This comes 24 hours after Saints learnt their England hooker, Steve Thompson, faces four to six weeks out after tearing a calf muscle last weekend.Harlequins have lost the scrum-half Steve So'oialo for four weeks after he fractured a hand against Leicester last Saturday.. After 48 hours of nothing but bad news for Andy Robinson, the England head coach was given some glad tidings yesterday. Saracens reported that their rugby league convert and England elite squad member, Andy Farrell, had come unscathed through 80 minutes of an A League match against Gloucester on Monday evening. England had released Farrell from this week's squad training at Loughborough to get some more union experience. Despite a spate of injuries - Robinson was unable to call on 23 members of his elite squad this week - and the run of five defeats, the former England prop Jason Leonard talked up England's World Cup chances, and suggested who should be captain, at the launch of the EDF Energy Anglo-Welsh Cup yesterday. Leonard said: "I would not bet against England.

They have the players and a good coaching team plus backroom staff And I think Martin Corry is the man to captain England He is a world-class player, someone who leads by example. He always looks bashed up, but Cozza is that sort of person, he is not scared of anything, he will put his head in places where people won't even put their feet."But fearless players get injured and another comp-etition puts more of Robinson's charges at risk as an already crammed season starts to bulge at the seams.Damien Hopley, chief executive of the Professional Rugby Players' Association, said: "Something has to give. Unfortunately it always tends to be the players' bodies." But the clubs need the revenue The Guinness Premiership is worth around £1m per club. That was confirmed yesterday with the announcement that the World Cup would be moved to China.. Nevertheless, there are enough uncertainties about this first Champions' League match to be played in the Balkan state for Mourinho to admit that his pre-season pledge to entertain must in no way compromise the need to win.. Darren Clarke will continue to be at the centre of the golfing world's attention this week after being paired with the world No 1 Tiger Woods for the opening two rounds of the American Express World Championship. The Ulsterman made headlines with his flawless display at an emotional Ryder Cup, just weeks after the death of his wife, and will face one of the men he defeated at the K Club. Clarke is a close friend of the defending champion and the duo tee off in tomorrow's first round at The Grove near Watford just before 1pm and will resume just after midday on Friday.More Ryder Cup opponents are grouped together, including Colin Montgomerie and Chris DiMarco, Padraig Harrington and J J Henry, Jose Maria Olazabal and David Toms, Robert Karlsson and Jim Furyk, Paul Casey and Chad Campbell, Sergio Garcia and Scott Verplank, and Luke Donald and Brett Wetterich.The tournament will almost certainly be the last World Golf Championships event staged in Europe this decade.

For a man whose rotational policy has helped to deliver the European Cup and FA Cup in his two seasons at Liverpool, plus two La Liga titles and the Uefa Cup to Valencia before that, Benitez has unsurprisingly been loath to justify his selection process throughout the fluctuating start to this campaign. But victory over the Turkish champions will be required to ensure the omission of Steven Gerrard for 72 minutes against PSV Eindhoven does not damage his prospects in Group C from the outset. "We are looking for what we call in Spain 'The English Average'," he said yesterday "That is, four points from two games. With one point away and three at home you will normally have a chance to win trophies.". Away fixtures in Eastern Europe are no longer trips into the unknown. Sofia boasts a Marks & Spencer and a McDonald's and its hotel rooms are free of bugs, both the listening and the biting kind. Ahead of the match with Levski Sofia tonight, the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was even able to acquire a video of the Bulgarian champions' recent league match against CSKA Sofia to show his players.

Barring an uncharacteristic bout of conservatism whenever he lifts a pen to a team sheet the manager Rafael Benitez will tonight field a different starting XI for the 94th game in succession when the former Belgium captain Erik Gerets brings his Galatasaray side to Anfield. Arsenal may have failed at the last hurdle in the Champions' League final last season, but the defeat of Porto had the insouciance of a team who at least thought themselves worthy of being champions.. There is suddenly an air of calm around Liverpool once more. Aiden McGeady was all pace and precision, while both full-backs, Paul Telfer and Lee Naylor, gave progressive support..