Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has urged social media CEOs to hold discussions with football players and clubs to help combat online abuse. Research funded by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) in August found that footballers in the Premier League, Women's Super League (WSL) and English Football League (EFL) were subjected to a 48% increase in unmoderated racist online abuse duri...Full Story »

Celtic comfortably set up a Premier Sports Cup semi-final against St Johnstone but manager Ange Postecoglou suffered more disruption to his forward line.Celtic cruised through with a 3-0 win over Raith Rovers thanks to goals from Jota, Liel Abada and David Turnbull but Postecoglou revealed afterwards that he had lost two more attacking players.New striker Giorgos Giakoumakis was set to make his ...Full Story »

Jota scored his first Celtic goal as Ange Postecoglou’s side moved into the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals following a straightforward 3-0 win over 10-man Raith Rovers.The Portuguese wide player finished well for the opener and produced the strike that allowed Liel Abada to net on the rebound.David Turnbull notched his sixth goal of the season before Dario Zanatta was sent off just before ...Full Story »

Scott Allan marked his first domestic start for Hibernian since August 2020 by playing a key role in helping his team reach a fifth consecutive semi-final.The 29-year-old midfielder – who has been working his back to prominence after being diagnosed with a heart problem a year ago – set up the opener and scored the second as the Easter Road side defeated Dundee United 3-1 in the Prem...Full Story »

Alex Pattison could come back into contention for Harrogate’s League Two clash with Stevenage.The midfielder is hoping to be fit in time to feature on Saturday after a head injury.Sunderland loan winger Jack Diamond will be available again having served a one-match suspension.Lewis Page will miss out due to a hamstring problem.Ross Marshall should feature again as Stevenage bid to hit back...Full Story »

Nick Powell is set to return for Stoke when Michael O’Neill’s side host Hull in Saturday’s Championship clash.Midfielder Powell has recovered from a thigh problem and is in line for his first league start in a month.Joe Allen has shaken off a toe concern and should be available too.Josh Tymon is another option in midfield having also been deployed at full-back earlier this seas...Full Story »

Swindon defender Rob Hunt is expected to return for the Sky Bet League Two clash with Colchester at The County Ground.Hunt was a late withdrawal from the squad for the 1-1 draw with Northampton after his partner went into labour on the morning of the game.Head coach Ben Garner must decide whether to restore Ben Gladwin to the starting XI after he was demoted to the bench against the Cobblers.&ld...Full Story »

Scunthorpe will have defender Lewis Thompson back in contention for the Sky Bet League Two clash with Port Vale.Thompson missed last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Carlisle due to a dead leg.Captain Harry Davis (head) and forward Ryan Loft (facial) are edging closer to returns but may not be risked by Iron manager Neil Cox.Forward Harry Bunn (hamstring) and midfielder Alex Kenyon (thigh) remain o...Full Story »

Blackpool could be boosted by the return of Demetri Mitchell for their Sky Bet Championship clash with Barnsley.Mitchell made his first appearance of the season in Tuesday’s 3-0 Lancashire Senior Cup victory over Fleetwood after recovering from a knee injury.The 24-year-old former Manchester United player, an ever-present for the Seasiders last season, is now pushing hard for a first-team ...Full Story »

Shrewsbury will check on forward Rekeil Pyke ahead of the Sky Bet League One match with AFC Wimbledon.Pyke has returned to squad training after being away for 10 days following a positive test for Covid-19, but could lack match fitness.Manager Steve Cotterill reported no other fresh selection concerns following last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.Defender George Nurse and forwar...Full Story »

Sky Bet Championship leaders Bournemouth will head into the match against Luton still without midfielders Junior Stanislas and Lewis Cook, who are stepping up their recovery.Stanislas has been sidelined since the end of August, while Cook continues his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury – but both have been taking part in some training again.Cook has not featured since rupturing his...Full Story »

Wigan boss Leam Richardson is without star midfielder Thelo Aasgaard for his side’s League One clash with Cheltenham.Aasgaard was ruled out of the midweek Carabao Cup loss to Sunderland due to a knee injury which is set to keep him on the sidelines for four weeks.Richardson sought plenty of positives in the defeat to the Black Cats with deadline-day signings Jason Kerr and Curtis Tilt maki...Full Story »

Leyton Orient will check on Dan Happe ahead of the League Two clash with Mansfield.The defender was forced off during the second half of Orient’s 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers last weekend, with Shad Ogie coming on to replace him.Orient fielded an unchanged side against Rovers as they continued their strong start to the season.Paul Smyth (hamstring) and Adam Thompson (ankle) are both lon...Full Story »

Cambridge midfielder Wes Hoolahan has a 50/50 chance of featuring in the game against Fleetwood at the Abbey Stadium on Saturday.The 39-year-old missed last week’s 2-1 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park after picking a muscular chest injury the week before and is awaiting the results of a scan.Goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov is likely to take his place in between the sticks again after being res...Full Story »

Morecambe will assess Jonah Ayunga and Aaron Wildig before Saturday’s Sky Bet League One clash with rivals Accrington.Summer signing Ayunga has been back training for a week after sustaining a knee complaint in last month’s Carabao Cup win at Blackburn.Morecambe boss Stephen Robinson said the former Bristol Rovers player would be assessed on Friday, as will Wildig having been ill in ...Full Story »

Walsall will be without Liam Kinsella for the Sky Bet League Two match against Bristol Rovers as the midfielder is set for knee surgery.Kinsella limped off towards the end of the defeat at Newport last weekend, with scans showing the need for an operation, but he is not expected to be a long-term absentee.Joss Labadie continues to serve a three-match suspension following a red card against Bradf...Full Story »

Nigel Pearson is expected to name an unchanged line-up for his side’s Sky Bet Championship clash with high-flying Fulham.Pearson was delighted with City’s late win at QPR last weekend and once again is set to have a fully-fit squad at his disposal.Young midfielder Kasey Palmer is among those pressing for some first-team minutes after not featuring for over a month.Despite winning thr...Full Story »

Striker Conor Washington could be an injury doubt ahead of Charlton’s clash with Portsmouth.The forward sustained a kick to his ankle and was taken off just after half-time during the Addicks’ midweek game against Gillingham.Charlton manager Nigel Adkins may tinker with his starting line-up again after making seven changes to his side for the Gills game.The Addicks are still without ...Full Story »

Sutton could be without forward duo Omar Bugiel and Tobi Sho-Silva for the visit of Carlisle.Bugiel sat out last weekend’s defeat at Exeter due to a muscle injury and Sho-Silva was forced off early on with a similar issue.Both are not understood to be serious problems and they will be assessed by manager Matt Gray ahead of their latest fixture at Gander Green Lane.The U’s were withou...Full Story »

Sheffield United strikers Lys Mousset and David McGoldrick have returned to training ahead of the visit of Derby.Mousset has been absent since suffering a hamstring injury in the opening game of the season against Birmingham.McGoldrick has been sidelined since the end of August after sustaining a back injury.The Blades are monitoring the fitness of Sander Berge, Ben Davies, Luke Freeman and Oli ...Full Story »