Notts County: Notts County have named Sven-Goran Eriksson's former assistant Hans Backe as manager. The 57-year-old Swede, who was no.2 to County's director of football Eriksson with the Mexican national team and Manchester City, has signed a three-year deal.
Aguero: Chelsea have been told they will have to pay a huge fee if they want Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero. Atletico delegate general Miguel Angel Gil Marin claims Chelsea made a summer offer of around £41m for the Argentine. He said: "If they want to make a better offer, Atletico will assess it."
Ribery: Bayern Munich's club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt has confirmed Franck Ribery is making good progress in his recovery from a persistent knee problem. "Franck is doing a lot better," he said. "We will follow his progress for a month and then re-evaluate. We cannot definitely exclude an operation. It is foreseeable for him to return before the end of the year," he said.
Arsenal: Midfielder Samir Nasri and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski could make their first appearances of the season following injury in Arsenal's League Cup fourth-round tie against Liverpool today. Manager Arsene Wenger is expected to again send out a mixture of experience and youth, with Philippe Senderos and veteran Mikael Silvestre likely to start in defence.
North Korea: North Korea will host a World Cup warm-up match against Brazilian club Atletico Sorocaba next month. Atletico Sorocaba, who play in Sao Paulo state's league, will travel to the reclusive communist state for the match on November 5 at Pyongyang's May Day stadium.
Golf: US PGA champion Yang Yong-eun, Asia's first men's major winner, will make an emotional return to his birthplace when he competes in the 2010 Ballantine's Championship in South Korea. "Not only am I looking forward to playing, it will also be a chance for me to thank the Korean fans who have given me such incredible support during my career," Yang said. The April 22-25 event is sanctioned by the European and Asian tours and the Korea PGA.
Motor racing: Japan's Kamui Kobayashi will race for Toyota in this weekend's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Timo Glock was again ruled out by injury. Kobayashi, 23, made his race debut in Brazil earlier this month when he finished ninth as a stand-in for German driver Glock, who suffered a cracked vertebra in Japanese Grand Prix qualifying. "We feel genuinely sorry for Timo that his season is ending in this way," said Toyota motorsport president John Howett in a statement.
Rugby Union: France centre Mathieu Bastareaud, 21, apologised for lying about being assaulted after a defeat in New Zealand in June. "I want to offer my apologies to the French federation, the New Zealand federation, the staff and all the players of the French team," he said. "The right version of the incident is that I came back late to the hotel in a rather disreputable state and I fell." The Stade Francais player explained he was drunk and hit a bedside table.
Tennis: Venus Williams wilted in Qatar's desert heat yesterday as feisty Russian Elena Dementieva staged a remarkable WTA Championships comeback to defeat the title-holder 6-3 6-7 6-2. Williams had led 6-3 3-1 before Dementieva recovered to record only her third win in 12 meetings with the great American, and first since 2004. Earlier, Belarussian Victoria Azarenka marked her tournament debut with a 6-2 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic. Other result: Serena Williams bt Kuznetsova 7-6 7-5.