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• City boss Gareth Taylor gives injury update on star striker Khadija Shaw

  Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor has offered an update on the injury that forced star striker Khadija Shaw off at half-time against West Ham on Sunday.

  Shaw made a blistering start to the game and set City on their way to a 5-0 victory, scoring twice in the first 24 minutes as her team returned to the top of the Women's Super League table. However, she went down with a foot injury in the final seconds of that first half and was replaced by Chloe Kelly after being helped off the pitch by the team's medical staff.

  Concern grew for Shaw when she appeared in a boot and with crutches during the second period. City are locked into a fierce title race with Chelsea, who are three points behind them but with a game in hand. To lose a player who has scored 21 goals in 18 league games this season would be a huge hit to their challenge.

  Speaking in his post-match press conference, Taylor said of Shaw's withdrawal: "We decided not to take the risk. It was touch and go as to whether she was going to come back on the pitch. We'll get a bit more of an assessment tomorrow. She's on crutches, which looks bad, but most of the players end up being offloaded in that situation. We'll just have to assess it. If it's more serious than we anticipate, then we'll deal with it. I thought Chloe Kelly came onto the pitch and did really well in that position, put them under a lot of pressure, created some good opportunities. We'll find out a little bit more over the next couple of days."

  The Cityzens travel to bottom side Bristol City next weekend as they look to stay ahead in the title race but it is the fixture the week after that which fans will be desperate to have Shaw available for, as third-placed Arsenal come to town.

• Nottingham Forest’s response to VAR controversy ‘too emotional’ – Stuart Broad

  Former England bowler Stuart Broad has criticised Nottingham Forest’s response to the VAR controversy at Sunday’s Premier League match against Everton as “slightly too emotional”.

  Broad, the second-highest England Test wicket-taker, was made a CBE for services to cricket during a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, and is a long-time fan of the football club.

  Following Forest’s 2-0 loss at Everton, the club risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to three rejected penalty appeals.

  In a statement on Sunday, the club said there had been “three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept”, adding: “We warned the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game, but they didn’t change him.”

  On Tuesday, it was announced that the club would be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to the three penalty claims.

  When asked about his thoughts on the VAR incident, Broad said: “Obviously, there’s been some natural frustration from everyone at Nottingham Forest: owners, players, manager fans, supporters, my friendship group are frustrated.

  “I think it’s not just from the weekend, I think the frustration is built over the season, to be honest, from the decisions that the club have had.

  “I think the statement straight after the game was probably quite emotional and maybe slightly misaligned with how the club would normally operate.”

  Referring to the club’s statement on X, formerly Twitter, in which they claimed VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan”, Broad said: “Personally, I think that’s got nothing to do with the decision-making. I think it was just poor decision-making.

  He continued: “I don’t mind the club showing emotion and passion because ultimately, that’s what sport’s about, but I think some of the words were slightly too emotional.”

  Broad, 37, announced he was retiring from cricket during the fifth Ashes Test last summer and bowed out in spectacular fashion.

  He hit a six off his final ball and took the final wicket as England won the match to level the series, although Australia retained the urn.

  He came second in the public vote for the BBC’s 2023 Sports Personality of the Year in December and has been focusing on fatherhood and television punditry.

  After the ceremony he said retirement had been “scary” but that he wanted to continue to “stay connected” to the sport.

  When asked what was next, Broad said: “I want to stay in the game.

  “It’s a great hobby of mine, it’s probably something I know the most about in the world, in my world, so I want to be able to share that feedback, whether that’s coaching, whether that’s punditry and commentary that I enjoy.

  “But stay connected to the game, you know, I love it.”

• I don’t expect political statements from Germany team -Thomas Hitzlsperger

  German players are unlikely to make any major political statements at Euro 2024 after their World Cup protest in Qatar was met with a tepid domestic reception, ex-international Thomas Hitzlsperger has predicted.

  Seven European nations at the 2022 global showpiece – including England – initially planned to wear ‘OneLove’ anti-discrimination armbands but were dissuaded following the threat of sporting sanctions from FIFA.

  Instead, the Germans covered their mouths for a World Cup team photograph in protest, while the tournament remained overshadowed by the host nation’s record on human rights, from its treatment of migrant workers to the criminalisation of same-sex relationships.

  Hitzlsperger, who bookended his playing career with spells at Aston Villa and Everton and a decade ago became the first former Premier League player to come out as gay, said: “It ended for the German team not in a good way. Funnily enough, back home a lot of people criticised it whereas abroad it was seen as a big statement.

  “After the tournament, some of the representatives of the German national team just said, ‘look, at the Euros we talk about football, nothing else’. So I don’t expect much from the team similar to the World Cup.

  “I think the England team were the first ones to play, and they decided against the One Love armband. A lot of the German players, they felt a responsibility, they felt ‘we’ve got to make a statement’.

  “They couldn’t rely on the other teams. I think there were seven teams in the end that tried to stick together and wear the armband, and then they all collapsed, basically. And that’s when the Germans were like, ‘We still have to do something’.”

  The former midfielder, who is now serving as an ambassador for this summer’s tournament in his home country, agrees that Germany’s poor showing likely influenced negative sentiment around the protest.

  He said: “Football can be brutal. If you win, you set the tone and whatever you do it’s accepted and people look up to you. If you don’t win, you lose football matches, then you better not say anything.”

  Even before the tournament, said the 42-year-old, the German public was already divided over whether or not the national team – or anyone – had a responsibility to act.

  “It was a very difficult debate and it never came to a conclusion,” said Hitzlsperger.

  “Some said it’s too much politics, others said it was right what we did, and that’s where we ended. That was our opportunity to say ‘we’re hosting a European Championship, let’s have a really good time together’, talk about responsibility when it comes to sustainability but don’t teach the world what to do.”

  Organisers hope the tournament itself will instead do the talking, with ambitions to become be the most sustainable European Championship of all time through the use of entirely pre-existing stadia run by 100 per cent renewable energy sources, a zoned match schedule reducing travel distances for teams and fans, and the creation of a climate fund dedicated to projects focused on mitigating tournament-related unavoidable emissions.

  It is also the second major football tournament, following in the footsteps of last summer’s Women’s World Cup, to sign a human rights declaration.

  UEFA has stated EURO 2024 “embraces gender identities and expressions as a spectrum that is not limited to a binary concept”, with gender-neutral toilets available at all venues and similarly neutral lanes outside the stadia to accommodate a range of gender expressions for procedures like body checks.

  Ultimately, says Hitzlsperger, “the German FA, UEFA, the German government and the foreign ministry, (will do) everything we can do, without putting the team under too much pressure to say ‘every game you have to make a statement’.

  “You have to know who is responsible for what, and unfortunately what happened in Qatar really made the players aware of the consequences if you take a stance on human rights.”