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Former Scotland defender Alan Hutton has made a claim on Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Kyogo returns to training

The 27-year-old has been out of action since December due to a hamstring problem but has recently been spotted back on the grass at Lennoxtown.

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He was seen in the background of a training video with a ball at his feet and there is hope that he could make a return to action against Rangers following the current international break, leading to much excitement from some in the media.

The Latest: Hutton’s comments on Kyogo

Hutton, who contributes as a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider regarding Furuhashi’s impending return and what that will means for Ange Postecoglou and Celtic.

The 36-year-old believes that it will be ‘really difficult’ for the Hoops boss to decide who to omit, having backed the Japan international to come back in once fully fit, saying:

“It’s a really difficult one for Postecoglou.

“He’s got all these attackers doing well. Maeda, Jota, Giakoumakis, Abada – they’re all flying.

“It’s a tough side to break into. But I’m pretty sure that once he’s fully fit, he will break back in and find a place in that side.

“Whether he has to tweak the formation or someone has to sit out – I just think from what I’ve seen so far, Kyogo is a cut above the rest.

“With the options they’ve got at the moment they can afford to feed him in slowly and take their time, but when he’s fully fit – he has to play.”

The Verdict: Options

Furuhashi will more than likely take a while to get back up to speed in green and white, but having multiple options in attack could be vital for Postecoglou in the final games of the season.

The 27-year-old is still Celtic’s top scorer despite missing several months of action, so having Furuhashi on the bench over the coming weeks will be a massive boost for the Hoops.

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Postecoglou likes to switch things up anyway, so even when the Japanese star is fully fit, the likes of Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda should still get plenty of game-time.

In other news: Sources close to Celtic drop positive Karamoko Dembele update as contract deadline looms

	‘I got marginally better the more and more I bowled. It feels as though I’m getting better, and to get a five-wicket haul is great’ – Harmison © Getty Images

It’s never easy to tell what’s going through Steve Harmison’s head, but on a day when he produced his first five-wicket haul of the New Zealand tour, the good vibes were more clearly visible than usual. While his fellow bowlers succumbed to injury and illness – and in Chris Tremlett’s case, ended up being booked on a flight back to England – Harmison bowled ten overs off the reel to finish with figures of 5 for 100, a performance that sparked his side’s fightback against the New Zealand Select XI.Even so, Harmison has suffered too many barren days of late to allow one day of success to go to his head. “I got marginally better the more and more I bowled,” he said. “It feels as though I’m getting better, and to get a five-wicket haul is great. I’ve been in the country eight days, I’ve bowled in three innings and I’ve got eight wickets. There’s a lot of improvement to come from that, and hopefully it will carry on through the three Tests.”Harmison’s arrival in New Zealand was delayed by five days following the birth of his fourth child, Charlie, which put a significant dent in his preparation time, especially since he had not bowled competitively since the tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas. “I wouldn’t swap the world for coming here late,” he said, “but I am the sort of bowler that does take time to [get used to] being in a different country. I’ve acclimatised better than I thought.”Though he bowled with good rhythm and stamina in the Sri Lanka series, Harmison admitted his performances at the end of last year would count for little now. “It’s a new scenario and new pitches because I’ve had six weeks off,” he said. “But I feel in as good a shape as I’ve ever been. I had a good blowout after Christmas as everyone needed, but then I got into the gym and worked hard for five or six days a week. I’ve been working on my strength and stability, and I’m not as floppy as I used to be, and I feel as though that has shown today.”His rhythm and control was slightly awry at the start of today’s spell, but Harmison found his line and length as the innings went on. “I get better through lengthy spells,” he said. “I’m going to take each day as it comes, keep going and keep trying. I was picking things up and changing things the more the day went on, but today a few things clicked in my action and I came up with a few wickets.”To be tinkering with his approach so close to a Test match is far from ideal, but Harmison conceded that where his form is concerned, there’s no real alternative. “I’m as frustrated as anybody, but it’s the way I am and it’s not for want of trying,” he said. “I try my nuts off every time I go on the field. Sometimes at the top [of my action] things aren’t going right, but it’s at the top and you can’t drag it back. All I’ve ever done is to try my best on the field, and sometimes on trips things get better through time.”Harmison, however, admitted he wouldn’t find his full range until he takes the field at Hamilton for the first Test. “There’s still a bit more in there,” he said, “but that always comes with adrenalin, when you’re being watched by 10-15,000 people. The intensity always up when it’s a Test match and you’re representing England against another country. That’s not a negative thing, it’s just something you do as an individual, to lift that one or two percent more.”I bowled some quick balls, some good balls, and some bad balls as well,” he said. “but the more and more this trip has gone on there have been more good balls in an over than bad. I’ve got to be relatively happy.”He was also relatively happy with the way England’s warm-up match had panned out. “Sometimes you need days like that,” he said of England’s first-innings collapse. “If you bowl a team out for 80 and get 500 it’s a waste of time. You want to be tested and do a bit of soul-searching, lick your wounds and have a look deep inside. I think the majority of us have done that and it’s the ideal workout for Hamilton next week.”

Simon Katich will lead New South Wales against Tasmania © Getty Images

New South Wales will regain Simon Katich, their captain, for the Pura Cup final against Tasmania starting next Monday. Katich has recovered from an injured thumb and takes back the leadership from Dominic Thornely for the Hobart match.The Blues will hope Katich, who has averaged 74.77 this season, can add some stability to a batting line-up that collapsed for 53 against the Tigers last week. Matthew Nicholson, the veteran fast bowler, also returns to the squad having missed their last game as he and his partner prepared for the birth of twins.Beau Casson, whose seven Pura Cup games in 2006-07 have yielded a disappointing seven wickets at 72, makes way for Nathan Hauritz. Although Stuart MacGill has again been consistent, the Blues have struggled to draw results from their back-up spinners – Hauritz has three wickets at 58.66.Ben Rohrer, the batsman who made 163 on debut last week, retained his place in the 13-man outfit. Peter Forrest, who impressed in his first two matches, is also in the squad but could be the unlucky batsman to make way for Katich in the starting line-up.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Ed Cowan, Simon Katich (capt), Dominic Thornely, Ben Rohrer, Peter Forrest, Daniel Smith (wk), Grant Lambert, Moises Henriques, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Nicholson, Doug Bollinger, Stuart MacGill.

ScorecardNew South Wales’ campaign to retain the Pura Cup title hit a big hurdle today as Queensland piled up a huge 287-run first-innings lead. Martin Love’s 116 and half-centuries from Andy Bichel and Daniel Doran saw Queensland amass a mammoth 456 before Phil Jacques steered NSW to 1 for 63 by close of play on the second day at Brisbane. NSW will now have to bat out of their skins in the remaining two days to escape an outright defeat.Love, resuming on 77, lost his overnight partner Clinton Perren to Stuart MacGill the very next ball after bringing up his century. Soon MacGill struck again, trapping Love and Grant Lambert removed the next man in, Chris Hartley, to reduce Queensland to 6 for 268. But Bichel shared in two fifty-plus partnerships with Brendon Nash (42) and Doran to keep NSW hopes at bay. MacGill and Lambert shared seven wickets between them but the Queensland tail wagged – the last two wickets added 48 – to extend the agony for NSW.Jaques, who lost his opening partner Craig Simmons in the final over, guided NSW to stumps, remaining unbeaten on 37.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Once again it was Virender Sehwag who gave India the momentum© Getty Images

Virender Sehwag’s thrilling 173 gave India the ideal platform to bat Pakistan out of this Test match, but those that followed him showed a strange reluctance to put the boot in, as Pakistan’s bowlers – led most admirably by the tireless Danish Kaneria – fought to implement a damage-limitation plan. After an elongated first session produced 134 runs, 71 of them to Sehwag, India dawdled along for the rest of the day, adding only a further 129. All eyes were on Sachin Tendulkar, who got to within one big hit of a record-breaking 35th Test century before a loose stroke meant that the celebrations would have to be postponed to another day.Tendulkar’s was an innings in two parts. He had made just 8 when Rudi Koertzen reprieved him off Kaneria’s bowling, but thereafter, he was in sublime touch until lunch, driving, cutting and finessing the ball with a fluency that evoked memories of his halcyon years. But after the break, the fluid strokeplay was replaced by circumspection and excessive caution. And once Sehwag, with whom he added 118 in just 171 balls, departed, he and Sourav Ganguly – in dire form – struggled even to work the ball off the square for long periods.Besides their own lack of ambition, they were thwarted by the guile, variety and stomach for a fight that Kaneria displayed throughout the course of a marathon 32-over spell. Ganguly, usually so dismissive of slow bowling, scratched around painfully for a drab 21, while Tendulkar appeared content to tuck the bat behind the pad or tap away those deliveries that pitched in line. And when Kaneria went round the wicket, as Ashley Giles had done at Bangalore in December 2001, it gave the game of cat-and-mouse another dimension.For today, though, Ganguly was certainly the mouse to Kaneria’s cat, and a bat-pad catch to Salman Butt ended a miserable 74-ball struggle (382 for 4). Tendulkar, now joined by a subdued VVS Laxman, then eked his way into the nineties before the finest of paddle-sweeps – his first shot to the rope in 20 overs – took him to 94. But with Inzamam-ul-Haq finally opting for the new ball, 40 overs after it was due, that was as far as Tendulkar would get in attempting to go beyond the 34-ton stratosphere he now inhabits along with Sunil Gavaskar.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, subjected to fearful punishment by Sehwag, pitched one on off stump, and Tendulkar’s waft went low to Asim Kamal’s right in the gully. The near-capacity crowd was stunned into silence for a few seconds, before they roused themselves for the standing ovation which they had hoped would come a few minutes later.Laxman stroked three classy fours off Naved as the sun descended from its lofty perch, but those were isolated splashes of colour in a grey afternoon canvas.It had been so different in the morning. Sehwag had rapidly completed the formalities of a ninth Test century in only his 32nd match, when he cut a delivery past point off Naved. It had taken him just 129 balls, and included yet another moment of good fortune when an edge off Naved didn’t carry to Younis Khan at slip.In general, Pakistan bowled with far greater purpose and discipline early on, with Mohammad Sami especially impressive. Rahul Dravid could never recapture the form of yesterday, and moments after he had scampered the single that took him to 50, he slashed a Sami delivery to Kamal at gully (216 for 2).It was Dravid’s dismissal that served as a spur for Sehwag to pick apart the bowling once more. Naved was contemptuously swatted for two fours past point, and when the next ball was edged between the keeper and slip, Inzamam’s broad shoulders dropped even more. And when the next one was clumsily squeezed out just short of a dozing forward short leg it merely reaffirmed his worst fears.The pivotal moment, however, came when Kaneria, who had to wait 90 minutes to get a bowl, finally faced up to Tendulkar. The master announced his intent with a gorgeous cover-drive that sped to the fence, but was then flummoxed by a beautiful delivery that appeared to take a thick inside edge onto the pad before being grabbed by Kamal at silly point. Despite an impassioned appeal, Koertzen was unmoved.The introduction of Abdul Razzaq, who bowled 17 straight overs either side of lunch, was the signal to accelerate, with Sehwag slamming an audacious low six off the first ball he bowled. While Sehwag focused on picking off Kaneria’s offerings with consummate ease, Tendulkar concentrated his energies on Razzaq, stroking two glorious straight-drives, and a couple of magnificent off-drives.A sweetly timed sweep for four off Kaneria took Sehwag to 150, and minutes later, another lofted sweep sailed over the head of Salman Butt, hopelessly out of position and flailing like a drowning man on the square-leg boundary. It was exhilarating stuff, until lunch induced a torpor that couldn’t be shaken off.How they were out:

Cut a ball that was too close to his body, for Asim Kamal to take a straightforward chance at gully.
Mistimed a pull to deep mid-on.
Didn’t read the one that turned away from him, which went off pad onto the splice, and then into the hands of silly point.
Played away from the body – sliced to gully where Kamal took a fine catch diving low to his right.
A nothing shot that looped up to short square leg for the simplest of catches.

The ongoing saga of Stephen Fleming’s fitness took another twist when he was ruled out of playing for Wellington against Canterbury at the weekend following an examination by New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) medical experts.Fleming missed the recent tour of Pakistan after he failed to recover from a stomach-muscle strain picked up on the tour of India. Although NZC said that Fleming was not fit to play, it refused to rule him out of the reckoning for the first Test against Pakistan which starts on December 19. A spokesman said that Fleming experienced some discomfort during a range of stretching exercises and further investigations were planned.With Shane Bond and Nathan Astle confirmed non-starters, the selectors will hope that Fleming returns to boost the morale in a side which was hammered 0-5 in the just-completed one-day series in Pakistan. Although Chris Cairns led New Zealand in those matches, Craig McMillan is the favourite to captain the side should Fleming fail to recover in time.

Dialog GSM, Sri Lanka’s leading mobile phone operator, has signed a one-yeardeal with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) to becometheir official mobile communications supplier for the year 2002.The deal includes the provision of mobile phones to cricket board staffmembers and national players. In addition, the board will receive anundisclosed sponsorship fee.Apart from being granted official status, Dialog GSM pick up various cricketboard advertising properties, including two ground runners per internationalmatch.The agreement replaces a previous one-year deal with Mobitel, who had beenthe first mobile operator to tie-up with the cricket board.But Mobitel will still retain their foothold in the cricket market havingsigned up several leading Sri Lankan players, including captain SanathJayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan, for lucrativeendorsement deals.These existing contracts, due to run up until the 2003 World Cup, will notbe threatened by the Dialog GSM according to board sources. However,contracted players will not be able to sign endorsements deals with DialogGSM’s competitors.Dialog GSM will also become the official sponsor for the Under-19 cricketteam for a one-year period, with the highest profile event being theUnder-19 World Cup in New Zealand starting Monday.

A 185-run fifth wicket stand between Vijay Sai Suri (101) and Haroon Basha (97) helped Tamil Nadu take a 97 run lead over Hyderabad on the second day of their South Zone Cooch Behar Trophy (Under-19) tournament match at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad on Saturday. At stumps Tamil Nadu, after batting throughout the day, were 313 for 6.Resuming at the overnight score of 24 for 2, Tamil Nadu lost Sridhar (11) when he edged a catch to Ibrahim Khaleel off Nadeemuddin. This brought Vijay Sai Suri to the crease. He and Vasudeva Das took the score to 64 when Vasudeva Das departed after being run out by Nadeemuddin.Basha now joined Sai Suri and the two settled down to form their big partnership. Tamil Nadu went into lunch at 121 for 4. Both Sai Suri and Basha went past their fifties and the partnership progressed along smoothly. By tea, Tamil Nadu were 214 with both Basha and Sai Suri still batting confidently.The new ball was claimed in the 88th over and that brought some luck for Hyderabad as Basha departed after a partnership which lasted 70.1 overs. Basha faced 211 balls during his 236 minute stay at the crease and hit 14 boundaries. Shortly after, Suri reached his hundred but after facing 272 balls and hitting 12 boundaries, he was caught by Shashank Nag off Shiv Shankar.Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan (25) and G VIgnesh (32) then saw Tamil Nadu through the rest of the overs before stumps were drawn.

Manchester United were knocked out of the Champions League last night in a tight game against Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford, meaning that the side are now unable to win a single trophy this season.

The Red Devils have now been knocked out of the FA Cup, the Champions League and are currently 20 points behind their next door neighbours, Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, making it virtually impossible for the side to win the league this season.

Not even the advantage of being in front of their home fans could save Ralf Rangnick’s side from conceding defeat against Atletico, despite having a lot more more possession of the ball (60%) and more shots on target over the course of the game.

The blame lies in a poor performance from many individuals in the team who failed to step up in the season-defining game for Manchester United.

One player who failed to deliver on expectations was Bruno Fernandes, who was reintroduced into the team following his absence in the victory over Spurs through illness last weekend, and Rangnick clearly made a mistake going against his winning midfield from their previous encounter by starting the Portuguese player in the team last night.

According to SofaScore, Fernandes gave very little to his team during his 67 minute performance last night with no interceptions and no tackles as he lost 100% of his duels.

He was also unsuccessful in 100% of his dribbles, lost possession of the ball every 2 touches and was dribbled past once by an opponent.

The £100k-per-week dud was eventually benched to be replaced by French midfielder Paul Pogba in the second half.

However, it was too little too late for the German coach and his team, as they crashed out of the European competition, which means that superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo will go trophy-less for the first time in over a decade.

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The interim Manchester United boss will now have full focus on securing another chance in the Champions League next season for the club by securing a top-four spot in a tight race with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

They are currently fifth in the Premier League just one point behind the Gunners who have three games in hand on their competitors, so there will be no doubt there is still a huge challenge ahead for Rangnick and his team.

In other news: “Understand..” – Journo drops behind-scenes CR7 update, MUFC supporters surely fuming – opinion

	Justice John Hansen says Harbhajan Singh was cleared of racially abusing Andrew Symonds due to lack of evidence © Getty Images

Lack of sufficient evidence, a more rigorous judicial process and an inexplicable botch-up on the part of the ICC allowed Harbhajan Singh to get away with a 50% fine, it emerged after Justice John Hansen read out the reasons for his verdict a day after the hearing in Adelaide.Andrew Symonds’ inability to conclusively say whether Harbhajan Singh had used the word monkey or a Hindi abuse, and his admission that the language did not fall under the requirements of a level 3.3 offence played a crucial part.But Hansen also said Harbhajan had “reaped the benefit” of database and human errors, with his offence in November 2001 – when he was fined 75% of his match fee and given a suspended sentence of one Test – not being made available to the assisting counsel at the time of sentencing. He said he “would have required more extensive submissions as to the offence in mitigation, which could have led to a different penalty”.In a 22-page document that detailed the reasons for his decision, it emerged that Sachin Tendulkar’s word could have had a big role to play too. Unlike Mike Procter, who thought Tendulkar was not in a position to hear what was uttered, Hansen said “extensive video footage” establishes that Tendulkar “was within earshot and could have heard the words”.Tendulkar said he heard Harbhajan “use a term in his native tongue which appears to be pronounced with an “n”. He said this is a term that sounds like “monkey” and could be misrepresented for it.”Symonds couldn’t recall if he had heard Harbhajan use that particular Hindi abuse and accepted that it was a possibility. He also didn’t find favour with the judge with his explanation for abusing Harbhajan after he had patted Brett Lee on the back side. Symonds said he had objected because “a Test match is no place to be friendly with an opposition player” but Hansen dismissed that explanation (“If that is his view I hope it is not one shared by all international cricketers”).Michael Clarke’s account was critical, considering that it did not coincide favourably with the rest. “It is not without significance that the Australian players maintain other than Mr Symonds that they did not hear any other words spoken, only the ones that are said to be of significance to this hearing,” Hansen said.”This is a little surprising in the context where there was a reasonably prolonged heated exchange. Indeed Mr Clarke went so far as to say that he did not hear Mr Symonds say anything. Given Mr Symonds’ own acceptance that he initiated the exchange and was abusive towards Mr Singh, that is surprising. This failure to identify any other words could be because some of what they were hearing was not in English.”Hansen’s report included the statement of agreed facts that contained the signatures of the seven players concerned. He also pointed out to the “agreement” between Symonds and Harbhajan in Mumbai last year, adding that it was Symonds who had breached it by “provocative abuse”.Towards the end of his statement, though, Hansen admitted that the ICC had advised his assistant counsel, John Jordan, of only one of Harbhajan’s previous infractions, a Level 2.8 offence back in April 2003 when he made an abusive comment to an umpire. However, it was only after his verdict that Hansen was made aware of the three other cases involving Harbhajan.The first, a Level 1 offence in 1998, was overlooked because offences under the old Code of Conduct were not included in the ICC database. The second, a Level 1 offence in November 2005, was not made available because of a “human error”. Hansen said the extent of his punishment wouldn’t have changed even if he knew about the first two but added that knowledge of the third, a Level 2 offence in November 2001, “could have led to a different penalty”.Hansen denied any deal had been struck between legal counsel for the Australian and Indian players to downgrade the charge. He was also critical of all parties involved in the confrontation in Sydney, saying “their actions do not reflect well on them or the game”.