Tom Bradshaw has been called into the Wales squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Georgia after Simon Church was ruled out by injury.
Barnsley striker Bradshaw has won one cap to date, as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 friendly defeat away to Ukraine in March.
The 24-year-old was part of Wales’s pre-Euro 2016 training camp but failed to make the 23-man squad for France.
Church last played for his Dutch club Roda JC in their 5-0 defeat to Feyenoord on September 25 and has failed to recover in time for tomorrow’s trip to Austria and the home game with Georgia on Sunday.
Hutton withdraws
Alan Hutton has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the World Cup double header against Lithuania and Slovakia.
The Scottish FA confirmed that the Aston Villa right-back was out of the squad.
Hutton played 90 minutes of Villa’s Championship defeat to Preston on Saturday, his first appearance since August 10.
The withdrawal leaves Callum Paterson as the only regular right-back in the squad.
The Hearts player started in Scotland’s opening qualifying win over Malta last month.
Martinez out of WCup qualifiers
Bayern Munich defender Javi Martinez will miss Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Albania due to an adductor injury he picked up in his club’s 1-1 draw with Cologne at the weekend.
The Spanish Football Federation announced the 28-year-old would not be reporting for international duty but it is not yet clear how long the versatile defender will be sidelined for.
Martinez has been an ever-present for Bayern this season, but has been ruled out for “the foreseeable future,” according to a statement on fcbayern.com.
Chief Watzke wants physical Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund’s general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke wants his side to get tougher as a response to the treatment he and coach Thomas Tuchel feels is being dished out on them.
Tuchel lamented Bayer Lever-kusen’s physical approach during his side’s 2-0 defeat on Saturday, saying that they, like Freiburg and Mainz in the past, had committed over 20 fouls on his players without being punished accordingly.
Watzke said perhaps the time has come for his side to fight fire with fire.
“Perhaps we should go into the tackles harder and forget about winning the fair play prize,” he said.
“The fact is, people play very aggressively against us and that has nothing to do with being bad losers.”
Godin set to return after ankle issue
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez is optimistic key defender Diego Godin will be fit for this week’s 2018 World Cup qualifier at home to struggling Venezuela after missing a club game at the weekend due to an ankle injury.
Godin missed his Spanish club Atletico Madrid’s fixture on Sunday because of a ligament issue in his left ankle, but the 30-year-old centre-back came through training unscathed in Monte-video yesterday.
“It wasn’t a high, demanding level in today’s session but he was on par with all his team-mates without feeling anything off,” Tabarez told reporters.
“That was good news considering his importance as a player, and as a team leader.”
Uruguay lead the 10-team South American qualifiers with 16 points from eight matches.
Celtic schoolboy gets U-20 team debut
Celtic have handed 13-year-old Karamoko Dembele his debut for their under-20 team.
The U-13s midfielder, whose family hail from Ivory Coast, came on in the 81st minute of Celtic’s 3-1 victory over Hearts in the SPFL Development League.
A report on the Celtic website read: “The diminutive playmaker didn’t look out of place and played his part in the closing stages.”
The schoolboy’s skill and talent had previously been flagged up to a wider audience in a series of online video clips.
Conte praises Moses impact as wing-back
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte hailed the tactical flexibility of Victor Moses in Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League victory at Hull City, saying the 25-year-old would fit the wing-back role.
Following last month’s defensive errors, Conte employed a new defensive formation at the KC Stadium, with wing-backs Moses and Marcos Alonso providing pace and width.
Moses, making his first start in the league this season, provided defensive solidity and was an attacking threat as well.
“Moses played an incredible game in defensive and offensive situations. It is fantastic because he is working hard. He deserved to play and he showed me that my choice was right,” Conte said.