ENGLAND TURN TO WATKINS AND JOHNSTONE FOR CUP QUALIFIERS
ASTON Villa striker Ollie Watkins and West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone have received their first senior England call-ups, while Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham has been called up despite concerns over his availability. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has named a 26man squad for this month’s World Cup qualification triple header against San Marino, Albania and Poland. Leeds striker Patrick Bamford had been widely tipped for a call-up, but Southgate has turned to Watkins, who has impressed since joining Villa from Brentford in the summer. Johnstone, who has shone for the Baggies this season, gets his maiden call-up following an injury to Jordan Pickford.
Trent Alexander-arnold is conspicuous by his absence from a squad that sees Luke Shaw, John Stones and Jesse Lingard return. Seventeen-year-old Bellingham’s inclusion is interesting given the Football Association had expected regional coronavirus travel restrictions in Germany to rule him out. Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho misses out through injury, while Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Tammy Abraham are not included having been dealing with issues of their own. Southgate said there had been some “close calls” when selecting his squad, including the decision to include Watkins over Bamford. “(Bamford was) very close,” Southgate said. “There’re a number of positions in this squad that have been really close calls and we felt we wanted an extra striker. “We’re really pleased with Harry (Kane) and (Dominic) Calvert-lewin and what they’ve done. Tammy Abraham hasn’t really been involved for Chelsea over the last four to six weeks. “And both Ollie and Patrick in particular, their goals record has been good. We like the personalities of both. Ollie is a player we’ve had less interaction with in the past. It’s going to be good to get to know him. “We like his pressing, the speed and the runs in behind. He’s got some improvement to make in linking the game, but in his first season in the Premier League at a big club, he’s done exceptionally well. “That’s been a close call because all the things I’ve said about Ollie I could have said for Patrick as well.”
CREWE have issued a club statement following the publication of the independent review into historical abuse in football...
“The club acknowledges the findings of Mr Sheldon QC that, notwithstanding the club may still not have got to the truth of any matters at that time, more could have been done to monitor the situation concerning Mr Bennell.
“The club is truly sorry if there were in fact any warning signs that ought to have led the club to do more. Had the club had any suspicion or belief that Mr Bennell was committing acts of abuse, either before, during or after he left the club’s employment, the club would have informed the police immediately.
“The club wishes to make it clear that it sincerely regrets and is disgusted by the terrible crimes committed by Mr Bennell upon many young footballers over a significant number of years. The despicable abuse was abhorrent and the club continues to have the deepest sympathy for the victims and survivors of Mr Bennell. “The club understands the additional hurt and trauma to the victims and survivors of Mr Bennell which has been caused by the fact that no-one at the club was aware of the offences being committed at the time. “The club wholeheartedly regrets and is sorry to every survivor of abuse that it was unaware of Bennell’s offending.
“The report of Clive Sheldon rightly acknowledges that for most of the period of Mr Bennell’s and others’ offending there was little or no guidance on child protection available to those working in sport or society in general. The club acknowledges that awareness of child protection matters and systems of safeguarding in football and in society have now improved considerably and safeguarding has become an integral part of the club’s everyday life.
“The club acknowledges that improvements to safeguarding can always be made and the club accepts the recommendations made by Clive Sheldon QC to ensure our safeguarding procedures remain robust. “The club also acknowledges the contributions made by all individuals to the report of Clive Sheldon QC and reiterates its deepest sympathy to all those victims and survivors of Mr Bennell.”
DARRELL Clarke has told his Port Vale players they can’t ease up as they try to move closer to Football League safety in tomorrow’s game at Colchester.
The Vale lifted themselves eight points clear of the League Two relegation zone with Tuesday’s 2-1 win at home to Newport, but Clarke wants the same intensity from his team for the remaining 10 games of the season.
Vale moved a place above Colchester, into 20th, with the midweek win and are chasing backto-back league victories for the first time since October. Clarke said his players deserve all the credit for their Newport performance… and now he wants more of the same.
He said: “We have to go and win our next game. We have to put back-to-back wins together. “There is a long way to go for the season to finish. We have 10 games, 30 points to play for, so there are going to be a lot of twists and turns.”
Clarke praised Theo Robinson for his efforts up front and has emphasised that all the players have a chance to impress him. During January, Robinson was left out of Vale’s 22-man squad to comply with the EFL cap on squad sizes. But he was restored in place of Dino Visser before the end-of-january deadline after the goalkeeper suffered an injury. Clarke, who took over the following month, said Robinson did an important job against Newport. He said: “I said to Theo, like I said to every player when I came in the door, they are going to get opportunities, so go and show me. I want to be fair with everybody. “With the injuries we have and the lack of fitness within the squad, players were obviously going to get opportunities. So be ready. “Mark Cullen is there on the bench, he is ready, everybody has to be ready to perform. Theo has run himself into the ground (against Newport) and long may that continue.”