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Worcestershire in trouble on 53 for 6 after home side race to 400 for 5 dec

ECB Reporters' Network22-May-2021

An unbeaten 177 from Ben Duckett and five wickets for Luke Fletcher at last gave spectators something to cheer on day three of Nottinghamshire’s weather-hit LV= Insurance County Championship match against Worcestershire.Duckett, who earned four Test caps in 2016, shared partnerships of 205 with allrounder Lyndon James, who made 78, and 142 with skipper Steven Mullaney, who smashed four sixes in a 73-ball 88 as Nottinghamshire racked up maximum batting bonus points.They then added two bowling points, reducing their opponents to 46 for 6 in a frenzied 85 minutes before the close, Fletcher taking 5 for 20 including three in the same over.Duckett’s hundred was his fifth for Nottinghamshire, his first of the season and his biggest for the county in the Championship, an innings that mixed some impressive conventional strokeplay from the punchy left-hander with some characteristic improvisation.Nottinghamshire declared on 400 for 5, after which Worcestershire lost former Notts opener Jake Libby to a brilliant one-handed catch by Ben Slater at short square leg off Fletcher, Tom Fell gloved one off Stuart Broad and Fletcher, bowling full and straight, dismissed Daryl Mitchell, Brett D’Oliveira and Riki Wessels in the space of five balls, all leg before, Mitchell offering no stroke.Related

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He completed his third five-wicket haul in consecutive matches when Jack Haynes went the same way.Only 95 balls could be bowled in the opening two days, and showers cost another 16 overs on Saturday, yet a positive result remains possible, if unlikely.It was hard to recall that Worcestershire, still without a Group One win, had reduced their opponents to 51 for 3 by taking three wickets in 28 balls in tricky conditions on a fragmented first day. By contrast, after Friday’s complete washout, Nottinghamshire enjoyed chanceless progress through the first two sessions, adding 99 before lunch and 105 in the afternoon, with Worcestershire’s bowlers unable to create meaningful pressure.James and Duckett overtook the 157 set by James Taylor and Riki Wessels at New Road in 2015 as the highest fourth-wicket stand for Nottinghamshire against Worcestershire but the 21-year-old, whose 10 boundaries brought him the third half-century of his fledgling career, fell soon after tea when he miscued a pull off Mitchell’s medium pace and was caught at extra cover.Duckett, whose first fifty came at a run a ball, posted his 19th career hundred off 126 balls as he swept D’Oliveira’s legspin for his 11th four, celebrating with two more boundaries in the over from reverse sweeps. He reached 150 off 175 balls, the innings containing 19 fours all told.

Heading into the new Premier League season, Chelsea were seen as the 'banter' club once again.

Why? Well, unless you've been living under a rock, Todd Boehly has waved his big fat chequebook around again to bolster his squad further.

New bodies were needed under Enzo Maresca and they have actually completed some impressive business this summer. Pedro Neto has long been sought-after by clubs in the Premier League. Tosin Adarabioyo was smart on a free transfer and Joao Felix is a pretty handy player.

Yet, it's the way in which they've handled player exits that defies belief. Academy graduates Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah were alienated from the first-team squad and the same treatment has been dished out to high-earner Raheem Sterling.

So, when the Blues tasted defeat against Manchester City on the opening weekend you feared the worst once again.

Fortunately, they have bounced back well, producing their best performance in many a month to dispatch Wolves 6-2 at Molineux on Sunday afternoon.

Chelsea's best player vs Wolves

There's no prize for guessing this one. Noni Madueke – who among the thrills and spills of this transfer window has been linked with an exit – scored a remarkable hat-trick during a frantic 14-minute period of football.

It was the first of his career and one that will likely now keep him at Stamford Bridge. Talk about timing. This Chelsea squad won't be easy to feature regularly in this season but the former PSV Eindhoven star has begun the season with some aplomb.

All three strikes were supplied by Cole Palmer, running Wolves ragged with a trio of goals that silenced a crowd who had been booing the winger due to comments on social media prior to the game.

His first may have been deflected beyond the goalkeeper by Rayan Ait-Nouri but there was no doubting the quality of the other two goals, firing beyond Jose Sa from very similar angles having been laid off by the inevitable Palmer.

That said, despite a rosy day for Chelsea, there was one notable underperformer in Blue.

Chelsea's worst player vs Wolves

Coming into this new campaign Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk was sporting a new head of hair. Gone were the luscious blonde locks. Instead, a skinhead had arrived back at Cobham, ready and raring to show something different on the pitch too.

Sadly, the mega-money signing during the winter of 2023 is still failing to produce the goods and is leaving fans to wonder why on earth they paid such a pretty penny to beat Arsenal to his signature.

Mudryk's lack of influence on the game was summed up by his withdrawal at the break. Maresca said after the game that he was "not happy" with his display in possession.

Why was that the case? Well, the stats do all of the heavy lifting for us. Inevitably producing fewer touches (13) than goalkeeper Robert Sanchez's 54, he left the pitch having mustered a tally of just five completed passes. From his low number of touches, he ceded possession on six occasions.

On that evidence, it's hardly a surprise the new manager was a bit fed up with the winger's performance.

Minutes played

45

Touches

13

Accurate passes

5/8 (63%)

Crosses

0/1

Key passes

0

Dribble attempts

1/2

Ground duels won

1/4

Aerial duels won

0/1

Possession lost

6x

Shots

0

To make matters worse he failed to carve out a single key pass on a day where Chelsea ran rampant. Mudryk also succeeded with just one of his two dribble attempts.

This was a particularly poor afternoon for the attacker who was given a hammering by the media post-game. Football.London's Bobby Vincent handed him a 5/10, lambasting his 'quiet' nature. GOAL were particularly scathing with reporter Mark Doyle suggesting it was a 0/10 display, writing that it was an 'embarrassingly ineffective display'. Tell us what you really think, eh?

So, with Neto champing at the bit for his first league start for Chelsea, Joao Felix recently signed and Christopher Nkunku also looking over his shoulder, it would not be a surprise to see Mudryk benched next time out.

Move over Madueke: 9/10 Chelsea ace was the real star for Maresca

Chelsea smashed Wolves 6-2 for Maresca’s first Premier League win.

ByConnor Holden Aug 25, 2024

Authorities await ICC accreditation for the venue ahead of IPL 2021 and T20 World Cup

Shamya Dasgupta05-Jul-2021

Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium has been busier than usual since the resumption of cricket after the Covid-19 hiatus around the middle of last year. It has hosted 81 ICC-approved games in the last 11 months, including franchise T10s and T20s, and there is a lot more lined up.It’s a lot of pressure on one cricket facility. As a result, Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) has had to expand, and has thrown open Tolerance Oval, a floodlit, broadcast-ready stadium, with five playing surfaces. The ICC accreditation isn’t there yet, but the authorities expect everything to be in place soon, in time for some of the 31 remaining matches of IPL 2021 in September-October, and then matches of the men’s T20 World Cup between October 17 and November 14.Related

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“If you speak to the best groundsmen in the world, they wouldn’t want more than five international matches on each of their surfaces. Our main stadium is now broadcast-ready for seven strips, and the Tolerance Oval is broadcast-ready as well with five strips. So we have 12 broadcast-ready strips, that’s 60 games,” Matt Boucher, ADC chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “Tolerance Oval is another international venue in the Emirates. It’s not a 20-25,000 capacity ground. We have modelled it on the English county grounds and the Hagley Oval [in Christchurch]; we have grass banks around the perimeter, so 12,000 people at the most.”At the moment, the UAE has the three main international venues, including the Dubai and Sharjah stadia. That aside, there is the ICC Academy ground, which, however, is not a night-playing alternative. Which makes Tolerance Oval, if approved by the ICC, the fourth night- and broadcast-ready ground in the region.”I can’t speak on behalf of the ICC, but from our perspective, we wanted to increase our infrastructure. Our business was very different two years ago. We were hosting a lot of junior sport, junior football and junior rugby, in our outer ovals. We made a dedicated decision at the beginning of this year that we wanted all our cricket facilities to return to cricket and be fully focussed on cricket,” Boucher said. “So we have overhauled everything, and it should be ready by the end of August.”It’s not with an event in mind, but for Abu Dhabi to offer a higher class of playing surfaces and dedicated cricket surfaces for the domestic community here and the international community too.”As such, Abu Dhabi has played its part well. No one venue has hosted more ICC-approved games than it has since June 2020 – though Dhaka’s Shere Bangla National Stadium has been marginally busier, having also been the primary venue for Bangladesh’s domestic matches.Sheikh Zayed Stadium has hosted 81 ICC-approved matches in the last 11 months•BCCI

“It has been an incredibly busy season since August last year. It’s all moved pretty smoothly, approvals have come in quickly, the ground has been in great shape, and yeah, it’s gone pretty well for us,” Boucher said. “Hopefully some more big months coming up with the remainder of the IPL and then the men’s T20 World Cup and then the Abu Dhabi T10 again. It’s been an exciting period.”Obviously, without the pandemic, we wouldn’t be hosting many of the events we just discussed. Around 18 months ago, we were generating our own events and conceptualising products with public and private stakeholders, because we were not reliant on the international events coming in. That sort of flipped on its head because of the pandemic, and all the international events we have hosted, in the most stringent and secure atmosphere we possibly can.”It will be interesting to see next year, how the bilateral season works at the end of the men’s T20 World Cup, there are a lot of countries, even a lot of Associate countries, who need to catch up on their cricket, who are behind on their FTP.”Tolerance Oval is not new to cricket. It has hosted a variety of cricket, and cricketers, but mainly as a training facility, for the UAE national team, English counties on their pre-season travels, as well as ‘A’ matches featuring Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, etc. It’s got a facelift now, but that doesn’t count as guarantee for anything when it comes to the ICC. It might continue to be a training facility for the teams playing in the IPL or the T20 World Cup, in terms of the immediate future, while games of the Abu Dhabi T10 league could well be played there.”We will wait for the lights to go in, probably some lights’ testing, probably some dimensions’ testing… and hopefully in six weeks’ time we will have the accreditation for that oval, and then it’s over to the decision-makers if they want to use it for any upcoming tournaments or whether we use it for practice,” Boucher said. “Either way, it’s a brilliant new facility. And just to have it for IPL practice and T20 World Cup practice alleviates some space on our other surfaces.”

The Victoria government has imposed a strict five-day lockdown due to a Covid outbreak starting on Friday night

Alex Malcolm and Daniel Brettig12-Feb-2021

Victoria and New South Wales are planning to push ahead with Monday’s Marsh Cup opener at North Sydney Oval despite difficulties in getting the Victoria side to Sydney following their state government’s decision to impose a strict five-day Covid lockdown starting at midnight on Friday.The Victorian government announced on Friday afternoon that the state would head into its third strict lockdown in 10 months following an outbreak of the new variant of Covid-19 from a quarantine hotel near Melbourne Airport.In response, the NSW government announced that any travellers arriving from Melbourne into NSW would be forced to undergo a five-day stay-at-home order in line with the Victoria lockdown.Related

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Restructured Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup to forge ahead

The decision by the Victorian state government forced a flurry of meetings at Cricket Australia and amongst the state cricket associations as the men’s 50-over Marsh Cup and Sheffield Shield were due to recommence next week while the women’s 50-over competition, the WNCL, was already in progress with Victoria and New South Wales playing the second of back-to-back matches at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Friday.The NSW women were able to secure a flight out of Melbourne on Friday night prior to the lockdown being imposed at midnight. But Victoria’s men’s team was unable to get on an early flight to Sydney ahead of Monday’s Marsh Cup match.On Friday evening, Cricket Victoria was still working with Cricket New South Wales and the Victoria and NSW state governments on the team’s travel plan to Sydney with the aim for the match to still go ahead. The team first needs government clearance to fly to Sydney and also needs to secure enough seats on a plane as the number of flights available between the two states changed due to the Victorian government’s lockdown. There is an expectation that the Victorian team will get clearance and be able to fly to Sydney on Sunday.The game is due to be Pat Cummins’ captaincy debut for NSW after he was named as the Blues’ Marsh Cup captain for the remainder of the season.Victoria and Australia batsman Will Pucovski is set to miss the Marsh Cup and Shield match that follows as he continues to struggle with his shoulder injury.Earlier this week, Cricket Australia announced a restructured Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup fixture for the remainder of the season despite some state border concerns already existing prior to the Melbourne outbreak.Only Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland were fixtured to play on resumption next week because the majority of Western Australia’s playing squad and coaching staff are stuck in mandatory 14-day home quarantine in Perth. The WA government has imposed a 14-day quarantine on travellers from states that have not been Covid-free for 28 days, meaning that the players and coaches involved with the Perth Scorchers in the BBL final in Sydney had to quarantine on return home.The WA team is due to travel to NSW for a Marsh Cup match on March 14 although the WA government’s quarantine requirements for travellers from NSW will be dropped between now and then should NSW remain Covid-free.Victoria’s women are due to head to WA for a WNCL match on March 18 while the men are due to travel to WA for a Shield match on March 23. The WA government has reinstated a hard border with Victoria meaning no travellers can enter without police clearance, and any exempt travellers with clearance would be required to do 14-days hotel quarantine.Victoria coach Chris Rogers spoke early on Friday morning prior to the announcement of Victoria’s five-day lockdown and expressed concern about whether the season could be completed in full.”We’re worried about the fact that we might not get games in,” Rogers said. “There’s probably an expectation or at least some wriggle room around the fact that we might have some games cancelled.”It’s probably up to me and the coaches to prepare players to play and what will be will be. We just have to roll with the punches as a lot of sports have done and take what comes.”You’d love for every game to go ahead but one of our last games is against Western Australia in Perth so that’s going to be touch and go. We’ll have to see how that plays out.”

Alan Shearer believes Thomas Tuchel will try to gauge Arsenal star Ben White's interest in returning to the England squad when he takes over.

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• White hasn't played for England since 2022
• Didn't want to be considered for Euro 2024
• Tuchel set to take over from Lee Carsley

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  White made it clear to former England head coach Gareth Southgate that he didn't want to be considered for selection earlier this year, which led to the Arsenal star not being considered to play at Euro 2024. While there is fierce competition to start at right-back for the Three Lions, White's form for the Gunners over the past three years, plus his versatility, means he would likely become a regular in the squad should he make himself available again.

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  Southgate's exit means a fresh era for England, which will be led by incoming boss Thomas Tuchel. It's not clear yet whether White has any interest in representing his country again but former England striker Shearer believes the German will try to have a conversation with the 27-year-old defender to understand his stance on a recall to the squad.

• WHAT SHEARER SAID

  "With Thomas Tuchel taking charge in the New Year, I wonder if it is a chance to see Ben White come back into the England fold," Shearer told Betfair.

  "White’s situation is a strange one, and I for one don't know the background; we all hear different rumours as to why he left the England camp or why he doesn't want to be selected, but I don't know whether they're true.

  "I suspect that Thomas Tuchel will want to have a conversation with Ben or Arsenal and try to find out why he doesn't want to be selected if that is the case. If Ben doesn't, then you must respect that, and that doesn't mean I agree with it, but you have to respect it.

  "Thomas Tuchel will likely have a conversation with him and see whether he's open to coming back into the squad."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?

  Interim head coach Lee Carsley will oversee the upcoming Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland before Tuchel begins his new role in January. England will appear for the first time under the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss next March.

It's been just over a month since the transfer window opened at Euro 2024 kicked off, but with the latter now over, we can expect to see more movement in the coming weeks.

Tottenham Hotspur have already made a splash in the market this summer when they spent £30m on Leeds United wonderkid Archie Gray, but a more established star they have been linked to is Spanish international Dani Olmo.

The Spaniard enjoyed a spectacular Euros, and as such, the Lilywhites might now find it harder to convince him to move to N17.

However, that may not be an issue, as based on recent reports, Daniel Levy and Co appear to have identified another exciting attacker who could be their answer to the RB Leipzig ace.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Tottenham are interested in Fenerbahçe star Sebastian Szymanski this summer.

The report has revealed that the Lilywhites have already sent scouts to watch him play for the Turkish giants, and while they do not want to sell him, a fee in the region of €30m, which is about £25m, would be enough.

It would still be a sizable investment in a player with no experience in a top-five league, but based on his recent performances and his potential, £25m could look like a bargain – especially if signing him negates the need for Olmo.

How Szymanski compares to Olmo

Now, the primary reason that Spurs may see the signing of Szymanski as a reason to call off any interest in Olmo is that, like the Polish international, the Spaniard can play on the left or right and in attacking midfield.

In fact, throughout his career, he has started 131 games in attacking midfield, 43 on the left and 42 off the right. Similarly, the Fenerbahçe star has started 162 games in attacking midfield, 46 between right wing and midfield and 28 between left wing and midfield.

So, if they're able to occupy similar spaces on the pitch, who has been more productive?

Well, last season, the Leipzig star scored eight goals and provided five assists in just 25 games, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.92 games.

In contrast, the "exceptional" 25-year-old, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, scored 13 goals and provided 19 assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.71 games.

Appearances

55

25

Goals

13

8

Assists

19

5

Goal Involvements per Match

0.58

0.52

It's not just the attacking output that could make the Sarı Kanaryalar star a more attractive prospect, either.

Across his entire career to date, he has missed just 15 games through injury, whereas the Spaniard has missed a whopping 68 games to date.

Ultimately, Olmo would be an incredible signing for Spurs, but with his injury record hanging over him, their similar levels of output and wildly different prices, picking up Szymanski may be the better option.

Therefore, if Levy and Co have the opportunity to secure his services this summer, they must seize it.

Spurs move to repeat Gray masterclass for "special" £35m "entertainer"

The impressive youngster could be just as promising as the former Leeds United ace.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Jul 13, 2024

Celtic are locked in talks as they aim for a significant discount on their first signing of the summer, it has been revealed.

Bhoys aiming up

Despite being crowned double winners in their first season, Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side are keen to push on after a less-than-vintage Scottish Premiership season.

Celtic plotting £10m offer to sign "world-class" player for Rodgers

There may well be a problem, though.

By
Ben Browning

Jun 5, 2024

They are hoping to add Adam Idah to their ranks on a permanent basis, and will also be in the hunt for a new no.1 goalkeeper after Joe Hart announced his retirement. But there is another deal that they are looking to complete first.

Celtic hunting Bernardo bargain

Now, it has emerged that the Scottish champions are hoping to snag a bargain for loanee Paulo Bernardo, who is keen to extend his time at Parkhead.

The midfielder spent the season on loan with Celtic, making 33 appearances across all competitions. There was a £6.4m option to buy the Portuguese U21 international inserted into the loan deal, but that was not taken up by the Hoops.

That is because they are hoping to strike a deal on far more favourable terms, with Benfica not keen on keeping Bernardo. To that end, The Sun have relayed claims that the two sides are in discussions over a deal that would begin at less than half of the option to buy.

They report that there are talks over a deal worth an initial £3m, with potential add-ons taking the move to £3.5m should they be activated. Any deal would have the support of fans, players and ex-players alike.

Former Celtic defender Mark Wilson admitted that though he was sceptical at first of the loanee, the Portugual youngster had changed his opinion over the course of the season.

"I wasn’t having him. He played in big games but I just didn’t see him do anything."

“He would run about, hardly get involved or hardly get a touch of the ball. He wouldn’t tackle and you’d see him almost get close to somebody, it almost looked like he was running on treacle.

“But the game at Dens Park, he looked like a player. He gets his goal, maybe a wee bit fortuitous. But after that he’s been great, he’s been brilliant."

Meanwhile, Bernardo is popular in the dressing room too, with Callum McGregor revealing he hoped a move was made permanently for the 22-year-old.

"Paulo has been an important player for us. He has big technical quality and he's a young kid who wants to do well. That's the type of profile we want at the club. Hopefully we can bring him back", he explained.

It remains to be seen whether a deal can be done for such a small fee, but it seems likely that Celtic can certainly bargain the price down from the initial £6.4m if they really want Bernardo this summer, making this one to watch.

Carlos Corberan showed last season that he won't hesitate in giving youth a chance at the Hawthorns, exemplified in the quick rise of Tom Fellows in the West Bromwich Albion first-team.

The homegrown Baggies product ended up amassing five goals and four assists from 39 games in all competitions, after being given his first big break in the senior mix throughout the course of 2023/24, with Fellows wanting to push on even more next season to cement his spot in Corberan's XI.

Another and-coming West Brom youngster could well use Fellows' jump up to the first-team as a source of inspiration, therefore, with the talent in question a deadly finisher of chances playing out on loan in the EFL last campaign.

Modou Faal's numbers last season

Playing in the lower depths of the four divisions with both Doncaster Rovers and Walsall last time out, it could be an almighty leap for Academy prospect Modou Faal to make next season pushed into the deep end of the Championship, but one he could adjust to over time judging by his goalscoring numbers in League Two.

The promising 21-year-old would bag 15 strikes from 53 overall games for his two loan employers, to further live up to his billing as being a prolific attacker when playing youth football for West Brom, as was seen in his previous 14 goals from 33 appearances in the U21 set-up.

Fellows also benefitted from being loaned out to Crawley Town early in his development as a young starlet learning the ropes, whilst Albion also struck gold on Brandon Thomas-Asante, when signing him from League Two Salford City back in 2022, to then become Corberan's main man up top.

Yet, the 25-year-old's lack of potency in front of goal towards the back end of West Brom's promotion push last campaign would have really irked those at the Hawthorns, with the 5 foot 11 striker only registering a meagre two goals from his final 11 appearances, which included two anonymous showings in both play-off matches against Southampton.

This could result in Faal being given more chances to come, as a rival to Thomas-Asante's first-team spot, as Corberan aims to find his next breakout talent akin to Fellows.

How Faal compares to Thomas-Asante

Like Faal will be looking towards the aforementioned Fellows as a figure he will want to replicate, he will also look to Thomas-Asante, who had to rough out in League Two similarly, before being given a shot in the Championship.

Faal's 15 goals in all competitions last season playing for his two loan sides actually betters any goal return the ex-Salford man mustered up whilst still playing in Greater Manchester, which shows that the 21-year-old could be fast-tracked to the first-team shortly, to see if he can handle the step-up in quality already.

Faal

23/24

53

15

2

BTA

22/23

7

5

2

BTA

21/22

43

13

4

BTA

20/21

49

6

3

BTA

19/20

27

6

4

Looking at the table above, Thomas-Asante has never quite been a deadly finisher, even during his Salford education, whilst Faal could go on to explode into life in the senior team at West Brom, based on his encouraging output last season.

Described as a talent who could go on to be "unplayable" by Donny manager Grant McCann, Corberan will hope Faal can be another exciting prospect that can offer West Brom depth ahead of the new second-tier campaign.

With a lack of reserve strikers at the Spaniard's direct disposal, as Andreas Weimann is no longer on the books after a forgettable loan spell, an injection of youth could be even more well-needed.

Corberan could soon sell West Brom star who earns 2x more than Johnston

West Bromwich Albion could look to offload this star in the summer who earns more than Mikey Johnston.

ByKelan Sarson Jun 19, 2024

The winger buried his 26th and 27th goals of the season in a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay

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Markanich scored in 37th minute to set recordAdded a second goal to equal franchise markSet to move to Spanish side CD Castellon in JanuaryWHAT HAPPENED?

After one of the most prolific goalscoring seasons in USL Championship memory, Markanich set the record he has been chasing all season. The Battery star found the net for the 26th time this season, marking his memorable campaign with a clinical left-footed volley into the bottom corner to lead his side to a playoff-clinching victory. He added a second after the break, finding the same spot of the net to tie the Battery’s all-time club record for most goals in a single season (all competitions), matching Paul Conway’s mark of 27 in 2001.

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Markanich's quality has seen him earn a European move. The forward flirted with a potential MLS switch at the end of last season but opted to stay at Charleston with the goal of competing for a championship. His patience seemed to pay off, with Segunda Division CD Castellon seeking his services and agreeing on a six-figure deal with the forward that will see him move to Iberia on the conclusion of the season.

DID YOU KNOW?

The USL single-season record has been broken twice in the last six years. Cameron Lancaster of Louisville set a mark of 25 in 2018, before Colorado Springs' Hadji Barry equalled it in 2021.

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WHAT MARKANICH SAID

The forward offered insight into breaking the record in a post match interview: "I'm glad I did it at home. I didn't mean to. It feels amazing. Like I've been saying all season, it's all credit to my teammates, setting me up in the right positions. I just do my movements in the box and they find me."

Phil Parkinson has addressed talk of Wrexham requesting more funds from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in order to dip into the free agent pool.

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• Red Dragons flying high in third tier table
• Hollywood co-owners funding project
• Two places left in Parkinson's squad

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Dragons are flying high in the League One table five games into the 2024-25 campaign. They have taken another step up the EFL ladder with apparent ease, having completed more shrewd recruitment business in the summer transfer window.

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  They do, however, still have two free spaces in their 22-man squad – with only players over the age of 21 having to be included on that list. That has led to suggestions that business at SToK Racecourse may not be finished yet, with another youngster – former Manchester City academy graduate Josh Adam – being taken on trial.

• WHAT PARKINSON SAID

  Parkinson has said in when asked about more potential arrivals in North Wales: “At the moment we will roll with what we have got. We have got some good players who haven't figured much yet so we don't want to bring someone in for the sake of it. We have had young Josh Adam in from Manchester City on trial. He is a player we would like to keep because he has got real talent but in terms of a senior player coming in at the moment, we have got enough of those fighting for places.”

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  WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

  Hollywood co-owners Reynolds and McElhenney have continued to make the money available that has allowed a fiercely-competitive squad to be assembled. The expectation is that they will spend again in January if Wrexham find themselves in contention for back-to-back-to-back promotions.