Championship

CHED EVANS’ football career is under threat after being diagnosed with a serious medical condition.The Preston forward requires surgery to fix the issue, which carries “life-changing consequences”.
Ched Evans will undergo surgery after being diagnosed with a serious medical conditionCredit: Getty
The issue has arisen as a result of “repeated high force contact”, and is more commonly seen in rugby or American football players.
Evans is set to be out for an extended period of time following the surgery, and at 34 he does not have much time to make his return to the game.
Preston confirmed the news in a statement which reads: “The 34-year-old forward is facing potentially life-changing consequences as a result of repeated high-force contact which he has received on a weekly basis throughout his career.
“More common in American football and rugby players, the condition requires surgery to address his current symptoms and to prevent any further damage from occurring in the future.
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“Over the course of the past week, the club have consulted with the country’s leading specialists and are currently working together to finalise arrangements for the surgery.
“Pending a successful surgery, the striker – who has scored nine goals this season – will spend an extended period of time doing rehabilitation work.
“Specific time frames for a potential return will not be disclosed until the outcome of the surgery is known, but all parties remain hopeful that Ched will be back playing and scoring goals in a PNE shirt in the future.”
Evans is Preston’s top scorer this season with nine goals in 26 Championship games.
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He has been an important player for manager Ryan Lowe, who is hopeful Evans will be able to return to playing.
He said: “We’ll be there for him every single day, whatever he needs we’ll be there for him and the family.
“It’s been tough for me, the staff and the players because it’s a bit sickening when you get that news in the blink of an eye.
“More importantly for me as the manager it’s about Ched’s health. We’ve got to step back and let him decide what he wants to do.
“He’s got a strong family behind him who will make sure he’s right. Once he’s had the surgery we’ll hopefully see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel because having the surgery doesn’t mean that’s him done.
“He’ll have to decide what he wants to do with his future and whatever he chooses to do we’ll back 100 per cent.”
Evans previously had a lengthy spell out of football in 2014 as he was convicted of raping a 19-year-old woman before a 2016 retrial found him not guilty.
The striker spent two-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted for the rape, and returned to the game with Chesterfield following his release. More

READING face a scrap to avoid relegation from the Championship after being deducted SIX POINTS for financial breaches.The Royals were docked six points for breaching financial regulations last season, with another six points suspended until the current campaign.
Reading have been hit with a six-point deduction for financial rule breachesCredit: Getty
But they have now been hit with the further punishment after they accepted they have not been able to comply with the EFL business plan despite making “radical” changes across the board.
Reading confirmed the news in a statement.
It read: “We can confirm that the club has accepted a six-point penalty which has been applied immediately following the club’s failure to fully satisfy a business plan agreed after a historical breach of the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability limits.”
“The points deduction will be applied to our total with immediate effect.”
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The blow sees them move from 18th to 20th in the Championship table.
Reading now sit just ONE point above 21st-placed Huddersfield and six points ahead of bottom-placed Wigan.
The club further explained the deduction, writing: “In November 2021, the club were issued with a six-point deduction for a cumulative breach of the regulations – with a further six-point penalty suspended until 2022-23.
“At the time of the original breach, it was agreed with the League this further six-point penalty was due to be applied if the club could not meet the demands of an agreed business plan for 2022-23.
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“Despite radical changes implemented right across the structure of the business to its very core – and a rigid adherence to a strict league-monitored wage structure and transfer embargo – the club accepts it has not sufficiently satisfied certain elements of the planned budget.
“As a result, the independent Club Financial Review Panel has been unable to ratify that the club has met its forecast for compliance.”
Reading further detailed their attempts to stay within the rules in a lengthy statement.
It read: “Back in November, we vowed that lessons would be learned.
“And the strides which have been made have been significant; it is evident in our methods, procedures and actions over recent years – and most notably throughout this season – that the mistakes of the past have been understood, corrected and won’t be made again.
“In abiding by the EFL rules, the club have not spent a penny on transfer fees since the summer of 2020 and have not paid a loan fee to any club since the summer of 2019.
“Our squad has been entirely rebuilt from free transfers, free loanees and Academy graduates.
“Every single professional contract proposed has been scrutinised and ratified by the EFL before it has been offered.
“We have operated under a mutually-agreed capped wage bill imposed following our breach of the Profit and Sustainability regulations – our wage bill has been almost halved since the start of the 2019-20 season.
“We have worked closely with the EFL and the independent Club Financial Review Unit throughout the process in our aims to achieve the targets set out in the agreed business plan and every reasonable effort has been made to construct a competitive squad of players whilst avoiding further punishment.
“However, despite the substantial progress we have undeniably made and the lessons that have indeed been learned, as promised, we accept that the situation was never going to be easily or quickly fixed.
“The progress made has been recognised.
“It has been agreed with the EFL that the club’s restrictive embargo will effectively end this summer.
“The club will, for the first time in years, be able to act sensibly in the transfer market – within a budget currently being reviewed by the Club Financial Review Unit and compliant with Profit & Sustainability boundaries, but free of the strictest limitations which have proven problematic in trying to piece together a team capable of challenging in the Championship and a squad tasked with taking this club towards a brighter more self-sustainable future.
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“However, in the here and now, we find ourselves with another huge fight on our hands.”
Reading have been in the Championship since getting relegated from the Premier League in 2013. More

LIAM ROSENIOR’S future as Hull City boss is in serious doubt.SunSport understands the Tigers’ owner Acun Ilicali is considering axing the 38-year-old at the end of the season.
Liam Rosenior is in danger of being sackedCredit: Getty
It is also understood that the Turkish entrepreneur is already sizing up a replacement, with G.D. Chaves manager Vitor Campelos on his radar.
Having left Derby on September 27, Rosenior took over at Hull on a two-year-deal on November 3, overseeing a steady rise up the Championship table and away from danger.
Rosenior has taken charge of 21 league games since his dugout debut on November 5, winning six, losing five and drawing 10.
They are currently in 17th – nine points above the relegation zone with seven games of the campaign remaining.
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However, Ilicali is reportedly doubtful that Rosenior is the right man to take the club forward.
Target Campelos, 47, guided Chaves back to the Portuguese top flight last season – and are now sitting comfortably in mid-table.
Campelos has caught the eye following several impressive results, including away wins over Sporting Lisbon and Braga.
Ilicali is already renowned for knee-jerk managerial sackings at Hull, getting rid of Georgian coach Shota Arveladze just EIGHT hours before their clash with Luton back in September.
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Arveladze – who was hired on January 2022 shortly after Ilicali’s purchase of the club – was binned after just 10 league games this season, winning three of them.
Ilicali is also looking to invest in another club to act as a feeder for Hull, with top flight Irish side Shelbourne FC – managed by ex-Chelsea star Damien Duff – being monitored.
Owner Acun Ilicali is mulling a change in managerCredit: PA More

HUDDERSFIELD’S incoming owner Kevin M Nagle wants a new director of football for a revamp.American tycoon Nagle, 68, is due to take control before the end of the season and the Terriers are already after a transfer supremo.
Huddersfield Manager Neil Warnock is under pressure and could be replaced under the new ownership and director of football
Leigh Bromby is in the role but ex-Stoke technical director Mark Cartwright is tipped to replace him.
Cartwright would need to be persuaded to return from Florida where he is the United Soccer League’s sporting director.
The new recruit would also pick the next first-team boss — but that will depend on which division the Championship strugglers are in.
Huddersfield currently sit in 22nd place in the league and will need to fight hard to stay up.
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Cartwright spent seven years with Stoke City between 2012 and 2019.
During his time with the club The Potters achieved three top half finishes inside the Premier League.
Cartwright left his role in November 2019 once the Staffordshire club had spent a season adrift in the Championship.
He was part of the team responsible for the signings of Barcelona’s Bojan and former Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri.
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Nagle, the man in charge of any appointment, is also the owner of USL Championship side Sacramento Republic.
The Terrier’s face Watford away in their next league game after an impressive 4-2 victory over Middlesborough last time out. More