LiveScore Daily: Today's football news in bite-sized chunks

LiveScore Daily is here to deliver all the big talking points from the world of football throughout the day. Keep refreshing this page for the latest stories in bite-sized chunks.

Ward hopeful of Leicester recall

Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward hopes that his form during the international break will be enough to see him regain his spot in Leicester's starting XI against Crystal Palace this weekend.

Ward, 29, helped the Dragons pick up four points in the opening two matches of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign and kept a clean sheet against Latvia on Tuesday evening.

The seasoned stopper lost his place to Daniel Iversen for the Foxes' 1-1 draw with Brentford before the break but has presented a case to suggest that he should be reinstated.

He said: "It hasn’t been easy, but it was business as normal for me. Everyone wants to play in the Premier League. It’s massive.

"You have to concentrate on the job at hand. When I am with Wales, it’s 100% with Wales.

"We have got ourselves in a position at Leicester which we are not too happy with. That’s obvious and rightly so.

"We have to go again. We have got 10 games left of the season so we have to give everything to keep the club in the league.

"It’s as simple as that. It will be tough but we have to have a real united front with everyone involved and we will get there."

England belongs with Lionesses

Tottenham interim coach Vicky Jepson has urged forward Bethany England not to give up on her dream of representing England at the World Cup this summer.

Lionesses' boss Sarina Wiegman named a 25-player squad this week for the upcoming Finalissima against Brazil and the friendly with Australia.

England was left out of the camp despite her strong form for the Lilywhites since moving to North London from Chelsea in January.

But Jepson insists that the finisher has not given up hope of a place on the plane this summer and that she is working harder than ever in training. 

She said: "Yeah, she will be respectful of the decision but she will work tirelessly hard to put herself in a good position.

"We've seen her score at the weekend [against Arsenal] from a penalty but I am sure we will see more goals in our next six games and hopefully she does enough to showcase she deserves that [England] shirt.

"It is obviously disappointing to see her left out of the squad but I do know Sarina has a difficult task with the amount of forwards she has to choose from.

"I do know you don’t become the second-highest WSL goalscorer by luck, you get it because you earn it for being a clinical finisher.

"But I am respectful and understand Sarina has a job to do and a lot of forwards to pick from but for me, I would not be leaving Bethany out of the England squad going into that World Cup."

Rodgers hails 'mature' Maddison

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers hailed James Maddison's "maturity" after an impressive performance against Ukraine for England.

The Foxes captain has returned to the Midlands as his side prepare to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday in a relegation six-pointer.

And Rodgers believes that the 26-year-old is relishing the current role he is playing for the 2016 Premier League champions.

He said: "I think he's matured on and off the pitch, particularly in the last few years.

"He's got a great view of the game. He creates goals and scores goals and what he's improved over the last couple of years has been the intensity in his game when he hasn't got the ball.

"But off the pitch he's very educated, he speaks well about the game, he speaks honestly about it as well in terms of his performance, the team performance.

"That maturity over the last few seasons has really come to the fore and it's great to see because you need that in every team."

Not done yet

Roy Hodgson insists he does not feel old enough for retirement after being tempted back into the Crystal Palace job until the end of the season.

The 75-year-old was reappointed in the wake of Patrick Vieira's dismissal earlier in the month and faces an uphill battle to keep the Eagles in the Premier League.

Hodgson returns to the helm with Palace on a 12-match winless run but has the opportunity to deliver a much-needed boost to the Londoners when they take on Leicester this weekend.

On his comeback, he said: "I've accepted that I’ve retired as it were because that's what everyone’s been saying.

"I walk down the street, people say to me, 'Are you enjoying your retirement?'. But at the same time, I've never really felt old enough to retire, if the truth's known.

"No one is out there on my behalf looking for these things. On both occasions [Watford and Palace] it's come my way and I've had the choice, do I accept or do I not accept?

"There has always been an opening there for a project such as this one whereby I know very clearly what the project is, what the objective is, why I'm there and what's expected of me."

Dyche dismisses Spurs' issues

Sean Dyche is not expecting an easy ride when Everton host managerless Tottenham on Monday night.

The Toffees boss may have to rely on Ellis Simms to lead the line as Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains sidelined and a win would strengthen their survival bid.

On Spurs, who parted ways with Antonio Conte last week, Dyche said: "At the end of the day, you are playing against a good group of players.

"They are a side to be reckoned with. Anything that is helpful, we will take it, but everything starts with us. That will be my key focus."

Tottenham sit fourth in the Premier League but face a tough run of fixtures and are relying on the leadership of Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason until the end of the season.

Dyche believes that the mentality of his squad could give them the upper hand on Monday as long as they can shut out Harry Kane and Co.

He said: "The relentless mentality is something I believe in wholeheartedly. It was a strong sign of it down at Chelsea.

"We have a better defensive structure and we are finding the balance between transition, we have got a reasonable return of points, the Forest one got away from us."

Wood chopped down

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has confirmed that Chris Wood will miss the rest of the season through injury.

Wood, on loan from Newcastle, picked up a thigh issue in the defeat to Tottenham earlier in March and has since struggled to recover for the Tricky Trees.

The New Zealander travelled with his national side as they prepared to face China in two friendlies during the international break, but was unable to feature.

Speaking in his press conference this morning, Cooper said: "Chris Wood is out for the season, he’s picked up an injury during the international break."

Cooper also revealed that several other players have suffered knocks while away with their countries.

He said: "Serge Aurier, Andre Ayew and Gustavo Scarpa have picked up some injuries over the break as well. We’re not sure how long they will be out for or what their availability will be for the next few games."

McPherson charged for Old Firm 'headbutt'

Rangers assistant boss Craig McPherson has been charged by the Scottish Football Association after he appeared to headbutt Celtic manager Fran Alonso in the Old Firm derby on Monday.

Footage showed McPherson moving his head towards the back of the Celtic head coach after the Scottish Women's Premier League game ended 1-1.

The Scottish FA's official website claimed that the assistant coach had "allegedly breached" disciplinary rule 77 which relates to violence and conduct.

A statement said: "A recognised football body, club, official, team official, other member of team staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall, at all times, act in the best interests of association football.

"Furthermore such person or body shall not act in any manner which is improper or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour."