FOOTBALL SHORTS

AIDEN McGEADY has been ordered to stay away from Sunderland’s first team by manager Phil Parkinson because of his perceived negative influence on the squad. The former Republic of Ireland winger, 33, who earns around £30,000 per week, is the League One club’s top earner and joint-top scorer but Parkinson has told him to find a new club in the transfer window. ‘It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly,’ said the Black Cats boss, who has won just two of his 12 matches in charge.

CRYSTAL PALACE fear left back Jeffrey Schlupp, 26, will miss a minimum of two months with an injury to tendons in his hip.

NIGEL PEARSON says keeping Watford up ‘won’t be easy’ but it is ‘possible’. Pearson’s first game in charge of the side bottom of the Premier League is away at Liverpool tomorrow.

CHELSEA defender Fikayo Tomori, 21, has signed a new five-year deal while team-mate Christian Pulisic, also 21, has been named men’s Player of the Year by the US Soccer Federation.