Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SOME MOMENTUM
squad. Maybe he will be loyal to the guys that got him there. “But David is doing everything he can in terms of performances to ask the question.” Mcinnes left Parkhead frustrated at his PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE P W D L F A Pts
team’s failure to score - and with referee
Rangers 29 25 4 0 69 8 79
Alan Muir’s refusal to give a first half
Celtic 29 19 7 3 64 22 64 26 49
spot kick. Hibernian 28 14 7 7 39 Aberdeen 28 12 9 7 31 28 45
The Aberdeen boss said: “The more you
Livingston 28 11 6 11 35 34 39
talk about it the more it becomes an St Mirren 28 9 7 12 27 33 34 8 10 11 26 38 34
issue. But clearly that can change. You Dundee United 29
St Johnstone 29 7 9 13 28 39 30
need a bit of luck at times and we should
Motherwell 28 7 7 14 26 43 28 24
get a penalty in the first half when Kilmarnock 29 7 3 19 26 41
28 6 1 16 28 54 24
comes off Welsh’s hand.” Hamilton
Ross County 28 6 5 17 21 53 23
Slavia Prague v Leicester Kick-off 5:55pm DAVE ARMITAGE
HARVEY BARNES aims to show England boss Gareth Southgate he is ready to grace the European stage.
The winger (left) hopes to use Leicester’s Europa League campaign as a platform to grab a ticket for the Euros this summer. The Foxes are at Slavia Prague tonight with the blistering form of Barnes likely to be high on the home side’s discussion list.
His one England appearance so far was as a late sub in October’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales.
“As an English player, the European Championships have to be a motivation, to make sure you’re in that squad at the end of the season,” said the 23-year-old.
“Everyone can see the strength in depth and quality England have, so it’s not an easy task for anyone.
“As long as I can keep my club form as good as it’s been, and keep improving for the rest of the season, hopefully I’ll give myself the best possible chance of that.”
Improving his goals tally was an ambition before the season started and he has 12 to date, five more than last season in 11 fewer games.
He added: “Even though I was happy with the way I played last season, I identified that I needed to improve my numbers of goals and assists.”
Boss Brendan Rodgers added: “He’s only going to get better and better because he works hard.” SLAVIA PRAGUE: Kolar, Bah, Kudela, Deli, Dorley, Holes, Provod, Sima, Stanciu, Olayinka, Kuchta LEICESTER: Schmeichel, Amartey, Evans, Soyuncu, Thomas, Tielemans, Ndidi, Barnes, Maddison, Under, Vardy
MARCUS RASHFORD admits his campaigning for free meal vouchers for disadvantaged kids has made him a target for hate mobs.
But the United striker, named in Time magazine’s Next 100 list following his campaigning work on child poverty, insists he is strong enough to deal with the abuse as long as his off-field work continues to achieve its goals.
Rashford admitted his campaign, which forced a Government U-turn on meal vouchers during lockdown, has fuelled an angry backlash in some quarters. But he insisted: “Somebody in my shoes is a target anyway. People have opinions without ever speaking to me. I have come to terms with it. The campaign is bigger.
“Politicians are looking at it in a different light. If I can open their eyes, a lot of other people’s eyes are being opened as well.”
Rashford’s admission comes on the back of growing anger about abuse raining in on social media platforms and tech giants’ refusing to adequately deal with it. United team-mates, Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial suffered racist abuse following defeats against Sheffield United and the draw against West Brom. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been vocal in his criticism of social media and has spoken to Martial (left) about his mental state. Solskjaer said: “I spoke to Anthony and he’s mentally strong. It is not something anyone should have to go through. It’s disgusting and there is something we have to do about it.”