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Domestic cricket in Bangladesh should be scheduled during the cooler part of the year, and venues must have better facilities, the former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mashud has urged

Mohammad Isam22-May-2017Domestic cricket in Bangladesh should be scheduled during the cooler part of the year, and venues must have better facilities, the former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mashud has urged. Mashud has asked the BCB to make these changes after many players suffered in the ongoing heat wave across the country.In the 2016-17 season, the National Cricket League first-class tournament began in September but took a break to accommodate the Bangladesh Premier League T20 competition, which was held from November 8 to December 9. The NCL ended after a second phase that stretched from December 20 to January 6.The Bangladesh Cricket League, the four-team first-class competition, then took place from January 28 to March 8. The Dhaka Premier League, which began this season on April 12 and is likely to end in mid-June, has a history of scheduling delays as the major clubs want the top cricketers to participate in the List A competition. Since September last year, the Bangladesh team has been busy playing home or away, so it was hard for the BCB to make the clubs agree to start the DPL in March, when the top cricketers were in Sri Lanka.Mashud, who is also Prime Bank Cricket Club’s coach, said the major domestic competitions such as the DPL and the two first-class competitions must be completed by mid-April.”Implementing the domestic calendar during the season is everyone’s priority,” Mashud wrote in a Facebook post. “It won’t be possible to hold back the [Dhaka Premier] league this season but these concerns should be addressed ahead of the next season. I would urge the BCB to finish the longer-version and one-day competitions by mid-April. They can think of a T20 tournament when the weather gets hotter. I believe such a step will help Bangladesh cricket.”The temperature in Bangladesh touched 38 degrees last week. Mashud cited the examples of Gazi Group batsman Jahurul Islam and Prime Bank wicketkeeper Zakir Hasan, who suffered severe cramps during DPL matches. Zakir was particularly affected during Prime Bank’s May 21 match against Gazi Group Cricketers, suffering seizures despite being given an ice massage in the dressing room. He still hasn’t recovered from his cramps.The DPL has had to deal with other issues too. Avishek Mitra, the Mohammedan Sporting Club batsman, suffered a hamstring injury at the BKSP ground, where there was no ambulance to take him for treatment. In the end, the team had to improvise and use a cycle-van.Mashud also pointed out the effect of power failures, at the BKSP and Fatullah grounds, on players.”Like every other place in the country right now, power failure is also affecting the stadiums,” he wrote. “Cricketers don’t get adequate rest after returning from fielding for 50 overs. While there are generators in place for international matches, it is not the case for domestic games.”It is quite embarrassing to find such a situation in the only List A tournament in the country in which local and foreign stars participate. A bigger challenge awaits from May 24 when the Super League begins. Ramadan is also starting on May 27 which is a major concern for me as a coach.”

Bayern Munich will not sack Thomas Tuchel in the wake of their 3-2 loss to Bochum, but CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen refused to offer the board's support.

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• Bayern beaten for third time in a row
• Tuchel under fire after another loss
• CEO says he will be in charge next week

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Bayern found themselves 3-1 down at Bochum in a match that was interrupted on two occasions because of fan protests. Kane managed to pull a goal back late on for the German giants, but he could not prevent his team from losing a third consecutive match. Coach Tuchel has come under pressure amid the reigning Bundesliga champions' miserable run, and reports he is not considering resigning and has been assured that he will not be fired.

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  WHAT DREESEN SAID

  Asked by if Tuchel will be sacked, Dreesen said: "It was clear that this question was coming, it had been looming for some time. I don't believe in these monstrous statements of support for coaches. I've already said something about this, but it's not a question that arises for us today. We have to concentrate on the next games.

  "I know how you want to hear it. I can say it that way too. But these vows of loyalty are usually over after a week, so I say it in my own way. I've said before – and I'll even repeat myself – that's not an issue we're currently dealing with."

  When he was asked if Tuchel will still be in charge next week, Dreesen said: "Of course!"

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bayern's misery began when the Bavarian side were outclassed in a 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen – in which they failed to have a shot on target – last week. They followed that up with another disappointing performance in the Champions League, losing 1-0 to Lazio in the first leg of their last-16 tie. The loss at Bochum now leaves Bayern eight points behind Leverkusen in the Bundesliga table.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BAYERN?

  Bayern have another difficult test coming up as they take on RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on February 24. Leipzig put up a good fight when they came up against Real Madrid in the Champions League during the week, though they ended up losing 1-0, and followed that up with a 2-0 win against Borussia Monchengladbach to keep them fifth in the league.

Lucas Ocampos was poked in the bum by a fan during a game at Rayo Vallencano, with the Sevilla star urging La Liga to take the incident “seriously”.

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• Incident occurred during first-half
• Reported to the match referee
• Authorities now set to investigate

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The bizarre incident occurred in the 33rd minute of a Spanish top-flight fixture at Estadio de Vallecas. Ocampos was poked by the supporter in question as he prepared to take a throw-in. He turned to remonstrate with the individual involved before notifying the match referee of what had happened.

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• WHAT SEVILLA SAID

  Sevilla have said in a statement on the club’s : “We would like to place on record our disgust at the incident. Lucas Ocampos was subjected to an obscene and completely inappropriate act by a home fan. We hope that the appropriate measures outlined in the regulations will be taken to prevent such behaviour from happening again on a football field, and we have expressed this to La Liga directly.”

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Ray Vallecano added in a statement of their own: “This isolated action is solely the individual responsibility of the fan who carried it out. Rayo Vallecano is currently working to identify the fan so that, if he is a season ticket holder of the club, the appropriate disciplinary measures can be taken in accordance with the internal regulations.”

Manchester United were slammed by Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp and Gary Neville following their defeat to Nottingham Forest.

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• United suffer defeat at City Ground
• Pundits slam disappointing performance
• Ten Hag under increasing pressure

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Devils suffered their ninth Premier League loss of the season at the hands of Nuno Espirito Santo's side on Saturday. Nicolas Dominguez netted the game's opening goal at the City Ground, with Marcus Rashford equalising 12 minutes from time. Unfortunately for the under-pressure Erik ten Hag, Morgan Gibbs-White would later earn Forest all three points with a fine finish from the edge of the box.

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  WHAT JAMIE REDKNAPP SAID

  Analysing the game for Sky Sports after the final whistle, Redknapp revealed that he was not impressed with United's performance. "Manchester United are so inconsistent. They are horrible to watch. They have no real appetite, desire, it looks like they are playing under duress. There's not enough ambition or desire," the former Liverpool midfielder said.

• WHAT GARY NEVILLE SAID

  Neville, who was commentating on the game, was equally unimpressed. "Manchester United are back to what they are – inconsistent and awful. They walk off the pitch a defeated bunch. United fans behind the goal will go off so disappointed. But let's not forget about Nottingham Forest who have been absolutely wonderful today," he said.

  He added: "I'm not really sure what this Manchester United team is.' He continued. 'It's a very difficult watch. I think everyone accepted that Erik ten Hag did a very good job in his first season. With the new ownership, Sir Dave Brailsford's going to be on a watching brief, week in, week out now. We're going to see him appear there in the directors' box. He's going to look at what this club is, on and off the pitch. What he's seeing at this moment in time he isn't going to like, along with all the fans behind the goal who travelled to Nottingham today.

  "Ten Hag needs his players back – [Lisandro] Martinez, [Harry] Maguire, Casemiro, [Rasmus] Hojlund, Luke Shaw… and he needs to somehow finish the season strongly. But it's been a really up-and-down season. It's more down than up. Some of these performances are really, really poor. Well below anything that should be required at this level."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The result leaves United in seventh heading in 2024. They are nine points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal – and that gap will increase if the Gunners gain a positive result against Fulham on Sunday. Perhaps more worrying has been the team's startling lack of goals, with struggling Luton Town netting once more than the Red Devils this season.

Delhi’s bowlers shot out the opposition for 86 within 25 overs to win by an innings and book their team’s spot in the title bout

Arun Venugopal in Pune19-Dec-2017Gautam Gambhir plays through the off side•AFP

On a day when fast bowlers on both the sides produced game-altering spells, it was Bengal’s freefall with the bat that had them plummet to a defeat by an innings and 26 runs in Pune. After Mohammed Shami’s 6 for 122 limited Delhi’s lead to 112 runs, Delhi’s bowlers shot the opposition out for 86 within 25 overs to book their team’s spot in the final. Bengal’s batting line-up was spliced open by Navdeep Saini and Kulwant Khejroliya, who relied as much on their red-hot pace as the batsmen’s muddled thinking as they helped themselves to four wickets each. All of Saini’s dismissals – Sudip Chatterjee, captain Manoj Tiwary, Aamir Gani and B Amit – were bowled. Saini knocked over Gani and Amit off successive deliveries that registered speeds of 140 kph and 144 kph respectively. He finished with seven wickets in the match.While Saini and Khejroliya spearheaded Delhi’s raid, it was Vikas Tokas who set it up with Abhishek Raman’s dismissal in the third over. Bowling from wide of the crease, Tokas slanted one in and Raman, beaten for pace, was pinged on his back leg and adjudged lbw. “Beaten for pace” soon became a recurring theme, as Bengal slipped from 32 for 1 to 44 for 5. Much as Saini and Khejroliya were threatening, Bengal didn’t do themselves any favours. Abhimanyu Easwaran was let off twice – on 6 and 13 – when first Saini put down a simple caught and bowled chance and then Kunal Chandela dropped him at midwicket. But Easwaran returned the gift by pulling one straight to Chandela off the next delivery, and froze in disbelief.Saini then broke through Sudip’s defence to clean him up. While a delivery that kept low could be held up as a mitigating factor in his case, there could possibly be no reasonable explanation for Writtick Chatterjee’s run-out. Having completed an easy single, Tiwary set off for the second after the throw at the non-striker’s end headed towards the fielder backing up at square leg. Even as Writtick yelled out a loud “no”, Tiwary kept going and Writtick eventually sacrificed his wicket. A little over two overs later, Anustup Majumdar nicked one down the leg side, which was followed by Tiwary being knocked over by a scorching Saini delivery that straightened after pitching on the fuller side of length to clatter into the top of off.Seven overs later, Bengal’s innings had come to an end, with Shami unbeaten on 13, probably wondering why he was faced with the situation he found himself in. He had good reason to feel aggrieved considering his part in keeping Bengal in the match with blistering spells on either side of lunch. He bowled 39 overs in the innings – the most by a Delhi bowler. In the morning, Shami put the second new ball to good use almost right away, pegging Nitish Rana in front of the stumps. Rana was a touch unlucky though, as the ball had pitched outside leg stump. Ashok Dinda matched Shami’s act by having Delhi captain Rishabh Pant lbw in the next over. With Delhi having slipped to 281 for 5, it looked like they would fail to capitalise on the advances made on Monday.However, Himmat Singh (60 off 115 balls) ensured that the lower order wouldn’t fold easily. He first put on 47 with Manan Sharma, who made 34 off 33 balls, before raising a 56-run stand with Tokas, who gritted out 10 off 51 balls. The defining feature of their batting was the spunk they displayed in the face of some scorching short-pitched bowling from Dinda and Shami. The batsmen ducked and weaved awkwardly and even got hit, but refused to give in. In the face of such bowling, you can bat for long enough to be bruised in the quest for runs or wilt cheaply as a unit – Delhi and Bengal represented both ends of the spectrum.

Malik Tillman missed out on PSV's routine Eredivisie win over Almere after being punished by head coach Peter Bosz

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• USA international joined PSV from Bayern Munich on loan at the start of the season
• Tillman has struggled somewhat to make an early impact at the Eredivisie giants
• Dropped for latest league game after oversleeping

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  What happened?

  USMNT starlet Malik Tillman missed PSV's 4-0 Eredivisie win over Almere City on Saturday after being dropped by head coach Peter Bosz for failing to show up on time.

  The attacking midfielder was hopeful Bosz would forgive him for the incident, but the PSV boss was having none of it.

  "Tillman overslept, so I decided to leave him at home," Bosz told reporters.

  "I think there's not a single coach out there where you get away with that.

  "He was keen to join the team regardless, but I told him there was no need for it. He will be back in training on Sunday."

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• The bigger picture

  Tillman joined PSV from Bayern Munich on a one-year loan deal at the start of the season, but he has found it hard to make an impact so far due to the stiff competition for places.

  He scored on his Eredivisie debut on September 2, finding the net in a 4-0 win over RKC, but has featured for just 18 minutes in the Dutch top flight so far.

  Bosz has so far preferred the likes of Ismael Saibari and Guus Til over the 21-year-old in the No.10 role.

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  And what's more

  Fellow USMNT star Ricardo Pepi enjoyed a far more successful evening as he netted his second Eredivisie goal of the 2023-24 campaign, firing home his side's fourth late on.

  Pepi has now scored three times in eight appearances in all competitions for PSV after joining them from Augsburg in July.

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• Did you know?

  PSV have three USMNT internationals on their books this season.

  Pepi and Tillman are being accompanied by Barcelona loanee Sergino Dest, with the full-back returning to the Eredivisie after coming through the ranks at Ajax.

Vernon Philander will work on his conditioning ahead of a packed home summer scheduled to feature 10 Tests, including two four-match series against India and Australia

Firdose Moonda at Old Trafford07-Aug-20171:54

Du Plessis challenges Philander to prove fitness

Vernon Philander will work on his conditioning ahead of a packed home summer scheduled to feature 10 Tests, including two four-match series against India and Australia, for which South Africa want him to be fully available.Philander struggled with a comeback from an ankle injury and a viral ailment in the first and third Tests in England respectively and then sat out the fourth with a back concern. He came under severe criticism from his former captain Graeme Smith and his current skipper Faf du Plessis has also weighed in, urging Philander to focus on his fitness.”It’s fair that you need to play a lot of cricket for your country and be available for selection and Vern accepts that,” he said. “If you’re only playing one or two Test matches and then off for one or two… there have just been too many times when we as a team go, gulp, ‘Vern might be injured again’. So he’s taken it on board from a fitness point of view.”We have important series coming up, not that we play series that are not important, but India and Australia at home, it’s eight Test matches and he needs to be fit to get through all of them.”Philander’s value to South Africa was underlined in the second Test when he turned in a Man of the Match performance at Trent Bridge. South Africa were depending on him as they sought the series lead at The Oval and though he bowled well on an opening day interrupted by toilet breaks, the rest of his participation was limited. He spent a second night in hospital and though he returned to bat, could not bowl as much as needed in the second innings in conditions that would have been perfect for him.Then, just as South Africa thought they would have Philander back for their must-win game at Old Trafford, he pulled up with back spasms, which left Smith fuming and du Plessis frustrated.”The last I spoke to you, I said he’s just got to do a small fitness test but he’ll be fine. So when he woke up with a stiff back the next morning it was frustrating,” du Plessis said. “For us to have competed and to win Test matches we needed Vern, you need your best players. Duanne bowled well this game but Vern is one of the best in these conditions, probably the best in seaming, swinging conditions which has been the case in all four Test matches, so not having him here was very frustrating and disappointing.”Philander played in all 11 Tests – two against New Zealand at home, three against Australia away, three against Sri Lanka at home and three against New Zealand away – prior to this series, but he struggled with injury in the early part of his career. He had injuries in three of his first four series – a knee, back and hamstring problem – before tearing ankle ligaments in India in November 2015 that kept him out of action for nine months. Philander has admitted it took time for him to fully trust the ankle again and it would not have helped that he injured the other one in the lead-up to this series.Given that he only plays one format at international level, Smith pointed out that Philander does not always have the benefit of a team trainer to put him through his paces. He has had to take that responsibility for himself and du Plessis said Philander has committed to doing more. “It is a challenge for Vern because it’s happened too often that he doesn’t play a full series. I’ve spoken to him about that and he’s accepted the challenge and that he needs to improve that.”

Steve O’Keefe has been banned from this year’s domestic limited-overs competition by New South Wales and fined for the second time in eight months

Daniel Brettig07-Apr-2017Steve O’Keefe has been banned from this year’s domestic limited-overs competition by New South Wales and fined $20,000 by Cricket Australia for making highly offensive comments while intoxicated at the after-party following the Steve Waugh Medal presentation.In what was his second alcohol-related offence in the past nine months – he was fined $10,000 and handed an infringement notice by NSW Police for an incident at a Sydney pub last year after returning home injured from the Test tour of Sri Lanka – O’Keefe is believed to have made a string of offensive remarks after the awards ceremony, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney on Saturday night.Having performed so well for Australia on the recent tour of India, O’Keefe now finds himself on exceedingly thin ice with both his state and the national team. O’Keefe said he would seek specialist counselling in the wake of the episode.”At an official Cricket NSW function I became intoxicated and made highly inappropriate comments. There is no excuse for this and I take full responsibility and offer an unconditional apology,” O’Keefe said in a statement. “I accept the sanctions imposed by Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW and welcome the chance to receive specialist counselling.”I have a big challenge ahead and I am determined to meet it with actions, not just words. To all of the members of the cricket family I love and respect so much, again, apologies for letting you down.”Senior officials from both Cricket NSW and CA were furious at O’Keefe’s behaviour, particularly after he worked assiduously and well to prepare himself for the India tour, where he was among Australia’s most accomplished performers.”Stephen has not upheld the standards expected of a NSW and Australian cricketer in the aftermath of the India tour where he proudly represented his state and country,” NSW chief executive Andrew Jones said. “As this is his second recent offence we believe a strong penalty is appropriate. At Cricket NSW, we want all our people to achieve their potential on and off the field and Stephen needs to refocus himself on that task.”Pat Howard, the CA team performance manager, said the incident overshadowed what had been a most productive season for O’Keefe. “There is no time or place for unacceptable behaviour from any of our players in Australian Cricket, and we continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to this,” he said.”We’re extremely disappointed this situation occurred, particularly on the back of a previous incident, and it now overshadows Stephen’s on field performance on the recent tour of India.”

Having beaten Ireland in a last-over thriller, Oman, whose game against Netherlands was washed out, will head into their knockout shootout clash against Bangladesh high on confidence

The Preview by Mohammad Isam12-Mar-2016

Match facts

Sunday, March 13, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1400 GMT)Oman can ill afford a washout as Bangladesh are marginally ahead on net run rate•ICC/Getty Images

Big Picture

When the tournament’s schedule was first announced, few would have given Oman a chance of qualifying ahead of Bangladesh and Ireland from their group. Having beaten Ireland in a last-over thriller, Oman, whose game against Netherlands was washed out, will head into their knockout clash against Bangladesh high on confidence. But confidence alone won’t help them if the iffy Dharamsala weather intervenes. It has been raining for the last two days, and plenty more is forecast on match day. If there were to be another washout, Oman would endure heartbreak as Bangladesh are marginally ahead on net run rate.Oman would rely on Zeeshan Maqsood and Khawar Ali to power them upfront, to give Jatinder Singh and Amir Ali an opportunity to lend the finishing touches. Ajay Lalcheta and Munis Ansari, whose action resembles Lasith Malinga’s, will be key if Oman are to restrict Bangladesh’s in-form batting unit.That could be a herculean task if Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman tee off like they did against Ireland in eight overs before the rain came. Tamim, in particular, looks in fine touch, having made an unbeaten 83 and 47 against Netherlands and Ireland respectively. Sarkar and Sabbir would want to prolong their stay in the middle to take the pressure off the slightly out-of-touch Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan.Bangladesh’s bowling may be a concern with Arafat Sunny already in Chennai to conduct his bowling action test after being warned by the ICC. He could be missed on a slow pitch, but Bangladesh have variety as Shakib, Mahmudullah and even Nasir Hossain can cover up in his absence,

Form guide

Bangladesh WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Oman WLLWL

Watch out for

Soumya Sarkar is becoming an expert in getting the side off to fast starts, but he has also been guilty of frittering the early advantage, as was the case against Netherlands and Ireland. The game against Oman could be a good chance for him to bat deep into the innings and bring up a score of substance.Amir Ali is a marketing manager at an Indian restaurant in Muscat but after his 17-ball 32 against Ireland, Bangladesh would have done well to mark him as one to watch out for in a high-pressure clash.

Team news

Against Ireland, Mohammad Mithun and Abu Hider replaced Nasir Hossain and Arafat Sunny. Bangladesh could retain this line-up, though Nasir’s bowling is handy in the shorter version. Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mohammad Mithun/Nasir Hossain, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Al-Amin Hossain, 10 Abu Hider, 11 Taskin AhmedUnless they spot something dramatically different in the pitch, Oman are unlikely to tinker with their starting XI Oman (probable) 1 Zeeshan Maqsood, 2 Khawar Ali, 3 Jatinder Singh, 4 Adnan Ilyas, 5 Mehran Khan, 6 Aamir Kaleem, 7 Amir Ali, 8 Sultan Ahmed (capt. & wk), 9 Ajay Lalcheta, 10 Munis Ansari, 11 Bilal Khan

Pitch and conditions

There’s more rain on the radar on Sunday. But despite being under covers for a long time on Friday, the pitch played well in the Bangladesh-Ireland game, though the bowlers preferred slower variations.

Stats and trivia

• This is going to be the first Bangladesh-Oman cricket match at any level.
• Tamim Iqbal is now 11 runs short of 1,000 T20I runs while Shakib remains at 979 runs.

Quotes

“We won’t be taking Oman lightly. We don’t have much footage for them, but we will prepare as hard as we do for India and Pakistan.”
“It is a win-win situation for us. If we win we go through to the next round, but unfortunately if we can’t do that we have still achieved a lot in this tournament.”

Ross Barkley is being backed for an England recall after his 'Andres Iniesta-like' display in Luton Town's 4-4 draw at Newcastle United.

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• Newcastle draw 4-4 with Luton
• Barkley stars in St James' Park thriller
• Fans want England recall for midfielder

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Former Chelsea and Everton man Barkley scored a goal and bagged an assist in a superb individual performance at St James' Park on Saturday. The 30-year-old won eight duels and four tackles, made six ball recoveries, completed five clearances, and contributed three interceptions in the eight-goal thriller where Luton spurned a 4-2 lead against Eddie Howe's men. Now, football fans think it's high time Barkley plays for the Three Lions again, something he hasn't done since 2019.

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• WHAT FANS HAVE SAID

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Barkley has breathed fresh life into his career after looking like his best footballing days were behind him. After leaving Nice last season, the midfielder joined the Hatters on a free transfer in August and according to former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, the former Aston Villa loanee is in the form of his life.

  He said on the : "Ross Barkley has gone to a different level. I think he is playing the best football of his career. He looked to be finished, dried up, but just look at him now. Incredible."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Barkley's Luton, who now sit 16th in the Premier League after the draw with the Magpies, next host fellow newly-promoted side Sheffield United next weekend, whereas Newcastle travel to Nottingham Forest.