Sunderland manager David Moyes will serve a one-match touchline ban at Bournemouth on Saturday after admitting a misconduct charge from the FA.
Moyes was sent off towards the end of Sunderland’s League Cup tie at Southampton after remonstrating at the decision by referee Chris Kavanagh not to award a penalty.
The Black Cats boss, whose side are bottom of the Premier League and without a win in 10 games, chose not to appeal against the charge, the standard penalty for which also includes an £8,000 fine.
Strachan welcomes Brown into squad
Scotland boss Gordon Strachan has welcomed Scott Brown’s decision to come out of international retirement after naming the Celtic skipper in his squad to face England in this month’s crunch World Cup qualifier.
Brown announced this week that he would again be available for Scotland, less than three months after declaring his international career was over.
Strachan said he had no hesitation in bringing the in-form 31-year-old back into his squad.
“Scott retired in August when he was in a different place to where he is now,” Strachan said.
“We respected that but Scott now feels he can help us in our quest to get to a major finals.”
Players to wear poppy armbands
England players will wear black armbands bearing poppies in the November 11 World Cup qualifier against Scotland, despite FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura’s insistence that no exceptions would be made by the world governing body.
The game’s laws state that players’ equipment should not carry any commercial, political or religious messages, and FIFA has stuck to its guns, with Samoura also warning Theresa May not to interfere after the Prime Minister labelled FIFA’s stance “utterly outrageous”.
But the FA last night issued a statement confirming its Armistice Day tribute.
England meet Scotland at Wembley on November 11, and Wales host Serbia in Cardiff the following evening.
Injury blow for Ings
Liverpool striker Danny Ings has been ruled out for the rest of the season with the second serious knee injury of his career.
The 24-year-old was injured in a collision during his team’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup last week and needs surgery on damaged cartilage in his right knee.
Ings, who was making his way back to fitness and had made two appearances of the bench for Liverpool this season, missed the majority of last season after damaging the anterior cruciate ligament in his other knee.
Hiddink linked with Inter job
Inter could keep faith with the Dutch school of management by hiring Guus Hiddink as Frank de Boer’s successor.
Reports in Italy have linked the former Holland, Real Madrid and Chelsea boss, who turns 70 next week, to the vacancy at San Siro which was created by the dismissal of De Boer on Tuesday.
While Inter’s Italian directors are understood to favour former Lazio coach Stefano Pioli, a report in La Gazzetta dello Sport said the club’s Chinese owners would prefer to hire a manager of international renown, noting how Hiddink’s advisor Kia Joorabchian has links to the Zhang family.
Cahill rested
Australia talisman Tim Cahill will be rested for the World Cup qualifier against Thailand to allow the veteran striker to fully recover from an Achilles complaint that ruled him out of domestic football last week.
Cahill’s omission was confirmed by coach Ange Poste-coglou, who trimmed the Socceroos squad from 30 to 23 for the match in Bangkok on November 15.
The 36-year-old, who missed Melbourne City’s 2-1 win over Adelaide on Friday, is expected to return to A-League action tomorrow against Brisbane Roar.
HK firm’s MOU to buy Hull City
A Hong Kong-listed firm said that a deal for Hull City was a “non-exclusive” agreement, suggesting there may be plenty of play left in a long-running takeover saga that has drawn in buyers from China and beyond.
GreaterChina Professional Services Ltd, an asset advisory and advertising services firm, said it had a non-exclusive memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the English club.
The owners of Hull in October declined to comment on the status of a £130 million takeover bid from the Hong Kong company, while a person with direct knowledge of the sale process said rival groups still had offers on the table.
The Hong Kong firm said last month it was leading a consortium to bid for Hull City as it aimed to expand and diversify its business and revenue stream.