Newcastle have joined Manchester City and Aston Villa in the race to sign Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell. (Various)

Manchester City have been linked with Crewe left-back Billy Jones and MK Dons striker Izale McCleod. (Times)

Fulham midfielder Claus Jensen is eyeing a move to FC Copenhagen because of limited first-team chances. (Star)

Portsmouth plan a �1.5m swoop for West Brom midfielder Zoltan Gera. (Mirror)

Pompey expect to secure a permanent deal for Manuel Fernandes within the fortnight. The midfielder is currently on loan from Benfica. (Independent)

Falkirk are set to wrap up a deal for defender Cedric Uras. The 26-year-old Frenchman is a free agent. (Various)

Barcelona are still keen on Blackburn captain Lucas Neill. (Daily Mirror)

Marseille confirm Arsenal have held talks about a move for France international Franck Ribery. A deal could be done in January. (Star)

Cork City defender Danny Murphy wants to meet Motherwell manager Maurice Malpas before signing a pre-contract agreement. (Express)

England boss Steve McClaren is set to start with Scott Parker in a five-man midfield against Croatia. (Various)

Croatia could be kicked out of Euro 2008 if their fans flout anti-racism rules against England. (Various)

Croatia keeper Stipe Pletikosa and midfielder Luka Modric have accused McClaren of taking "boring" England backwards since taking over. (Various)

Rent-a-quote Pletikosa has also said Peter Crouch is the striker to fear and not "loose" Wayne Rooney. (Star)

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic wants England to play 3-5-2. (Daily Mail)

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has accused former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson of wrecking Manchester United striker Rooney's confidence. (The Sun)

Newcastle want �20m in compensation from the FA for the injury Michael Owen sustained at the World Cup. (Telegraph)

Goalkeeper Lewis Price and striker David Cotterill will replace Paul Jones and Robert Earnshaw to give Wales an even more youthful look. (Star)

Scotland assistant boss Tommy Burns has told his players they must not let the absence of Garry O'Connor upset their concentration against Ukraine. (Mirror)

O'Connor's former Hibs team-mate, Kevin Thomson, says the Awol striker "has the ability to be a world beater - if he could be bothered". (Record)

O'Connor failed to travel to Ukraine with the Scotland squad because he preferred to stay behind with his homesick fiancee. (Sun, Herald)

O'Connor was spotted drinking with friends in an Edinburgh pub called Walkabout the night before failing to turn up for Scotland training. (Mirror)

France defender Lilian Thuram believes Scotland have every chance of reaching the Euro 2008 finals. (Record)

Arsenal defender William Gallas is fit to play for France. (Guardian)

Steve Staunton fears his Republic of Ireland squad are "cursed" because of a lengthening injury list. (Independent)

Kenny Dalglish is being lined up to replace Sir Bobby Robson as an adviser to under-fire Staunton. (Various)

Staunton has been depicted as muppet Kermit the Frog in the press but has vowed to carry on in the job. (Sun)

Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez says expectation makes his side's task against Latvia harder than the weekend match in Denmark. (Times)

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is angry that Holland have not released striker Dirk Kuyt despite him being sidelined with an ankle injury. (Various)

Birmingham striker Niklas Bendtner and Aston Villa keeper Thomas Sorensen are out of Denmark's game in Liechtenstein with injury. (Various)

Midfielder Patrik Berger wants a new deal with Aston Villa. (Star)

France striker Nicolas Anelka has branded Bolton's style of play as "kick and rush" after five games with his latest club. (Daily Mirror)

Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is considering his future with Finland at international level. (Times)

Michael Ballack wants to finish his career with Chelsea. (Various)

Wembley's official price tag will go up to �791m after the FA agreed to pay �34m to Multiplex so the stadium can host this season's FA Cup final. (Express)

The consortium bidding to take over West Ham are attempting to win support by promising not to sack manager Alan Pardew. (Express)

Hibernian midfielder Guillaume Beuzelin could make his long-awaited comeback from injury against Falkirk reserves today. (Various)

Dunfermline Athletic captain Scott Thomson will be ruled out for another month after a setback in his battle with an Achilles injury. (Various)

Cardiff boss Dave Jones has played down reports he is set to take over at West Bromwich Albion. (Independent)

Millwall have asked Huddersfield for permission to speak to their manager Peter Jackson. (Telegraph)

And the Terriers boss is reported to be keen on a change of scene. (Times)

Southend deny Norwich the chance to speak to boss Steve Tilson. (Telegraph)

And that means Scunthorpe's Brian Laws is in pole position for the Norwich job. (Times)

Ahead of their meeting in France, both the France and Faroe Island camps are talking up...the Faroes. (Daily Record)

France skipper Patrick Vieira: "We can't afford to drop points but we need to score early to ease our nerves. Everyone assumes it will be six or seven-nil but often it doesn't work like that. It won't be easy - anything can happen."

Faroes striker Christian Jacobsen: "We came within a few minutes of getting a draw with Lithuania only to give a goal away in the last few seconds. We took encouragment from that and it won't be easy for France to get a goal."