Premier League champions Manchester City want to extend midfielder Frank Lampard’s loan deal from Major League Soccer club New York City beyond December, manager Manuel Pellegrini said.

Lampard, who joined New York after being released by Chelsea at the end of last season, is on loan at City until the end of the year and has scored four goals in 11 league appearances.

“I think Frank is a very important player for us and I hope we will not have any problems for him to stay here,” Pellegrini said.

“But I cannot say just from one side what will happen with him.

“He has a loan just until the end of December and there is another club involved.”

Barry targets festive feast of wins

Gareth Barry has targeted a run of good results over the festive period to get Everton back on track in the Premier League.

The Toffees have won only one of their last six league games.

Barry told Press Association Sport: “The Christmas period’s always important. What we need to do is try to put a run of games together.

“If you can win three or four in a row, you’re going to shoot right up the league.

“Unfortunately the Premier League’s been a bit up and down so far. It’s always difficult to put your finger on one reason but we’re working hard to put it right.”

Bazdarevic takes over as Bosnia coach

Bosnia have named former international midfielder Mehmed Bazdarevic as their new coach, the Balkan country’s football association (NFSBIH) said yesterday.

“After a detailed analysis and a constructive debate, Mehmed Bazdarevic was elected unanimously ahead of Milovan Rajevac, the other short-listed candidate,” the body said .

Bazdarevic, who played for the former Yugoslavia and coached French teams Grenoble and Sochaux, takes over from Safet Susic who was sacked last month after Bosnia collected two points from their opening four games in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Ronaldo hits double as Real win again

Cristiano Ronaldo hit a late double as La Liga leaders Real Madrid thumped Almeria 4-1 to extend their Spanish record for consecutive victories in all competitions to 20 on Friday night.

Ronaldo struck twice in the last 10 minutes to take his league tally to 25 after first-half goals from Isco and Gareth Bale had seen the visitors go in 2-1 ahead at half-time.

The Portugal winger had been left frustrated for most of the night but he burst into life late on when he knocked in a Karim Benzema cut-back from close range before putting away an Isco pass from the centre of the penalty area to wrap up the victory.

Real lead the standings with 39 points from 15 games.

Rodgers: I’m the right man to lead Pool

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists he is the right man for the job amid mounting pressure after a poor start to the season and a visit to in-form arch-rivals Manchester United this afternoon.

“I think the message from me is clear. I don’t think there would be anyone better to do the job here,” Rodgers told reporters.

“Seven months ago we nearly won the title unexpectedly, I had time to work with players and we took them beyond where the club has been in a long time.

“This has been a difficult start with new players, less coaching time, young players; we are virtually starting again.”

Premier League gets Friday feeling

Premier League matches will be screened live on Friday nights from the start of 2016/17 season as the top-flight aims for another bumper TV payday.

Up to 10 games will be shown live on Friday evenings under the terms of the new broadcasting rights.

The Premier League has issued invitations to tender (ITT) for the broadcast rights for three seasons starting in August 2016 with 168 live matches available in total – 14 more than are currently shown, which means that 44 per cent of all Premier League games will be available live.

There will be seven packages available, as under the current system, but it is understood the Monday night package will include up to 10 games to be played on Friday night.

Hyypia’s Brighton future uncertain

Sami Hyypia’s future at Brighton is uncertain after a 1-0 defeat by fellow strugglers Millwall.

A section of the home fans called for the former Liverpool defender to be sacked after Lee Gregory’s goal condemned Albion to a third straight defeat and left them floundering in the relegation zone.

And afterwards Hyypia admitted he is unsure whether he is willing to fight on as Seagulls boss.

“At the moment, straight after the game, I feel very frustrated,” he said. “To answer that question I need some time. Usually I’m not a quitter, I’m a fighter.

“I can understand the fans’ reaction, I don’t expect to be patted on the shoulder and told ‘well done’ with how things are going.”

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.