• Racist abuse set to be deemed as gross misconduct
• Premier League and Football League backing expected

Racist abuse will become a sackable offence for professional footballers next season, as part of significant changes being made to every Premier League and Football League player's contract.

Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, is behind the proposal that he hopes will send out a powerful message on the back of a season when racism on the pitch made an unwelcome return to English football.

Taylor told the Guardian that he believes the change in the standard players' contract will highlight how seriously the PFA views racism, and remove any ambiguity about the possible consequences for anyone found guilty of the offence. Racist abuse will now be deemed as gross misconduct and, although the decision of whether to terminate a contract will ultimately rest with the player's employers, Taylor pointed out that any club failing to act "could be held responsible for condoning [racism]".

The PFA will present the proposal to the Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee, which includes the Premier League and the Football League, and Taylor is confident that it will be approved. "We're just about to bring it to the PFNCC, the body by which we bring the issues to the Premier League and Football League, and I don't see a problem with that being introduced," he said.

"It just highlights the point in the standard players' contract. It would say that racist abuse, if found guilty, will be classed as gross misconduct and a reason to terminate a contract. I feel it's important to highlight it, bearing in mind what has happened, and not mess about with it and not afford for anybody to be ambiguous about what the consequences are.

"I'm not saying it's ambiguous [now]. But just to really put it in there means there is no misunderstanding on how serious we take it. If any player is found guilty of racist abuse, the club and the player need to be aware that could be a solid reason for terminating the contract."

Racist abuse on the pitch has become an emotive issue on the back of two high-profile incidents last season. Liverpool's Luis Suárez was given an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra at Anfield in October while the Chelsea captain, John Terry, will appear at Westminster magistrates' court on 9 July after he was charged with a "racially aggravated public order offence" following an altercation with Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road, also in October. Terry denies the charge.

Although the PFA has worked hard to campaign against racism in football, Taylor acknowledges that this season has, in some respects, been a "reality check". He remains concerned that black players will "think twice" about lodging an official complaint because of "such intimidation with social networks" and because "there is so much abuse flying about", and for that reason feels it is vital the "football world" supports those who come forward. Taylor also revealed that he has been on the receiving end of "terrible abuse" for speaking out against racism.

As well as the change to players' contracts that will carry the threat of more severe punishments, Taylor accepts that there is a need to "re-address the education process, rather than just think about sanctions".

He explained that the PFA, working in tandem with the League Managers Association, are planning to bring in a new education programme that would lead to managers, all British and overseas players, and even directors and owners receiving training and advice in relation to racism and discrimination in football.

"Rather than just concentrate on the young apprentices as part of their curriculum, we want to introduce it to all senior players, and also that when players come in from abroad, to try and have an educational process for them and the owners of the club and management," said Taylor. "It will be part of the duty of [player liaison officers] introducing any player coming in from abroad to go through a list of things, particularly in the player's contract, where you see about racist abuse, code of conduct and what is expected in this country on racism and equality issues."

• Spaniard to meet Anfield owners, says Wigan chairman
• Wigan manager 'interrupted Carribean holiday' for talks

John W Henry and Tom Werner, Liverpool's principal owner and chairman respectively, have held talks with Roberto Martínez about the manager's job at Anfield and will travel to England next week to try to conclude the search for a successor to Kenny Dalglish.

The Wigan Athletic manager interrupted a holiday in the Caribbean to meet the Liverpool hierarchy in Miami on Thursday. Martínez is the first candidate on Liverpool's shortlist to undergo a formal interview with Henry and Werner but will not be the last, with the owners intending to speak to several managers in England next week.

Details of the Miami meeting were revealed by Wigan's chairman, Dave Whelan, who had set Martínez a deadline to decide on his future amid further interest from Aston Villa and also indicated the extent of the managerial change Fenway Sports Group envisages for Liverpool. Whelan claimed the next Liverpool manager will not be responsible for signings as FSG looks to install a director of football-type figure, expected to be Louis van Gaal, and limit the new man's influence to the football pitch.

Whelan said on Thursday: "I got a phone call this morning and Roberto was on his way to America. He's flown to Miami and is meeting Liverpool now, as we speak. I didn't ask him what he has decided to do but I told him I wanted it sorted out sooner rather than later. If it's yes to Liverpool, I will accept it and get on with life. But if it's no, I'll be delighted."

Martínez also remains on Villa's shortlist despite rejecting the Midlands club last summer and Whelan, who said he would demand at least £2m-3m compensation for his manager, added: "I would love him to stay, I hope he will stay but I told him I need an answer in the next seven days."

Liverpool held informal talks with Martínez last weekend and still wish to speak to the Swansea City manager, Brendan Rodgers, who declined their offer of an interview last Friday due to reservations over the wide-ranging search being conducted by FSG and the potential ramifications at the Liberty Stadium. It is believed Rodgers would be interested if it was clear he was on a shortlist for the Liverpool job, and that is the case.

FSG has also made progress with Van Gaal, the former Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar and Bayern Munich coach, who it believes can head the new management structure intended for Anfield. The 60-year-old is FSG's choice to replace the former director of football Damien Comolli, albeit under a different title and with different responsibilities.

The position is Van Gaal's to accept or decline. The Dutchman, who has also been linked with a coaching role at Lazio, is keen on a move to Merseyside and he may yet ask to be considered for the managerial vacancy at Liverpool.

Van Gaal would want greater control as a sporting director than Comolli ever had at Anfield and, in Whelan's view, FSG is prepared to grant it.

The Wigan chairman said: "My information is that the new Liverpool manager will not be given full responsibility of the football department. There will be somebody else signing players, and they might not necessarily be the choice of the manager.

"My advice to Roberto is to think very carefully about this, but Liverpool are a big club and I hope that they remain one of the big clubs. But I have to say from what I am hearing the new Liverpool set-up on the football side goes well beyond the norm even with a director of football."

Liverpool have confirmed Billy Hogan, formerly the managing director of Fenway Sports Management, as the club's new chief commercial officer and Jen Chang as their new corporate relations and communications director. Chang was previously the senior editor for football-related content at Sports Illustrated in New York and will take up his position on 11 June.

• Liverpool striker impresses during England training
• Daniel Welbeck remains a doubt for Euro 2012

If there is one thing we can take as a certainty, it is that Andy Carroll will find the centre-backs in Euro 2012 less obliging than the one lining up against him when England's players had their latest crash course in Roy Hodgson's style of management.

Gary Neville's last match for Manchester United was at West Bromwich Albion on New Year's Day 2011 and it ended with him locking himself in the toilet at half-time, in the frazzled state of mind that comes from "making Jerome Thomas look like Cristiano Ronaldo". In which case it was probably no surprise the latest member of Hodgson's coaching staff could be seen blowing out his cheeks and struggling for breath as he tried to keep control of a player who increasingly looks like he will lead England's attack while Wayne Rooney is suspended. "He [Neville] looked tired before we even started," Joleon Lescott volunteered at the end of a training match in which Carroll was the stand-out performer.

These were revealing moments by the side of Manchester City's pitch, if only for the frequency with which Hodgson halted play to pass on instructions. "Very hands-on," James Milner observed afterwards. Vocal, too. "You don't have to use short passes," the new England manager could be heard shouting at one point. "Not if you want to use your big man up front." Carroll put the ball past Joe Hart and Hodgson nodded his head appreciatively. "Well done, son."

By that stage Daniel Welbeck had already cried off because of an ankle injury that is threatening his involvement in the competition. Glen Johnson, nursing an infected toe, had also gone in for treatment and is doubtful for Saturday's friendly against Norway. Neville had pulled on his boots because, to put it bluntly, England did not have any spare defenders.

All of which meant that the back four Hodgson put together on one side – from right to left, Phil Jones, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott and Leighton Baines – could easily be the defensive quartet that plays in Oslo. Behind them, West Ham United's Rob Green started before giving way to Hart and it may well be that Hodgson gives both goalkeepers time on the pitch. Green has not played for England since his mistake against the USA in the last World Cup and there are clear benefits of easing him back into the system in a friendly.

Hodgson's first-choice practice team, in a 10‑a‑side match, featured a midfield of Theo Walcott, Scott Parker, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Young, with Carroll playing on his own in attack. Welbeck looked forlorn as he made his way to the tunnel, having been restricted to some light exercises, and will have to prove his fitness to Hodgson next week if he is not to be replaced by Daniel Sturridge from the standby list. Even if Welbeck makes it, the indications are that Carroll is now in prime position to replace Rooney for the first two games against France and Sweden. Introduce Gareth Barry as a holding player alongside Parker, then move Gerrard forward into the position just behind Carroll, and this could feasibly be the first side of the Hodgson era, in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

It was probably inevitable in the circumstances that there was the sense of a team starting from scratch, at just about the same time the other Euro 2012 nations are putting the final touches to their own preparations. The Chelsea players do not report until Tuesday and it is perplexing that John Terry should be given time to recover from the Champions League final when he did not even play. Hodgson's first two training sessions have been largely based on the team's defensive cohesion, yet Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole are also missing and Johnson unable to take part. In other words, not one member of the back four who plays this weekend might be in Hodgson's team for the France game in Donetsk, now only two and a half weeks away.

On the plus side, Hodgson will be relieved just to start implementing his ideas. "He gets his point across, but he is calm with it," Lescott said. "He explains to you what he wants from the team and individuals and there are no grey areas."

Hodgson also used the opportunity to experiment with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in his favoured central midfield role. Mostly, though, he worked on the team's structure, getting things tight. "We are going to be very organised defensively," Milner said. "We have talked a lot in training about how the midfielders and defenders are expected to keep their shape. Then it's a case of using the ability we have going forward. We have good players who can get on the ball and express themselves."

Carroll certainly looks sharp and confident, even if there are obvious concerns about his lack of goals in Liverpool's colours. Too much can be read into a training session – particularly one when his opponent is 37 and in retirement – but there are signs of encouragement when it comes to the £35m striker. He did, to give him his due, end the season impressively and he has made an impression with his England team-mates. "It's nice to see him getting the media coverage and praise he deserves over the last few weeks," Lescott said. "He's had a good finish to the season and been called into the squad for a major tournament. So you'd think this is the best he's felt about himself for a while."

Look closely and you could also see Neville coaching Carroll, particularly in terms of his positioning. Carroll evaded him to put the ball beyond Hart again and there was the clear sense, with Welbeck back in the dressing room and Rooney nowhere to be seen, that England will go into the tournament with the Liverpool man suddenly promoted to the role of first-choice striker.

• British driver may sign five-year contract worth £100m
• Hamilton could pass Alonso with salary and bonuses

McLaren want Lewis Hamilton to sign a new five-year contract worth £100m, which could see him emerge as the best‑paid driver in Formula One. Hamilton's existing five-year deal, worth an estimated £75m – or £15m a year – expires in December.

It is understood that the Woking-based team want to tie him up until he is 33 – for what, in effect, could be the rest of his driving career. That would mean that Hamilton, who went within a point of winning the world championship in his brilliant rookie season of 2007 and took the title the following year, would be a one-team man. He has already spent more than half his life with McLaren, signed by the former team principal Ron Dennis as a boy prodigy when he was only 13.

The best-paid driver in Formula One is believed to be Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, on €30m (£24m) a year. But, at almost 31, the Spaniard is four years older than Hamilton, his great rival at McLaren in 2007, and the younger man could jump ahead on the back of bonuses and off-track earnings.

A basic salary of £20m a year would make Hamilton the most highly paid British sportsman in the world before endorsements are factored in.

No formal talks have taken place yet between McLaren, Hamilton and the driver's agents, XIX Entertainment, fronted by Simon Fuller. But it is believed that McLaren, who have never made any secret of the fact they want to retain the services of the sport's biggest box office attraction, are ready to make their move.

When they do so it will end speculation that Hamilton could be set for a move to Mercedes, where he is greatly admired and where Michael Schumacher, at 43, is coming to the end of a rather protracted and recently disappointing career.

Ferrari, who are ready to dispense with the services of the underperforming Felipe Massa at the end of the season – or perhaps before – have also been strongly linked with Hamilton. But Red Bull, who have dominated the sport for the past two seasons and to where a frustrated Hamilton infamously turned in Canada last year to sound out the prospects of alternative employment, are thought not to be interested in signing the gifted but volatile driver.

Hamilton, as even McLaren would ruefully confirm, can be a handful. Last year, when Jenson Button became his first McLaren team-mate to outperform him over a season, Hamilton was distracted by personal issues. He was constantly crashing into other drivers on the track and arguing with stewards off it. And it all started to go wrong for him here, in Monaco, his new home from earlier this year.

In the Monaco Grand Prix last year Hamilton was twice penalised and ranted afterwards: "It's an absolute frickin' joke. I've been to see the stewards five times out of six [races] this season." He then invoked Ali G's catchphrase when he said: "Maybe it's because I'm black."

This year, however, McLaren have been greatly impressed by a new-found maturity in their star driver. Hamilton has been the most impressive performer this season, winning three pole positions in the first five races. But, frustrated by wretched luck and pit‑lane mistakes, he is still looking for his first win. In the last race, in Barcelona, he again drove heroically in qualifying to win pole, only to be banished to the back of the grid because his fuel levels had fallen too low.

He still produced another outstanding drive to move himself from 24th to eighth, despite yet another wheel-change fumble. Afterwards, Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, said of his prize asset: "I have to say Lewis had some greatness I had not seen before. By the end of our chat he was consoling me. To say I was disappointed is a modest expression of what I felt.

"He was saying we win and lose as a team. His was a great, great driver this weekend. To be a great driver like [Juan Manuel] Fangio you need greatness in handling setbacks, challenges off the track and he has excelled in that. My affection and admiration for him have been enhanced by events this weekend. It would be wrong to discuss negotiations publicly. But the relationship with Lewis and team is stronger and better and hopefully we will work together for a long time."

Hamilton himself is aware of his new maturity. He said here on Wednesday: "I don't want to speak too early but something has definitely changed this year. Things are a lot better. Just in life. That's enabling me to get on with my job without having any baggage. I don't have any baggage this year."

• Toni Minichiello hits out at Olympic buildup 'distractions'
• Coach says 'high-ranking' official criticised Ennis' weight

Jessica Ennis's coach has hit out at what he termed "distractions" from senior figures from within UK Athletics in the buildup to the Olympics.

Toni Minichiello, 45, who has coached the 2012 poster girl since the heptathlete was 11 years old, revealed that a "high‑ranking person" – he would not say exactly who – had suggested "that she's fat and she's got too much weight".

Minichiello dismissed the criticism, and added that both Ennis's weight and body fat percentage had remained constant in recent times. He said that his role, as part of "Team Jennis", was to create "a bubble of common sense around her", helping to deflect the distractions of an Olympic year.

"The things you can't deal with are what we've dubbed 'silver bullets'," he said. "And other people. You can't deal with the expectations and pressures that are on other people, like the BOA's [British Olympic Association] team management."

The former civil servant, who, like Ennis, hails from Sheffield, said that "people in fairly high positions, who should know better" were guilty of adding to a slew of unwanted distractions, although he admitted that the people in question were "trying to be helpful".

"I get emails, phone calls, text messages and voicemails giving me advice on what I should be doing with Jessica Ennis that's going to make a difference. It's a lot of background noise that you can get easily distracted by," he said.

"I always read it and have a look and think maybe there is something there. Yes, it might be a great idea, but it's not a great idea for today, it's a great idea for next year. I've never had any issue with her weight or shape. There are times I've wished she was taller, but that's it."

After Ennis' preparations were torpedoed by a stress fracture of her right ankle in the weeks before the Beijing Games four years ago, London will be the stage for her Olympic debut. Despite extensive experience of international competition, including gold medals at the European Championships, World Championships and World Indoor Championships, Minichiello expects the biggest sporting event in the world to present new challenges for Ennis, especially in light of her newfound celebrity status.

"The difference is that she's now a 'personality'," said Minichiello. "If she walks into the dining room, people will go 'Ooh, that's Jessica Ennis from athletics.'

"Equally, she'd turn round and go 'Wow, that's David Beckham on the Great Britain football team.' So there's lots of distractions."

Minichiello also admitted to being less than enamoured with the BOA's move (expected, but not yet formally announced) to insist that all members of Team GB sign up to a code of conduct ahead of the Games. "What's a big deal to Clive Woodward at the minute is the athletes' agreement," he said, clearly unimpressed.

Asked whether he thought Woodward, a former coach of the England rugby team, had opted for a pre-emptive strike to avert the kind of furore that engulfed the national side at the Rugby World Cup last year, Minichiello stressed a distinction between team and individual sport. "The Olympics, for Jess, is an individual environment and she knows how to behave to get the best out of herself.

"You know what? Jessica doesn't have a problem with behaviour," he said. "We don't have an issue there, we're not going to get embroiled in bad stuff. She signs the flag, we just get on. It's an aesthetic." But, he added: "I may get into trouble for [saying] that."

After her best season-opening performance in the javelin (her weakest event) and an excellent hurdling display at the Manchester Great CityGames (notwithstanding the organisational error that saw the athletes clear only nine barriers, rather than the regulation 10), Ennis's season has so far given cause for quiet optimism. However, the buildup to London begins in earnest this weekend.

A full heptathlon in the Austrian town of Götzis will give the 5ft 4in Ennis a chance to measure herself against the women who have beaten her into second place at the past two major global championships. Both Nataliya Dobrynska, the 6ft Ukrainian world indoor champion, and Tatyana Chernova, the 6ft 2in Russian who claimed gold at the world championships last year, are expected to be in attendance.

While these towering Eastern Europeans will be billed as Ennis's main rivals this weekend, Minichiello is adamant that there are six athletes, Ennis included, who are capable of reaching the top of the Olympic podium.

Minichiello said that, across the two days of Olympic competition on 3-4 August, he and Ennis would target a score that equates to 98% of her personal best scores in each individual event. That would be 6,896 points – a slim improvement on her current overall personal best of 6,823.

Minichiello stressed that all Ennis could do was to put herself in contention for the gold medal. And he remained sanguine about the possibility of a competitor firing one of those "silver bullets".

"If somebody comes along and blows that out of the water and scores 7,000, then so be it," he said.

UK Athletics declined to comment on Thursday night.

• England head into Trent Bridge 1-0 up in three-match series
• 'Often it's hard work to nail that final nail in coffin'

Andrew Strauss is determined not to let England rest on their laurels as they seek an unassailable series lead when they face West Indies in the second Test.

England head into Friday's opening day at Trent Bridge leading the three-match series 1-0 thanks to their five-wicket victory at Lord's.

The world's top Test side looked on top for large parts of that match, but it was not straightforward against a touring side who had some fine individual performances from the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels and Kemar Roach, and Strauss is preparing his side for another tough battle in Nottingham.

"It was very hard work (at Lord's), that's always the case with Test match cricket," the captain told Sky Sports News. "Often it's hard work to get on top of the opposition and often it's hard work to nail that final nail in coffin.

"The West Indies put up a really good fight, there's times when they made life difficult for us and we were relieved to a certain extent to get over the line and win that game, but we're also aware we have to do it again this week if we want to win.

"It's all about just keeping our feet on the ground and making sure that we're willing to do the hard graft necessary to get on top again."

Alastair Cook and Ian Bell guided England to victory at Lord's with a fifth-wicket stand of 132 after the hosts had slipped to 57 for four in pursuit of a winning target of 191.

Strauss believes that successful run chase will stand his side in good stead for the future and is also pleased most of his players were able to make significant contributions in the victory.

"That target was tricky and there was a time when we were under a bit of pressure and Alastair Cook and Ian Bell dealt with that very well, and that's very important," he said.

"It's obviously always important to win in those circumstances and it gives you more confidence going into the next time you face a situation like that. There were some really good performances from our side.

"Obviously Stuart Broad bowled exceptionally well, most of the batters got a score in the game, so I think we're feeling in pretty good form heading into this match.

"But as I said before, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, it's going to be very hard work this week, and matches here are always hard fought."

Strauss scored his first Test century in 18 months with his 122 in the first Test, but he knows he cannot rest on that success.

He said: "As I said at the time it was a bit of a monkey off my back because people kept talking about it. But I'm obviously more conscious than ever that I need to contribute consistently, it's not just about getting one score, it's doing it again and I'll be aiming to do that this week."

On the possibility of changing a winning lineup, Strauss said: "You always pick the side you think is most likely to win you the Test match. We'll look at conditions in morning and select the side accordingly."

While England will decide on any changes on Friday, the West Indies captain Darren Sammy is pondering bringing in his specialist spinner Shane Shillingford.

Sammy said: "Most definitely, we'll consider playing Shillingford. Looking at our attack, playing on flat pitches over the last year or so, a spinner has always been in our lineup, and we've gone with the two quick men and myself, and that has been successful for us.

"So we'll definitely consider that and hopefully we can go out there and take 20 wickets against England."

West Indies could also be boosted by the return of the fast bowler Ravi Rampaul after he missed the first Test because of a neck problem.

Sammy added: "Last year and half Ravi has been the guy who always takes wickets with the new ball for us. The way Roach is bowling and the inclusion of Ravi, that could be a very good combination."

• World No1 admits frustration at PGA Championship
• Graeme McDowell's first round hit by 'bizarre' ruling

So much for the luck of the Irish on an opening day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth which saw Rory McIlroy fall victim to golf's lurking demons and Graeme McDowell lose out to golf's befuddling rules.

The world No1 was already 11 holes into a bad day at the office when he hit his second shot at the par-five 12th hole just a few inches out-of-bounds. The cost was a two-shot penalty and a bogey six but it was the club-throwing reaction that caught the attention. When it comes to being mild-mannered, McIlroy usually makes Clark Kent look Joey Barton. Not this time. "Yep," he said afterwards when asked if he had been overwhelmed by frustration. "I was trying to cut [the shot] in, trying to hold it up against the wind and double-crossed it. I ended up out-of-bounds by about an inch."

No wonder he was frustrated. It is never nice to sign for a two-over‑par 74 but when you do so 24 hours after declaring yourself the best player in the world, as McIlroy did on Wednesday, it is just plain embarrassing. "I struggled to get the pace of the greens today. A bit of deja vu from last year, when I got off to a good start but made a few bogeys around the turn and couldn't get the momentum back," he said afterwards.

Speaking of deja vu, it is only a couple of weeks since the world No1 missed the cut at the Players Championship in Florida. He will arrive on the 1st tee of the West Course on Friday afternoon eight shots behind the tournament leaders David Drysdale and Peter Lawrie, and languishing in 106th place and facing the prospect of another shortened week. Time to stop chucking clubs and start swinging them with the honey-sweetness that has made him the sport's newest superstar.

McIlroy's Northern Irish compadre McDowell will begin his second round from a similarly disadvantaged position, albeit that his first‑round 74 owed more than a little to the daftness of the rules. Like McIlroy, the former US Open champion was going along nicely until the par-five 18th, where he made an over-ambitious attempt to cut his ball around the dog-leg corner and ended up in the bushes. It was a poor shot by any measure, but worse was to follow when he clambered into the undergrowth to double check the ball he found was in fact his. It was lying on a bed of leaves and roots when he got a sense he had inadvertently moved it.

"As I tried to get in there and have a look at the ball I could see it was hovering in some branches. As soon as I did I felt that the ball had perhaps oscillated," McDowell explained. He immediately asked for television footage to be reviewed while he finished out the hole with a bogey six.

Worse news was to follow after TV footage showed he had moved his ball by a minuscule distance, an inadvertent error that catapulted him into the Alice in Wonderland world of the rules as he was landed with a two‑shot penalty – one for moving his ball, and one for not replacing it before hitting it again. All for the crime of trying to make sure the ball was his.

Follow that? If not, then perhaps Ernie Els put the whole thing in context. "There's obviously a lot of gin-swigging up there," he said with a grin – a reference, presumably, to the R&A headquarters in St Andrews, where the Rules of Golf are conceived with commendable respect for sportsmanship and very little respect for logic and common sense.

"It seems a bit harsh," said Lee Westwood, who was playing alongside McDowell. "But no one ever said that the rules of golf are straightforward or logical. It's all bizarre to me. I have never even heard of it before – it is a completely new one to me, so I have a lot of sympathy. At the end of the day, don't hit it in there."

Sound advice from Westwood, one of the sport's straightest hitters and a man who seldom finds himself in the undergrowth. His problems usually come on and around the greens, although on Thursday he holed six birdie putts en route to a two-under‑par 70. "That was a great 70. I didn't have a lot of game with me today but I made some nice up-and-downs when I needed to," he said afterwards.

Westwood's satisfaction was echoed by Luke Donald, who turned in another smooth performance on his way to a four‑under‑par 68. Do not be surprised if the final round on Sunday is a repeat of the denouement last year. The two Englishmen could contest this tournament all the way to a play-off.

• Doctor confirms diagnosis made by Irish medical staff
• Boost for Giovanni Trapattoni before Euro 2012

Shay Given, the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, has been given the green light to resume training next week after visiting a knee specialist in London.

The 36-year-old flew back to Dublin on Thursday afternoon after a trip to England to consult a doctor who has treated him in the past. Given's specialist confirmed the initial diagnosis made by the Irish medical staff and approved their management of the injury.

A spokesman for the Football Association of Ireland said: "Shay Given is on his way back from visiting his specialist in London. The specialist has been in contact with the Irish medical team and agrees with their diagnosis and recovery management plan. Shay is expected to return to full training on Wednesday."

The development will come as a boost to the Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, who has found himself dealing with a lengthening injury list. Trapattoni did not expressly rule Given out of Saturday's friendly against Bosnia at the Aviva Stadium, but he indicated he would not risk one of his key men unnecessarily even if he wanted to play.

Trapattoni said: "I think he wishes to, but if he wishes and he has a problem... Our Euros begins in Poland, not at the Aviva or in Hungary."

Given's place is likely to be taken by Sunderland's Keiren Westwood, who has eight senior caps to his name.

The total lack of expectation can work in England's favour in Poland and Ukraine this summer. They will arrive as the most overcooked underdogs in sporting history

Football is a game whose followers believe in portents. "And no side have won a European Championship finals match on a Wednesday with a team made up of players whose surnames contain fewer than 62 vowels," the commentator will offer. "And the Croatians here, Danny Mills, can muster just 48 between them. And you have to ask yourself if that will be significant."

This is nowhere truer than when it comes to following England. Every event is sifted through for good omens. You can guarantee that at some point in the next fortnight somebody will offer: "Now, the city of Donetsk was founded by a Welshman named John Hughes. And the England goalkeeper Joe Hart was given his big break in the Premier League by another Welshman named Hughes. Mark Hughes! And what could that mean for England's chances, I wonder?" And they'll have a chuckle in their voice to imply they aren't actuallyserious. But you know deep down they are.

A few moments after the merciful conclusion of Fabio Capello's team's opening game at the 2010 World Cup – a performance so formless and dull that getting angry seemed an inappropriate response, like shaking your fist at custard – a friend called in a state of mild elation. While I had been struggling to break my hands free from the grip they had taken on the arms of the chair, my friend had been busy chiselling out uplifting facets in a manner not seen since the days when Steve McClaren was dynamiting positives from the apparently desolate surface of Middlesbrough's 7-0 defeat to Arsenal.

"This has got to be good for us in the long run," he tweeted dementedly. "I mean, we can't play that badly again, can we?"

His attitude illustrated the madness inherent in supporting the England football team. There is a seed of it in all of us. And while I laughed derisively at my friend's comment, somewhere inside it began to germinate, warmed by the sunny recollection of a similarly desperate game in Mexico 26 years earlier, when Ray Wilkins had been sent off for throwing the ball at the referee (arguably the only aggressive action with a ball in his entire international career), watered by remembrance of Gary Lineker's hat-trick in the next game against Poland, nurtured by the knowledge that in the chaotic universe of football even something as seemingly insignificant as the introduction of Steve Hodge into the starting 11 can result in a tidal wave of national rejoicing.

Luckily the game against Algeria – a yawning chasm of stultifying incoherence the like of which I have not experienced since my last double physics lesson in 1976 – sprayed Agent Orange all over it, saving me considerable psychological pain in the knockout stage.

And now here we are again. "The total lack of expectation is going to work in our favour, big time," is the opinion that has been thunderously gathering momentum in the national football Twittersphere since the announcement of Roy Hodgson's European Championship squad last week. Yes, it appears that England's biggest chance is having no chance at all.

This means that in the coming weeks Hodgson's key task is to keep an eraser handy so that he can maintain England's written-off status whenever somebody tries to use it as a reason to write us back in again. It will be a difficult job even for the venerable Roy, a man appointed, one suspects, largely for his ability to hurl a wet blanket over the sizzling barbecue briquettes of hype, which would likely have burned the shed down if Harry "He understands the mentality of the English footballer" Redknapp had been put in charge. Because when England play even normally sensible people such as David Pleat suffer temporary insanity blathering – as he did six years ago – that "I believe Steven Gerrard can be England's Churchill".

Ignoring the fact that England already has a Churchill – Churchill – this statement conjured pleasant images of the Liverpool dynamo wearing a bow-tie, sucking on a cigar and sitting in the hole behind a lone striker writing A History of the English Speaking People, but otherwise made altogether limited sense except as a signifier of the fathomless madness.

Hodgson has acted with obvious shrewdness in bringing in Gary Neville as his assistant. The former Manchester United man seems unlikely to excite anybody – except Liverpool fans, obviously.

As a right-back his trundling no-frills manner was neatly summed up in 2002 by the then BBC pundit Graeme Le Saux who informed us that "Gary is the sort of player you only really appreciate when he is not there". Strangely enough, this is also true of Le Saux's commentary.

Hodgson and Neville have their work cut out. Because the current fear in the England camp is that if national belief in the advantages of an absence of burgeoning presumption starts to accelerate, while faith in the abilities of a team unburdened by the "fear factor" rises (for in football there is no factor to fear, but the fear factor itself), and excitement over just going out there and playing our natural game on the off chance that with a bit of luck and a following wind we can maybe put a smile back on the face of the Three Lions spirals upwards out of control, England will arrive in Poland and Ukraine as the most overcooked underdogs in sporting history.

Although that could just work in our favour, if you think about it.

As the relay enters Wales, Eddie Butler recalls the Olympic triumph of a champion whose grave lies high above two very different towns

The Olympic torch is entering Wales. On its way from Worcester to Cardiff it will be taken across the rolling countryside of Monmouthshire before its journey into the old industrial highland around Brynmawr and Blaenavon. The turning point of the torch relay, from the gently bucolic to the industrially bruised, is the market town of Abergavenny and, above it, the 561-metre (1,841ft) Blorenge mountain.

The contrast in the five miles that separate Abergavenny, picture-postcard pretty and home of the largest food festival in the UK, and Blaenavon, 91 metres down in a bowl on the other side of the Blorenge's summit, could not be starker.

Blaenavon was a cradle of industrial revolution, once rich in the ore, coal and limestone that made it an iron town of 20,000 inhabitants. It is now less than a third of that size, but is a world heritage site and home of the Big Pit national coal museum.

High on the moorland between the two towns is an outcrop of grey rocks, and set in the middle there is a green metal plaque marking the burial site of Foxhunter, the horse ridden by Sir Harry Llewellyn at the Helsinki Olympic Games of 1952.

On 2 August that year, the day before the end of a Games during which Britain had not won a single gold medal, the pair went clear in the second round of the team showjumping, and the country had a winner at last.

Wilf White, on Nizefela, and Duggie Stewart, on Aherlow, obviously played their part, but it was Foxhunter and Llewellyn who seemed to capture the public's imagination. Here was a tale of recovery, of converting 16.75 first-round faults into a clear in the second.

Llewellyn had had success as an amateur jockey before the war, finishing second on Ego in the 1936 Grand National. But after the war – he ended it as liaison officer to Montgomery – he concentrated on showjumping. He bought Foxhunter as a six-year-old in 1946, and they won a team bronze at the London Games of 1948, and then the gold in Helsinki.

Foxhunter's burial site between Blaenavon and Abergavenny is carefully placed. Llewellyn was born into a coal family, on the owners' side. His father, the chairman of Welsh Associated Collieries, took the baronetcy of Bwllfa, Aberdare in 1922.

Llewellyn had the money to live elsewhere, down off the mountain in a beautiful home, Llanfair Grange, near Abergavenny. After nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, he turned to other businesses, with interests in brewing and television. After 1952 he set up a chain of cafes called Foxhunter.

The horse retired in 1955 and died in 1959. Llewellyn died in 1999 and his ashes were scattered around the horse's memorial. That is, between a coal town and the edge of the cliff that will look down on the Olympic torch, 60 years after Llewellyn and Foxhunter helped win Britain's one and only Olympic gold medal in the 1952 Games.

Eddie Butler is the Observer's rugby correspondent

• LaShawn Merritt says prosthetic limbs can boost performance
• Pistorius says his apparatus will not improve his times

It was an awkward moment. Oscar Pistorius sat at a press conference table next to his fellow 400m runner LaShawn Merritt who – just days ago – had urged the International Association of Athletics Federations to keep a close eye on the issue of prosthetic limbs in able-bodied competition. While the South African double amputee, who looks set to become the first Paralympic athlete to compete at the Olympic Games this summer, defended his position for the umpteenth time since winning his court case against the IAAF in 2008, Merritt squirmed.

The American insisted he has the "utmost respect" for Pistorius, but in truth the defending Olympic champion has been vehemently outspoken about the Paralympian whom he will be lining up against at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava on Friday night. Merritt, who served a 21‑month ban after testing positive for steroids in 2009, had told reporters that he was concerned about the use of technology as a performance-enhancing aid in his sport – an issue that continues to be debated among sports scientists.

"The prosthetic legs I'm using, the cheetah, have been around since 1996 and I've had the exact same model, same shape since 2004 and nothing's changed on it," said Pistorius. "I'm not looking to increase my times or performances from any application or apparatus, it's all in my training and my recovery, my diet and sacrifices I make on and off the track that make my performances better. So the exact same leg I use now is the one I used before and there are very strict rules to implement [any changes] and anyway, I'm not looking to obtain any advantages through it."

Asked if he ever worried that fellow athletes may have some reservations over his inclusion at able-bodied competitions, Pistorius seemed oblivious to Merritt's recent comments, insisting that he has the respect of his peers. "I have a lot of respect for the guys I'm running against and I have a good relationship with them, some of the guys have come to my house in South Africa for off-season training.

"Part of the testing was a good thing because I think there would have been questions that were asked [by athletes], but by me doing the tests any athletes who were worried before we did the tests, most of the critics were put to rest after that. That's probably one of the biggest things for me if my competitors were to have had a problem with me – but after we'd done the tests I guess it was comforting for myself and it was comforting for them as well."

• South African 800m runner takes on Pamela Jelimo
• Semenya faces Kenyan in strong field at Ostrava

Caster Semenya says she dreams of winning Olympic gold in London this summer and dedicating her medal to her nation's hero, Nelson Mandela. How she fares against the defending Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo when the pair compete against each other in Ostrava on Friday night could provide some insight into her chances. The Kenyan has recorded the fastest 800m time in the world this year – 1min 56.94sec – whereas the South African has so far struggled to get her season off to a positive start.

Semenya, who left her coach Michael Seme last year to join up with the seven-times world champion over 800m, Maria Mutola, faces a strong field in Ostrava which includes Fantu Magiso of Ethiopia, who finished second behind Jelimo at the Doha Diamond League in 1:57.90, the second-fastest time of the season.

"I cannot wait for this race," said Semenya. "I've been waiting for so long to run against her [Jelimo] – she's the best in the world."

Mutola holds the Ostrava meeting record, a time of 1:57.7, but Semenya is confident that she can improve that time on Friday. "Of course I have to follow the steps of my coach, I feel very positive. If we dip under 1:56 it's OK by me."

Semenya says life has improved dramatically since the controversy over her gender that dogged her world title win in 2009. Changing coaches to work under her idol, Mutola, has been an important part of that.

"A lot of things have changed. In life, you need to explore; I just saw the opportunity and grabbed it. I met with Maria before the world champs and told her I want to change, I want something new in life. So far training is good. We started after the world champs.

"My relationship with my previous coach is good, there's no hard feelings, but I just have to improve. My goal is to win the Olympics and Maria's my role model, I just want to follow her steps – she's world champ and Olympic champ and I think everything is going well."

The South African also believes that she has the ability to break the 800m world record, the longest standing women's world record in the sport, set by Jarmila Kratochvilov in 1983.

"It just needs hard work," said the 21-year-old. "Sooner or later, we will smash it. I cannot wait for that … I had a long break after the world champs so if I hadn't had a long rest maybe I could have done it. After Berlin, maybe if I had had three races I could have done it. I was in good shape, I just needed more races."

• Controlled explosion carried out on suspect package
• Police seal off area before package was blown up

A bomb disposal expert was called in on Thursday to undertake a controlled explosion of a suspect package in the paddock for this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

A small white plastic box was found discarded outside the entrance to the media centre, the Salle d'Exposition near La Rascasse.

Local police initially closed off the entrance to the media centre at around 9.45pm local time, forcing journalists leaving to exit through a back door.

The area was then sealed off to allow the bomb disposal expert to check the package over before he eventually declared it suspect.

A small crowd that had gathered, including a handful of journalists and photographers, were pushed back to a distance of around 50 yards in between the motorhomes belonging to the Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA.

As the expert prepared to detonate, the group was asked to retreat a further 20 yards near the entrance of the McLaren motorhome.

Finally, after 20 minutes working on the package and wiring it up, it was eventually exploded, creating a considerable noise and leaving shards of white plastic strewn across the floor.

It is the second time in successive years that a bomb disposal unit has been summoned to the paddock ahead of the Monaco race.

• Young Belgian made one Premier League start last season
• Striker felt unappreciated by André Villas‑Boas

Romelu Lukaku will find himself on trial for his place in the Chelsea squad that begins next season when he plays for the club during their close-season tour of the United States in July.

A little over 12 months ago the Belgium striker was among the most sought-after young talents in Europe, with Chelsea beating off heavy competition to sign him for £18m from Anderlecht. But, after a frustrating debut season in English football, in which he made 12 appearances in all competitions – four of them from the start – and scored no goals, Lukaku will need to impress Chelsea's new manager in the US, where the team will play four friendlies, or face being loaned out.

Lukaku, like everybody, is waiting to discover who the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, appoints as the manager; Roberto Di Matteo, the Champions League-winning interim coach, travelled to Barbados on Thursday for a legends tournament, still in the dark over his prospects.

Lukaku had an axe to grind with André Villas‑Boas, Chelsea's manager at the start of the season who, he felt, used him to fill in the gaps in training matches. Yet the 19-year-old made two appearances under Di Matteo, the second of them his sole Premier League start in the largely meaningless final game of the domestic season against Blackburn Rovers.

He hopes the new season will bring him better luck and he remains determined to make the grade at Chelsea, the club he supported as a boy. But he is receptive to the notion of a loan and would not restrict himself to a rival in the Premier League.

Kevin De Bruyne, his fellow Belgium international, is in a similar situation. The attacking midfielder, who signed from Genk in January for £7m only to remain at the Belgian club for the second half of the season, where he found the form of his career, will seek to impress in the US. The 20-year-old is realistic about his chances of regular first-team football at Stamford Bridge and he is willing to go on loan to aid his development.

Lukaku and De Bruyne have seen how Chelsea's other Belgian, the goalkeeper Thibaud Courtois, has benefited from a loan. Courtois excelled for Atlético Madrid over the past season, establishing himself as a first-choice selection and finishing as a Europa League winner. Courtois wants to stay for another season at Atlético and he said after the Europa League final victory over Athletic Bilbao that he had Chelsea's permission to negotiate the extended arrangement.

Serbia's world No1 has high hopes on the eve of his attempt to win his fourth successive grand slam title

Some are born great, some achieve greatness and others have greatness thrust upon them. Had Shakespeare been living today, perhaps he would add an extra category because Novak Djokovic would appear to embody all three.

The Serb has dominated the sport for the past 18 months, winning four out of five grand slam events and taking over from Rafael Nadal as world No1. Victory at the French Open, which begins in Paris on Sunday, would make him the first man since Australia's Rod Laver in 1969 to win four successive grand slam titles. Already considered a great player, should he win at Roland Garros he would be immortalised.

"I have to say I do think about what it would be like," says a tanned and relaxed Djokovic, oozing confidence. "I would be lying if I said otherwise because it is my dream, it is something that has been in my head for a while. I want to win the Roland Garros title and I will go in with this mindset. I feel confident. I feel that I have enough qualities to win against anybody on this surface on a given day."

This summer, he will defend his Wimbledon title and chase a gold medal at the Olympics, where he will carry the flag for his country at the opening ceremony. "It's been an incredible run for me since January 2011," he says. The calendar year grand slam of Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles remains the sport's holy grail but winning four in a row would be an incredible achievement in an era in which Roger Federer and Nadal have won 26 grand slams between them.

"This is the period of my career where I'm playing my best tennis," Djokovic adds. "I always imagined myself being the best at what I do and always worked hard for it. I want to be here, I need this challenge and now that I am here, I am working really to stay where I am.

"I have never made the final at the French Open. I played a couple of semi‑finals and maybe now this year is an opportunity for me to go out there and try to get my hands on the trophy. If I don't, it's not going to be the end of the world. I am still 25 and if I am healthy enough, I hope to have many more years to come to achieve this mission.''

Listening to Djokovic, it is clear he believes he is playing for more than just himself. Growing up in Belgrade, his formative years were scarred by the Nato bombings in 1999, hiding until it was safe to go back on the tennis courts. He moved to Munich to continue his progression at the age of 13 but it is hard to think of anyone more Serbian in character and more patriotic in nature than the world No1.

"I am proud where I come from. Of course I am going to have my country in my character. We are very emotional people. I believe not just the tennis players but all the successful athletes that come from my country have had success mostly because of the mental strength and overcoming the really difficult times that our country was facing in the last 20 to 30 years.

"We struggled very much with wars, embargoes and sanctions, economic and political issues and inflation. The average [monthly] salary in our country is €250 to €300. But many people have hopes and good positive energy now and a lot of those hopes actually come from sport. This is one of the greatest, if not the greatest asset our country has. That's why our group of athletes from Serbia, we all feel in a way an extra responsibility to represent our country wherever we go in an added way. Not just by playing somewhere but always talking about it. I believe my country deserves more than it gets at this moment press-wise, and hopefully it is going to turn around.''

Such is Djokovic's stature at home, his compatriot and the world No8 Janko Tipsarevic jokingly calls him The President, so it is no surprise that he will be carrying Serbia's flag at the Olympics.

"It feels incredible to be asked," he says. "I remember being at the opening ceremony in Beijing and how it felt to be a part of that, in front of 90,000 to 100,000 people and God knows how many millions watching around the world. I believe London will do a great job. Just the thought of carrying the flag there, it's mind-blowing really."

First, though, it is Paris and the kingdom of Nadal, who has won the title six times in seven years. Beating him twice on clay last year gave Djokovic belief and though the Spaniard has won their two clay-court encounters this year, the Serb's confidence is still high. "I have dreamed about winning the title," he said. "This is a positive sign. I never looked at the scoreboard but I did remember lifting the trophy."

And is there a place alongside his other grand slam titles to put the Coupe des Mousquetaires, should he triumph a fortnight on Sunday? "Trust me, if I need to rent a new room especially for that trophy, I will do it. You can always find a space."

• Fear of racism also keeps Theo Walcott's family at home
• 'It needs to be addressed,' says England's Joleon Lescott

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's family will not travel to the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine due to their fear of being the targets of racists. The 18‑year‑old Arsenal forward is the youngest member of Roy Hodgson's England squad and his family's decision follows that of Theo Walcott's, his club-mate, who are not attending the tournament.

Joleon Lescott, the Manchester City defender, said: "It's a shame for some members of the squad that their families feel they can't go and it's a situation that needs to be addressed."

Lescott's family will also not be at the championship, though this was a decision reached before the recent exposés of Ukrainian hooligans with racist tendencies. "It was quite alarming to see the reports about the situation out there, but even before the reports, my family weren't going," the defender said. "Maybe if I'm playing and we get to the final, my family will want to go out there, but my main concern is that they have a good summer and if they're happy, I'm happy. And they're happy staying at home."

John Terry will deny a charge of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, nine days after the close of Euro 2012. The Chelsea captain is not with England after being granted extra rest following the Champions League final but Lescott denied there will be any tensions within the squad when Terry does join up, despite the allegation.

"I don't think it will be any different because we were all in the squad for the Spain and Sweden games. I don't think there's going to be any animosity. We are all here for the same reason and that is to do well for England." He said that although he is a friend of Rio Ferdinand, Anton's brother, he would have no problem with Terry. "I'm a big fan of Rio and we've become good friends as well, but I was more focused on seeing my name in the England squad and I'm grateful that I was in."

Asked if he had spoken to Rio Ferdinand, who was not selected by Hodgson for Euro 2012, Lescott said: "We spoke after the league. He texted me to say congratulations, which was nice of him because obviously we'd beaten them so closely. Rio is a person I look up to and also the way he plays. He is a great player and has been a great one for England. He is probably one of the players I looked at most growing up. It's a shame he is not in the squad but it was the manager's decision."

James Milner, Lescott's club colleague, conceded that Hodgson's choice not to select Ferdinand was tough. "I'm pleased I don't have to make that decision," the midfielder said. "Rio's been a great player and still is a great player. It's a tough decision and Rio is one of a few who might've felt unlucky not to be in the squad. It's never easy leaving players out. It can only be a good thing for the country if the manager has to leave players of Rio's calibre out."

Milner also admitted to his own frustrations at having last started a match on 8 April – Manchester City's1-0 defeat at Arsenal. "You want to play as many games as you can and contribute as much as you can," he said. "But I've played a lot of games and it was a great finish to the season with winning the title and being selected for England for the Euros."

Milner added he did not worry whether he might miss out on Euro 2012. "It's down to the manager to pick his team. The manager changes and he might have a completely new opinion on you, as opposed to the old one anyway," he said. "As a player all I can do is work as hard as I can in training and play as well as I can when I get a chance. That's in my control and worrying about whether the manager will pick won't help. There's not a lot you can do. It's about the work you do in the gym and on the training field and on the pitch."

Stop the Games! The security staff can't get through the Olympic traffic jams. But the beach volleyball show will go on

• Don't panic, but the Olympics may have to be cancelled. The Diary has been given a top-level briefing by the head of Olympic security for G4S, which is providing 10,000 guards for the Games, and the news is not good. At its Games security hub at Canary Wharf, which remotely manages logistics and staffing for the Olympic Park, there is a Truman Show-style bank of giant TV screens providing a stream of the latest info. Two of them permanently display the Transport for London web page, which gives tube and bus info. Forget missile strikes by al-Qaida, G4S's No 1 nightmare is the tube breaking down, as it has done repeatedly this week. If that happens, security staff can't get to the site, and, if staffing drops below specified levels, venues can't operate. Boris?

• More Olympics news. Transport for London today launched its planning tool on temporary road changes, which lets drivers check road closures during the Games. And it did it in the most shameless and chauvinistic way possible. TfL got the women's British beach volleyball team to set up their net in Parliament Square, guaranteeing gridlock as white van men overheated. Yes, we realise you were demonstrating Games-related traffic jams, but parading women in bikinis and sports bras is nothing but a cheap PR stunt. The Diary was trapped in the square for four hours and, frankly, it was a disgusting spectacle.

• Talking of Boris, which we vaguely were, two journalists with strong links to the London Evening Standard – former newsdesk hack Sam Lyon and current chief news correspondent Ross Lydall – are in the frame to replace the recently departed mayoral mouthpiece Guto Harri. Anyone would think there was an umbilical link between Boris and the Standard.

• Bob Geldof has given a fascinating interview to ShortList magazine. Q: Are you passionate about recycling? "No, I don't want to think about it at all. It's just a fucking pain in the arse, all these coloured bins and stuff. I don't have a choice, though. Down in London you get fucking hung, drawn and quartered in the fucking public square if you don't." Good points, thoughtfully made.

• Tony Blair may be set to re-enter frontline politics, but what about Gordon Brown? When, if ever, will he re-emerge? The ex-PM is said to be concentrating on being a good local MP in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. Yet the diligent Fife Free Press has recorded little about Brown since he attended Cowdenbeath FC's vital match against Forfar Athletic, which clinched its elevation to the first division. That was on 21 April. Fife MSP John Park, who is said to be close to Brown, believes he could be part of the "dream team" (along with Alex Ferguson) to beat the SNP in the independence referendum. "He's potentially more popular than Alex Salmond," says Park, who must be extremely close. As the Heathcliff of the heather broods, the silence becomes deafening.

• Was too much champagne taken at the Journalism Foundation gala evening, which we reported on yesterday? There is growing confusion over who got the replica of the ring jeweller Stephen Webster created for Elizabeth Taylor. The hammer went down on Hugh Grant's bid of £10,000, but it has now been claimed by the Hon Geraldine Harmsworth Maxwell, a friend of Independent owner Evgeny Lebedev. The Journalism Foundation is checking its sources, and the Diary hopes to keep this starry ring cycle going for at least a month.

• Back to Bob's aperçus. Q: How many foreign-language films are in your DVD collection? "I don't have a DVD collection. I snap it out of the thing, watch it and give it back to the rental store. But we have a lot of foreign language, because the missus is French. They're always about some 85-year-old shagging an 18-year-old." Holy Motors!

• Hugh Muir is back next week, thank God, and apparently he's planning a hibu-style rebranding of the Diary. There's sure to be controversy, but ignore the whingers, Hugh. Merci, large drink tonight!

Twitter: @StephenMossGdn

This documentary follows four sprinters preparing for the London Olympics – and makes it look like very hard work

If British sport is looking to encourage young athletes, it should probably ban this documentary. Shot over four years, it follows four London sprinters aiming for a place at the 2012 Olympics, and it's clearly very hard work. We get few personal details; it's mostly about the gruelling physical preparation, its toll on the body, the pocket and the mind. It's a life of punishing discipline, all of which could be undone by random injury. But it's also a life of bludgeoning repetitiveness, which somewhat diminishes this film's power. There are only so many super slo-mo shots of bodies in motion you can take, and the athletes' observations drift into cliche ("Once the gun goes, there's no turning back," etc). And until the Olympics happen, the final chapters to these athletes' stories is missing. So we get the pain, but little of the gain.

Rating: 2/5

• Somerset 400-9dec & 152-5, Durham 384 & 167
• Somerset won by five wickets

George Dockrell will miss a month of Somerset's County Championship season from late July through captaining Ireland in the Under-19 World Cup in Australia. Judging by the way the tall left-arm spinner dismantled Durham's batting to set up an unlikely victory inside three days, his county are going to miss him as much as any of their more established stars, who have been absent through injury in recent weeks.

Dockrell returned six for 29 from 11.4 overs, including a spell of four for none in 10 balls, to turn what had previously been a closely contested game into a romp for the home side. Durham, who trailed by 16 runs on first innings, had already lost three wickets on 69 when 131 proved an even more unlucky number for them.

At that point Dockrell accepted a return catch off Ian Blackwell, following up by having Phil Mustard caught off bat and pad, Liam Plunkett taken at deep mid-off and Callum Thorp pouched at cover without a run added.

There was no way back for the visitors from 131 for eight. When Paul Collingwood (32) edged to slip, attempting a heave over midwicket and Jamie Harrison (20) was caught by Jos Buttler running in from cover, Dockrell had claimed six victims in an innings for the second time at Taunton this season.

Set 152 to win, Somerset lost Alex Barrow to the first ball of their second innings and Nick Compton for eight, caught at slip attempting to sweep Ian Blackwell. For Compton that means 59 runs are still needed for the magic 1,000 before the end of May and he can expect only one more Championship innings, on the first two days of the match at Worcester next week.

Durham's only hope was that, as a fellow left-arm spinner, Blackwell could emulate Dockrell from the same River End. The former Somerset man was given the new ball and found some help in the third-day pitch, baked under almost constant sunshine. But the captain, James Hildreth (31), and Arul Suppiah came up with enough answers for a third-wicket stand of 83, which eased any nerves, Suppiah going on to make 73, with seven fours and four sixes as his side won by five wickets.

Hildreth had earlier been rewarded for declaring Somerset's first innings on 400 for nine at the only time in the game when skies were overcast, a decision which helped his seamers make early inroads and paved the way for Dockrell's decisive spell. Peter Trego's responsible 89 was chiefly responsible for his side achieving maximum batting points. In all, they took 24 to Durham's seven.

The British sprinter remembers when he did beat the Jamaican – but it was a long time ago

It is not just the general public who are in awe of Usain Bolt but his rivals too, according to Dwain Chambers, who lines up against the triple world record holder here on Friday night. The Briton, who spent time in Asafa Powell's training camp in Jamaica this year, under the tutelage of the coach Stephen Francis, says Bolt is held up as a god in his sport, so much so that even his sprint rivals talk about him in reverential tones.

"He's an icon – just like how Bob Marley is an icon in Jamaica; he is God almost," said Chambers. "The people in the training group I was in – Asafa Powell and those guys – they speak about him highly, because of what he's achieved. You see his spikes, his kit everywhere. That's his impact. That opened my eyes. It was just weird to hear that."

Asked how any of them might beat Bolt, the 34-year-old Londoner laughed. "How do you advise someone how to best the fastest man in the world? First, you have to get up to his speed level, and once there you can contemplate trying to beat him. But at this stage, this guy's confidence is higher than anyone else's, his ability is far superior and that's what sets him apart."

"You have to be realistic with yourself. You're running 10 seconds flat, say, and he's running 9.7sec, so there's already three metres between you. So you just have to work on doing the best you can."

Chambers has run against Bolt before, at the world championship final in 2009 when he finished sixth and the Jamaican was crowned world champion, and in the same competition in Daegu last year when the pair were matched together in the heats. Both were disqualified for a false start – Chambers in the semi-final, Bolt in the final. The two also trained together, in 2006, in the early days of Chambers's return to the sport. "I was younger then," said Chambers with a smile, reminiscing how he beat Bolt over 60m. The Jamaican was still a teenager then and not well known outside of the athletics scene.

"He showed me glimmers of greatness [back then], especially because he was so tall and he was able to keep up with me until 60m," Chambers said. "I could see strengths in what he could do over 200‑300m – I saw his potential there – but when I watched him out of the blocks I could see what he was capable of. He always wanted to run the 100m but coach Mills wouldn't let him."

Now a global celebrity, what was Bolt like as a youngster? "The same as he is now. Casual, cool, calm and always having a joke; he hasn't changed one bit. That's what makes him unique, he laughs at the line when everyone else is quivering and he finds it comical."

At the Golden Spike meeting here in the Czech Republic Chambers will hope that Bolt's raw speed – the Jamaican has run 9.82sec this year – can pull him to a faster time than he has managed this season. Chambers is pursuing the Olympic 'A' qualifying standard of 10.18sec, to guarantee him eligibility for selection for the British team, but has opened his season with a disappointing 10.52sec – only once has he run worse in his career since becoming a senior.

There was an awkward moment here on Thursday when Oscar Pistorius sat at a press conference top table next to his fellow 400m runner LaShawn Merritt who – just days ago – urged the International Association of Athletics Federations to keep a close eye on the issue of prosthetic limbs in able-bodied competition. While the South African double amputee, who looks set to become the first Paralympic athlete to compete at the Olympic Games this summer, defended his position for the umpteenth time since winning his court case against the IAAF in 2008, Merritt squirmed.

Merritt, who served a 21-month ban after testing positive for steroids in 2009, had said that he was concerned about the use of technology as a performance-enhancing aid in his sport. "The prosthetic legs I'm using – the cheetah – have been around since 1996 and I've had the exact same model, same shape since 2004 and nothing's changed on it," said Pistorius. "I'm not looking to increase my times or performances from any application or apparatus."

Click to enlarge, and debate the strip below the line. Keith Hackett's answers appear in Sunday's Observer and here from Monday.

Competition: win an official club shirt of your choice

For a chance to win a club shirt of your choice from the range at Kitbag.com send us your questions for You are the Ref to you.are.the.ref@observer.co.uk. The best scenario used in the new YATR strip each Sunday wins a shirt to the value of £50 from Kitbag. Terms & conditions apply.

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Paul Duane has created an enthralling documentary portrait of former criminal and tournament chess player John Healy

In 1986, Faber published The Grass Arena, a stunning memoir of life on the streets by John Healy, a former vagrant, violent criminal and tournament chess player who'd been taught the game in prison: it was a bestseller that became a film. Healy was unprepared for the whirl of celebrity, and for the letdown afterwards when Faber didn't want any more books. He began showing up at the publisher's offices and in an explosion of temper, threatened to attack everyone with an axe. Terrified executives severed relations, and Healy remained out in the cold until The Grass Arena was re-issued as a Penguin Classic in 2008. To mark that occasion, Healy gave a reading for his fans, and I can be glimpsed among them in this enthralling documentary movie-portrait by Paul Duane. Healy is a lonely, haunted, brilliant man, for whom chess and literature were not simply aspirational alternatives to his former life: there is assertion and even aggression in chess and in the act of writing. The film skirts around his emotional life, but it's a gripping study.

Rating: 4/5

• Torres reassured by talks with Chelsea hierarchy
• Striker excited by Spain's prospects at Euro 2012

The Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has put a difficult season behind him and is eager to be part of the European champions' future plans, the player said on Thursday following talks with the club's hierarchy.

Torres voiced his concerns after being left out of Chelsea's starting lineup for the Champions League final victory against Bayern Munich last weekend, saying he had been close to throwing in the towel.

"My goal was to talk to them at the end of the season, I needed to know what plans they had for me," Torres said in an interview published on his personal website. "We've talked and now I have no doubt what they expect of Fernando Torres. I just want to start next season as soon as possible."

The 28-year-old moved to Chelsea from Liverpool in January 2011 for £50m but has struggled to rediscover the scoring touch that made him one of the hottest properties in the market.

"It was a mental block, I felt really bad. I felt great on the pitch this season because I have become a more complete player, but the ball did not go in. I felt I was never in the correct position."

The news that striker Didier Drogba was leaving Stamford Bridge may have opened the door for a more regular place in Chelsea's starting lineup, but Torres did not see it that way.

"I can only wish him [Drogba] the best and I feel proud to have shared so much with him," Torres said. "I want to play with the best and he is one of the best. I do not understand why it has to be one or the other, and not both."

Torres was left out of the Spain squad for their last friendly against Venezuela in February, when the man called up in his place, Valencia's Roberto Soldado, scored a hat-trick, and the pacy forward's place at Euro 2012 looked to be in doubt.

However, the coach Vicente del Bosque brought him back into the fold on Monday, and he is likely to make the final cut when the world and European champions announce their 23-man squad for Poland and Ukraine on Sunday.

"I saw myself out [of the squad]," Torres added. "I never received a call with such enthusiasm. Spain has earned the role of being favourite and we have to accept it, but it is worthless because you have to prove it on the field of play.

"Three titles in a row is something no one has done before. If we can achieve that we will be a world reference because people will talking about this generation for many years to come."

• Surrey 223 & 144-4, Warwickshire 247
• Surrey lead by 120 runs with six wickets remaining

Gareth Batty led the way with six for 73 as Surrey powered their way back into their championship game with Warwickshire on the second day at The Oval.

After the Division One leaders had dominated the first day, Surrey spent the second day asserting an equal degree of command as the match lurched in extraordinary fashion.

At the halfway point, Surrey are 144 for four, leading by 120. With the pitch offering increasing turn, they will fancy their chances.

Resuming on Thursday on 106 for one, in reply to 223, Warwickshire advanced to 131 without further loss but then lost eight wickets for 82 runs. Batty struck the biggest blow when he bowled Varun Chopra for 78 (152 balls, 10 fours) and the Bears went into freefall after lunch.

While the former England spinner bowled well, the young seamer Stuart Meaker takes a big assist. Fresh from a career-best eight for 52 against Somerset, Meaker forced Warwicks on to the defensive with a fine spell, accurate and aggressive, from the Vauxhall End.

He ended with only two wickets in the innings but his work changed the course of the match, as no doubt noted by the Warwickshire director of cricket – and England selector – Ashley Giles.

When Surrey went in again Jason Roy (71, 86 balls, 10 fours and a six) briefly made the pitch look as good for batting as it had been widely perceived to be all along. But Roy clipped Rikki Clarke to midwicket, Rory Hamilton-Brown edged Jeetan Patel behind for one (his first second-innings failure this season) and the day concluded finely balanced.

It is impossible to predict which way this enthralling contest will ultimately go but, fluctuating and fiercely contested, it is a splendid advert for the County Championship.

The torch made its way from Cheltenham to Worcester, passing through Ledbury and Hereford on the way

The Barcelona manager's final game will be against the man to whom went for advice upon first considering a career as a coach in 2006

Marcelo Bielsa was there at the start and he will be there at the end. Back in October 2006, before Pep Guardiola took his first steps as a coach, one of the men from whom he asked advice was Bielsa. Should he really become a football manager and, if so, how? Together with his friend the film director David Trueba, Guardiola went to Argentina on what turned into a kind of pilgrimage, travelling 11 hours to seek the wisdom of the man they call El Loco. Late into the night they spoke. Guardiola and Bielsa connected.

Legend has it that Bielsa asked Guardiola: "Do you really like blood that much?" Guardiola presumably decided that he did, just not that much. He became a coach and the most successful coach in Barcelona's history. He has won 13 titles, including three successive leagues, two European Cups and two World Club Cups. But four years later, he bows out, exhausted. The football has taken its toll and so has everything else: the relentless demands, the public profile, the battles. The blood.

This has been a difficult season. It has also been Barcelona's least successful under their manager. They have won only the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and World Club Cup. On Friday, in Guardiola's last game as coach, they could also win the Copa del Rey. The man against him – Marcelo Bielsa, is in his first season at Athletic Bilbao.

Johan Cruyff, Guardiola's greatest mentor, describes this as the end of an era. As farewells go, it is pretty well perfect. Two of the three clubs that have spent their entire history in the first division, the two with the most Copa successes in their history – 25 for Barcelona, 23 for Athletic. Two clubs with a special identity; Catalans and Basques facing each other in Madrid. Guardiola once admitted that he would love to coach Athletic one day; when Barcelona looked to replace him, Bielsa was one of the names on everyone's lips.

On Wednesday, Barcelona's sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, a former Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper, noted: "Bielsa would adapt well to our club." Javier Mascherano and Alexis Sánchez have played under him at international level.

If there is currently a certain mutual admiration between the clubs, between the coaches it is even greater. When Guardiola announced his departure Bielsa described it as "a huge loss for football." Guardiola described Bielsa's arrival in Spain in similarly glowing terms. La Liga had become richer for El Loco's presence. "I would have liked to have played under him: he is different to everyone else," Guardiola said of Bielsa. "Under him, Barcelona are an innovative artistic expression that's generated a culture – a counterculture," says Bielsa of Guardiola.

In the aftermath of Barcelona reaching the Copa del Rey final, Guardiola became most alive when he was asked about the opponents that awaited. "You can see Bielsa's hand at Athletic," he said. "This will be a fascinating final." He was almost open-mouthed as he talked about them and the astonishing intensity, the purity of their performance. There is no speculation and no gamesmanship, just a relentlessness to their pursuit of the opposition's goal, a generosity of spirit that the Barcelona coach admires. There was a kind of wonder about Guardiola and the fact that he was speaking in English gave it even greater charm: "They run up, they run down, they run up, they run down, they run up, they run down â€¦"

When the two teams met at San Mamés earlier this season, it finished 2-2. Guardiola called it a canto al fútbol, an ode to football, a love song to the game. At the end, the two men embraced. "Your players are beasts," said Guardiola. "So are yours," replied Bielsa. It was moments like these which made the blood worthwhile. When the final whistle goes on Pep Guardiola's final game as Barcelona coach, they will embrace again. He has come full circle.

• Scot comes through exhibition match unscathed
• Becker had urged Murray to skip French Open

Boris Becker might be more worried than most about the back niggle that has inconvenienced Andy Murray over the past few months, but the world No4 came through a competitive exhibition match against Ernests Gulbis untroubled and looks fit for the French Open.

Gulbis won 7-6, 7-6 at the Paris Golf and Country Club on Thursday. But the result, after two tie-breaks, was less relevant for Murray than the two hours he put in against the talented Latvian before the second slam tournament of the season.

Murray then headed for the practice courts at Roland Garros, sending a firm message to Becker, who on Thursday urged him to skip Paris because of the workload the clay surface demands of players over two weeks.

Murray withdrew from the Madrid Open, then crashed out in the second round in Rome last week but insiders say he has been "managing" the minor twinge since December and is not concerned that it will restrict his campaign.

The PFA chief executive has had plenty of lows and the occasional high during a tumultuous season

Gordon Taylor's tenure as the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association spans four decades but it is no surprise to hear him talking about the last year as one of the most challenging. Two high-profile racism cases, Carlos Tevez's antics, the tragic loss of Gary Speed and Fabrice Muamba's cardiac arrest leave Taylor with plenty to ponder, and that is before we get to Joey Barton.

It is tempting to think Barton alone could keep Taylor's in-tray full. The 12-match ban handed out by the Football Association leaves Taylor back on familiar ground with his most volatile member. "I feel that it's like climbing Everest," Taylor says in relation to Barton. "We've nearly got to the top and then you slip down again. You've got to gather yourself together, hope the weather stays perfect and off you go again."

Taylor mentions several times that he often gets accused of defending the indefensible, although nobody could level that criticism at him when it comes to how he has responded to Barton's behaviour. He will, as ever, be at the end of the phone offering support when it inevitably rings, but Barton, as another player with a magnetic attraction to controversy discovered in the past, cannot expect his union leader's backing to be unconditional.

"At Wimbledon at times I would represent Vinnie Jones, and I would sometimes go public with Vinnie and say that what he did was wrong. He did all sorts, and he would say: 'Yeah, but we're your members, you have to support us.' I said, 'Nobody is going to listen to me if no matter whether you're right or wrong, I say you're right.' How can anybody respect the PFA if we plainly see something that's bad for the image of the game and not appreciate that it is wrong."

It is put to Taylor that Tevez's conduct in Bayern Munich must have been hard to defend, although he argues there is a key difference between refusing to play and refusing to warm up, which is why he says he called for the four-week fine initially imposed by Manchester City to be reduced.

"I made my inquiries," Taylor says. "I don't mess about. I spoke to as many City players as I could on exactly what happened and not one ever said to me that he refused to play."

Did he not feel let down when Tevez flew back to Argentina? "Yeah, I did. But it didn't mean to say I fell out with him. It's like having a family, that's what I say to Joey Barton. I say, 'Joey, I'm not just a fair-weather friend and I don't pander to the media but sometimes I have to say it as it is.' And while I was prepared to defend Tevez, like I was with Kolo Touré, which I felt was a problem that shouldn't have happened with a genuine lad [he failed a drug test in March 2011 after taking one of his wife's slimming tablets], once Carlos had gone out there, I was upset because it wasn't doing him any good."

As it turned out, Tevez's case was nothing compared to the two race storms in October. Luis Suárez was subsequently found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra while John Terry will appear at Westminster magistrates' court on 9 July after he was charged with a "racially aggravated public order offence" following an altercation with QPR's Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road. Terry denies the charge.

"To some extent, there was a feeling that on the field of play [racism] just wouldn't be an issue," says Taylor. "Now it has arisen it causes even more concern because of the backlash that there has been. Will it deter any of our black players from making complaints because there is such intimidation with social networks? It will certainly make them think twice.

"But we've got to have enough confidence in the system that it just needs players to stand up and be counted. Then it's up to the whole of the football world to support them.

"When any compliant is made against any player or a club, there seems to be a circling of the wagons – the rest of the world is wrong and they're right and it becomes a them and us situation. That is part of the complexity of a team and a manager needing his players to be loyal and to motivate them and to make them feel that, no matter what, they'll always support them. But sometimes the issues of right and wrong get clouded then.

"The same from our point of view. The Joey Barton situation is a good example. We feel we've encouraged him to have treatment and counselling with regard to anger management, and then something happens and people say, 'Are you going to support him?' I just felt what happened at City, in such a big game, was a backward step."

Taylor frowns as he recalls how Speed's sudden death left everyone at the PFA feeling "totally depressed and upset" before smiling at the memory of Muamba's miraculous recovery. "That was a real feeling of quiet satisfaction that a lot of things that we had helped to put into place with the co-operation of the clubs helped to save his life," he says. "So things like that more than compensate for the time when you've got your tin hat on and are getting battered."

Will.I.Am has become a beacon of hope to us dreary Brits, with our punctuation-free names. So what a flash of genius to get him there in Taunton

When Britain faces uncertainty, doubt, low self-esteem or a general pizzazz deficiency there is one man we can now turn to. His name is William James Adams Jr, but you may know him as Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas. Since he arrived on these shores earlier this year, Will.I.Am has become a beacon of hope to us dreary Brits, with our uptight personalities, unfashionable clothes and conventional, punctuation-free names. He has injected our culture with his own unique brand of laid-back cool, and we are rightly grateful.

How kind of him to have chosen our drizzly islands as a place to hang his natty little pork-pie hat when we know full well he could be in LA lounging by the pool and sipping cocktails with Fergie and the other members of the Black Eyed Peas. How selfless of him to demean himself by working for dear old Auntie Beeb, often being charitable enough to make prolonged eye contact with the procession of drab British contestants and co-judges that appear before him. Thank you, Will.I.Am, and thank you, America, for lending him to us. His disarmingly nonsensical dialogue, hip-hop swagger and space-age clothes – like he's been styled by Sportacus from CBeebies' Lazy Town – has been just the shot in the arm we all needed.

And before anyone says he's only here for the dough, Lost in Showbiz would like to point out that he's doing his bit to keep the British end up, beyond his contractual duties at the BBC. Only this week, he took part in the Olympic torch relay in Taunton, Somerset. The torch was ferried over from Greece by David Beckham and is to be subsequently carried through the land – says the website – by a succession of specially nominated "inspirational torchbearers … inspiring millions of people in their community". I know – bleaurhg, right? Normals with inspirational stories to tell? You can almost hear the Coldplay soundtrack tinkling in the background, can't you? If that's the best the Olympics marketing people have got, they'll be lucky to get more than half a dozen people turning up to watch the 100m finals.

Thank God, then, that someone (and by "someone" I mean whoever Jessica Hynes's character in Twenty Twelve was based on) realised they were in crisis and drafted in the only person who could rectify a coolness deficit as cataclysmic as this one. Will.I.Am was there in a flash, like Superman arriving in Metropolis just in time to stop General Zod from smashing the place to pieces.

Some might say that the appropriation of an American talent-show judge with no obvious connection to British sporting endeavour or the Olympic spirit – not to mention Taunton – was crass and slightly insulting to the ordinary folk who were supposed to be the stars of the show. Others might point out the irony in him being invited to take part in a celebration of Earth's greatest feats of fitness by the sugary drinks manufacturer Coca-Cola. And there are probably a few miserable curmudgeons who thought ill of him for tweeting his three million-plus followers throughout the torchbearing march, not to mention that it was a flagrant abuse of health and safety regulations. But those people are idiots.

Five minutes of Will.I.Am swaggering about with a torch in one hand and a BlackBerry in the other, smirking blithely while he repeatedly misspelt the name of the town he was visiting ("Its nuts here in taurton … so much excitement …") is worth weeks of some anonymous, "inspirational", non-tweeting, non-rapping, non-member of the Black Eyed Peas doing the same thing.

What the Olympics needs right now is heat, and heat is what Will.I.Am brings to the party. Had he not been tweeting during the procession, The Kids – the people who are, after all, the guardians of the Olympic legacy – would have probably found him dull and alienating. They would not have thought, "Hey, there's Will.I.Am dicking about on his phone while he'd supposed to be doing something important. That's like what I do. He's awesome and so are the Olympics. I'm going to take up gymnastics." They would have just thought, "Err, look at that idiot, concentrating on what he's doing, not even bothering to text or tweet anyone while he does it. What a spod. Balls to the Olympics, that's for boffs and losers. I'm going to sniff glue all through August instead."

And, really, who could blame them? Had Will.I.Am not been there in Taunton on Tuesday, then who would? Aled Jones? His weakling arms would be too flimsy to hold the torch aloft for more than a minute at a time, let alone simultaneously operate a smartphone. Do us a favour. You know it as well as LiS does: without Will.I.Am, the Olympics are screwed.

Expense Claim is the best bet of the day at Goodwood

Catterick

6.35 The Magic Of Rio 7.05 Hellolini 7.35 Ballista 8.05 Select Committee 8.35 Zaplamation 9.05 Love Island

Goodwood

2.00 Emperor's Daughter 2.35 Welease Bwian 3.10 Indian Art 3.45 Expense Claim (nap) 4.20 Ahtoug 4.55 Lady Rosamunde 5.30 Cantal

Haydock

2.20 Watheeq 2.55 Kosika 3.30 Desert Philosopher 4.05 Basseterre (nb) 4.40 Qaadira 5.15 Ptolomeos

Musselburgh

6.45 Edas 7.15 Surely Speightful 7.45 Golden Future 8.15 Here Now And Why 8.45 Our Boy Jack 9.15 Lowtherwood

Towcester

5.55 Dalavar 6.25 Doctor Rio 6.55 Keeverfield 7.25 Jock Wilkinson 7.55 Bolanderi 8.25 Sentimentaljourney 8.55 Ernie

Yarmouth

2.10 Pawprints 2.45 My Lagan Love 3.20 See The Storm 3.55 Kyllachykov 4.30 Hayaku, 5.05 Trojan Rocket 5.40 Tinkerbell Will 6.15 Six Of Clubs