and leads by one from compatriot Andrew Novak after the first day at Scottsdale.

Novak had only completed nine holes with around half of the field needing to complete their first rounds on Friday after a rain delay of more than three hours around lunchtime.

Theegala, who had played 14 holes before the break, said: “The weather was, it was not good, those last four holes felt great.

“I played great and that’s all I can do, really.”

Lowry, 36, who is tied third with S H Kim, started with six birdies and a bogey in his first nine holes, adding one bogey on the way home to finish with a 67. He said the weather made conditions “really bad towards the end”.

“We came back out, the wind was not blowing as strong but the ball was going nowhere, and it was cold and kind of tough,” he said.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick dropped two late shots after the resumption to fall back to two-under- par, alongside Scotland’s Martin Laird and one ahead of European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.

Luke Littler lost in a dramatic showdown to Michael Van Gerwen in the BetMGM Premier League.

The 17-year-old suffered a 6-5 defeat in the final of the second night in Berlin on Thursday.

“It’s good. I hope we can keep it that way as well,” Littler told Sky Sports.

“In this format, in the Premier League, you have to be good week after week. It’s non-stop and I think that was good for me.

“I was always putting energy into my game and that helps me in the long run.

“It is only week two. Everyone was saying ‘last week you lost in the first round’. Don’t worry, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

Littler moved 2-0 ahead before Van Gerwen hit back to move 3-2 legs in front but the pair could not be separated with the current PDC World Youth Champion close to a 145 checkout before levelling at 4-4.

They went into the final leg locked at 5-5 and both hit 180s but Van Gerwen missed the bull for victory before Littler failed to convert two darts at double 10 to allow his rival to hit double four to win.

Littler had beaten Luke Humphries and Rob Cross on the way to the final with Van Gerwen dispatching Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall.

Gareth Southgate insists he is keeping an open mind about staying with England beyond Euro 2024 this summer.

The 53-year-old is under contract until December and accepts it is possible he may not even be in charge by the time England play Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland in the autumn.

However, he insists his decision is not yet made either way and remains open to the possibility of staying on and working with England’s exciting crop of players, led by Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham.

“There’s a fair chance half the coaches won’t be here after the Euros. That’s international football,” he said at the draw in Paris.

“You’ve got to see how the summer goes. It’s as simple as that. In my view, I know what we’re capable of achieving in the summer, I know what my own benchmark of success would be, after that I’m not really thinking about anything else.

“Without a doubt it’s exciting to take the team, it’s always been exciting to take the team, whatever the strengths of the squad. In the end, we’ve got to deliver a performance and you’ve got to make the best decisions for everybody. I won’t be in a position to make that decision before the tournament.”

While Bellingham’s place in the squad appears certain barring injury, others seem to have a much bigger fight on their hands.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has hit the headlines recently after an unsanctioned trip to Belfast and Southgate insists all his players are being monitored on and off the field.

“We’re five weeks away from picking a squad, although so much happens to players over the period between November and March that we’re always sitting and observing everything on and off the pitch.”

The last competitive encounter between England and the Republic was a Euro 92 qualifier at Wembley, where a Niall Quinn goal cancelled out Lee Dixon’s opener.

A friendly match in 1995 at Lansdowne Road had to be abandoned due to crowd trouble and the teams’ most recent meeting was a November 2020 friendly.

England midfielder Declan Rice played three senior matches for the Republic before switching allegiance to England, while Manchester City star Jack Grealish also played for the Republic at under-age level.

Southgate said: “I have to say that I don’t know where we would have been without them. If we hadn’t had Declan over the past four years then I don’t know what we would have done.”

Football Association of Ireland director of football Marc Canham said of the draw: “It’s tough, but exciting, some amazing games and obviously we’re playing England for the first time in a while.

“It’s a great opportunity for our players and team and our amazing fans, an experience they can really look forward to.”

Wales will be up against Iceland, Montenegro and Turkey in Group B4.

Wales boss Rob Page said: “We know what Turkey are about (having played them in the Euro qualifiers last year). There are no easy games in international football but, with regards to the opposition, if we could have handpicked them we probably would have picked them.

“That’s no disrespect to them, but we want to give ourselves the best opportunity.”

Steve Clarke’s Scotland are up against Croatia, Portugal and Poland in Group A1.

Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland were drawn in Group C3, where they will take on Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Belarus.

O’Neill said: “I think they will be good games for the young squad that we have at the minute. It will be a test for them as part of their development as international players.”

The league phase will be played between September and October before League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs take place in March 2025.

Single-leg semis and a final will be played in June 2025.