From the Back Pages, March 4: Adam Lallana believes Luke Shaw is as good as £80m Gareth Bale

The England midfielder Adam Lallana said on Monday that his Southampton team-mate Luke Shaw compares favourably with the world’s most expensive player Gareth Bale and the other best young players to have come through the club’s prodigious academy system. (The Independent)
From the back pagesFrom the back pages
From the back pages

England’s players will be given special briefings about what to do if they are targeted by match-fixers during the World Cup. For the first time at football’s biggest tournament, players from all 32 competing nations will be given “integrity sessions” by Fifa officials, when they will be told to report anything suspicious via a special anti-corruption hotline available only to players and referees. (The Telegraph)

Alan Pardew was facing up to the likely severity of his punishment for the head-butting incident that led to his sending-off on Saturday. The Football Association, which formally charged the Newcastle United manager with improper conduct, has designated the episode as “non- standard” given its “serious violent and/or aggressive nature”. (The Times)

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ARTIFICIAL pitches are on their way back to high-level English football for the first time in 20 years after a ground-breaking meeting of the FA board unanimously agreed to embrace the new technology. (The Express)

Cardiff City face a Premier League investigation after owner Vincent Tan offered his players a £3.7million bonus before Sunday’s defeat by Tottenham. (Daily Mail)

Graeme Smith has shocked South Africa by announcing that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the current test match against Australia. (The Mirror)

Willie Mullins, the Irish champion trainer, fears that his horses might be “nobbled” with sedatives before next week’s Cheltenham Festival and describes a climate of apprehension and suspicion around doping in racing. (The Guardian)