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Wolves have been boosted in their efforts to sign Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek, with the Dutchman now set to leave the club this month.

The Lowdown: Van de Beek struggles at United

The 24-year-old moved to Old Trafford back in 2020, having been a key man for the Ajax team that reached the 2019 Champions League semi-finals.

Van de Beek has had a nightmare time of things at United, however, making just 50 appearances in all competitions, mostly from the bench, scoring and assisting only twice apiece.

He appears to be completely out of favour under Ralf Rangnick and a January exit looks to be on the cards.

The Latest: Wolves given fresh boost

According to Algemeen Dagblad [via Sport Witness], it ‘seems inevitable’ that Van de Beek will move on to pastures new before the current transfer window ends. His situation has become ‘more and more hopeless’, leading him to pursue a fresh challenge.

Wolves are mentioned in the report, as are Everton and Newcastle United, as Bruno Lage eyes up a move for the 19-time capped Netherlands international, who has been hailed as ‘close to perfect’ by Owen Hargreaves in the past.

The Verdict: Worth the risk

Van de Beek’s reputation may have been damaged during an awful spell in Manchester but he can’t have become a bad footballer overnight and still has so much to offer.

At 24, his peak years should still be ahead of him, while 75 goal contributions in 175 appearances for Ajax shows how productive he can be in the final third.

Van de Beek could provide Wolves with the goal threat that the likes of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves often don’t bring, adding an extra dimension in the middle of the park to the Portuguese pair’s control and tempo.

Perhaps the funds for a move could be available through the expected sale of Adama Traore to Tottenham.

In other news, a journalist has highlighted the position Wolves are trying to strengthen in this month, Read more here.

Rangers are among the clubs eyeing teenage prodigy Zak Lovelace, according to The Daily Record’s Scott Burns. 

The lowdown

The youngster, who will turn 16 next week, became the second-youngest player in Millwall’s history when he made an appearance from the bench against Coventry City in December.

According to The Telegraph’s John Percy, the striker had to get ‘permission from his parents and his school’ to join up with the Lions squad for the fixture. Lovelace has been called to train with the club’s first team ‘several’ times.

The latest

Rangers have ‘regularly’ scouted Lovelace this season and are hopeful of signing him, as per The Daily Record. They face competition from the Premier League, with Leicester City and Brighton mentioned as prospective suitors.

Millwall are described as ‘desperate’ to keep hold of Lovelace, for whom they have ‘massive hopes’, and they are trying to persuade him to sign a professional contract at The Den.

The verdict

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has waxed lyrical about Lovelace, saying: “Zak is a really good lad. He has come in with a humility and hunger to want to do well – that exuberance of youth. I’d love to see how that develops over the next two or three years because he could be, from what I’ve seen, a top player.”

However, the 47-year-old admitted that the London club might not have full control over the teenager’s next move, so it could come down to who can offer him the clearest or swiftest path to senior football.

Rangers have clearly been impressed on their trips to watch Lovelace if they are interested in signing him, and they may even think that he’s a superstar in the making. After all, journalist Dan Marsh urged fans to ‘remember the name’ when the 15-year-old came on against Coventry.

In other news, Rangers are in a strong position to land this defender

With the January transfer window close to opening, Everton manager Rafa Benitez has dropped an exciting hint on one piece of business that the Merseyside club could do in it.

What’s the news?

When asked what the current situation is with Lewis Dobbin’s contract and whether or not he will sign a new one before his current deal runs out in the summer, Benitez had this to say on the matter.

He said: “I think the player is quite happy and our conversations with him have been quite positive. I have confidence that he will be delighted to stay with us in the future.”

As a product of Everton’s youth academy, the winger has made a total of 52 combined appearances for their U18 and U23 sides, scoring 16 goals and providing 12 assists along the way.

Labelled as a player that has a “fantastic attitude towards being desperate to be an Everton player” in the past by David Unsworth, the 18-year-old has been on the fringes of Benitez’s senior side this season with three Premier League appearances under his belt.

If Everton were able to secure Dobbin with a long-term deal next month, this would be a big boost and plus point not only for the player himself but for the Everton fans to potentially see another one of their youth players break into the first team and become a regular figure for them in the future, following in the footsteps of players such as Tom Davies, Jonjoe Kenny and Anthony Gordon.

If the youngster does sign a new deal in January and manages to take any opportunity he gets to play in the first team to impress Benitez, then this could be the start of a very exciting senior career for the teenager at Goodison Park, something that would understandably leave fans buzzing.

In addition to Dobbin’s potential new deal, it would be worth Everton bringing some new players into the club as well, particularly in the defensive areas given how the Toffees have conceded 29 goals in 17 league games so far this season, more than the likes of Burnley, Brentford and Southampton.

In other news: EFC must sign £22.5m-rated ace, Moshiri has already “tried to negotiate a transfer”…

Despite boasting an impressive defensive record in the Premier League this season with just 14 goals conceded in 19 games, it seems as though Wolves are looking to the January transfer window as an opportunity to strengthen their squad at the back as they aim to secure a European place by the end of the current campaign under the guidance of Bruno Lage.

In a recent report from W Deportes, Wolves are apparently interested in signing Tigres defender Carlos Salcedo this month.

The 28-year-old joined the Mexican club from Eintracht Frankfurt back in the 2019 January transfer window after previous spells at clubs such as Deportivo Guadalajara, Fiorentina and Real Salt Lake City, winning some trophies in the process.

Since his move to Tigres, the defender has made a total of 101 appearances across all competitions, scoring seven goals along the way, showing how much of a danger he can be in front of goal as well.

Last season, Salcedo, who was dubbed as a potentially “massive” acquisition for a possible suitor this month by Rudi Schuller, ended Tigres’ league campaign as their joint-sixth highest rated player with an overall performance rating of 7.01/10 from SofaScore.

That would have made him Wolves’ fourth-highest rated player in the Premier League last season, showing how capable he could be in Lage’s side if he were to make a move to Molineux this month.

Salcedo’s latest performance for Tigres in their 1-1 draw against Santos Laguna saw him not only score his side’s goal but also make three clearances, four interceptions and one tackle, ultimately earning himself an outstanding overall match rating of 7.8/10, making him the highest-rated player on the day according to SofaScore.

With Lage reiterating the need for Wolves to sign a centre-back as soon as possible with Romain Saiss away on international duty and Willy Boly injured, Jeff Shi could solve Lage’s big issue with a move for Salcedo, who is currently valued at £4.5m according to Transfermarkt, in the coming days and weeks.

Moving forward, with Salcedo’s contract at Tigres set to expire at the end of December, this could cause the Mexican club to be more willing to sell their defender to Wolves this month rather than risk him leaving on a free transfer at the end of the year if he doesn’t put pen to paper on a new deal before then.

In other news: Fosun heading for Wolves disaster over “dynamic” £46k-p/w ace that’ll have Lage fuming – opinion

Victoria 4 for 150 (Hussey 60*) beat Queensland 5 for 149 (Dunk 70*, Hopes 44*) by 6 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
David Hussey made sure the Champions League remained out of Queensland’s reach for the second year in a row•Getty Images

Victoria’s experienced core handed another lesson to Queensland’s emerging players to secure a place in the rich Champions League Twenty20. In the most valuable domestic game of the year – the winner of the tournament in India collects US$2.5m – the Bushrangers repeated their preliminary final success of last summer when David Hussey’s cool finish guided them to a six-wicket win.The visiting bowlers were superb as they restricted the Bulls to 5 for 149, but the game was evenly poised until Hussey forced the result with 60 off 39 balls. Victoria’s second prize was a spot in the final against South Australia in Adelaide on Saturday, when they will aim for their fourth Big Bash title in five years.There were some Victorian doubts when Brad Hodge’s departure for 30 left them at 3 for 68, but Hussey, who was helped by Cameron White’s 17 and Andrew McDonald’s 12, ended those concerns and sealed the win in strange circumstances with seven balls remaining. With one run to win Hussey mishit to mid-on and was walking off thinking he would be out, but the ball dropped between the confused pair of James Hopes and Chris Simpson. Hussey altered his direction to amble a single before raising his arms in triumph.Victoria had changed gears in the 13th over when Hussey went down the pitch for a straight four off Hopes and White followed up with a six to long-on in an over costing 13. Hussey soon backed up with a fierce straight six off Ben Cutting, who then picked up White with a catch to Andrew Symonds at cover.A second Hussey clearance, this time off Simpson, cut the target to 36 off 26 balls, and he made the assignment even easier with another six down the ground off Cutting. When Hussey backed up with a boundary in the same over the target was a run a ball.”The boys were pretty good tonight, although we could have been better in the field,” White said. “But we did enough to win, which was pleasing.”The second innings did not begin well for the Bulls, with Nathan Rimmington dropping Aaron Finch twice at short fine leg, and he was relieved when he picked him up for 22 thanks to a sharp catch at mid-on by Cutting. Cutting was involved again when he trapped Ross Taylor, the dangerous New Zealand import, for 4, but the Bushrangers had too many senior players to rely on.”It was a pretty slow start again, but we played some good cricket to get into position,” Simpson said. “It’s a bit of a shame to end the way we did, but that’s cricket.”Queensland were out-played at the same stage last year when they batted first and scratched to 112 and were heading the same way at 5 for 54. The experience of the well-qualified Victorian bowlers overwhelmed the hosts until Hopes and Ben Dunk came together in a vital, but ultimately fruitless, stand of 95 in 11.5 overs to finish the innings.The pair consolidated for a couple of overs and then Dunk lifted the pace with a trio of boundaries behind square leg off Clint McKay, Hussey and John Hastings. Dunk, the 22-year-old wicketkeeping understudy, got his start in the competition with an injury to Chris Hartley and brought up his maiden half-century in the second last over. A six to long on followed and the penultimate ball also cleared the fence to ice his collection, which finished on 70 off 40.At the other end Hopes struggled after avoiding the early collapse, with his best shots going to fielders and lots of squirted singles. His unplanned anchor role resulted in him carrying his bat with 44 off 55 and the contribution was valuable at the time, even though the innings lacked the muscle expected by the crowd of 11,801. Dunk’s clearances were the only two of the innings and the Bulls were held back by the precise yorkers of the Bushrangers.Victoria started to grab control in the sixth over when Symonds (1) went playing an ugly swipe to Hastings, who accepted an easy catch to have the hosts 3 for 47. Things got much worse when Glen Batticciotto backed up too far and was beaten by Hodge’s underarm and Craig Philipson edged McDonald to Taylor at first slip from his opening delivery.The opener Simpson sped to 17 off seven balls after winning the toss, but his spark went out in the third over when bowled trying to heave Dirk Nannes. Nannes also rushed a short ball through Lee Carseldine (7) on the way to 2 for 26 off four overs. McDonald had 1 for 22 – his immaculate figures were ruined by 15 from the final over – and Hussey allowed only 21 from his four. The fine contributions were responsible for setting up a trip to the Champions League, where Victoria will aim to improve on their semi-final spot in last year’s event.

The former West Indies captain, Richie Richardson, has welcomed the appointment of Ottis Gibson as the new head coach of the WICB,

Andrew Miller02-Feb-2010The former West Indies captain, Richie Richardson, has welcomed the appointment of Ottis Gibson as the new head coach of the WICB, and believes that the over-arching nature of his new role is precisely what cricket in the Caribbean has been crying out for.In a departure from previous appointments, Gibson has been given responsibility not only for the top-level West Indies sides, but all representative teams across the Caribbean. Announcing the appointment on CBC Radio on Monday, the chief executive of WICB, Ernest Hilaire, explained that Gibson would be given “an opportunity to stamp a particular style of coaching a West Indies way”.That announcement is music to Richardson’s ears. “I’ve always said that whoever comes in has to be responsible for cricket throughout the Caribbean, and not just the top Test players,” he told Cricinfo. “The coach has to be at the top of a pyramid that goes right through West Indies cricket, from the grass-roots right through to the top. That’s how we are going to make a difference.”Richardson, who was Gibson’s captain during his Test debut at Lord’s in 1995, believes that the new man has the presence and personality to thrive in the role, as well as the fundamental coaching skills that have been honed during his lengthy stint in English cricket, firstly at Durham and since 2007 as England’s bowling coach.”I have no doubt that he will do well,” said Richardson. “Ottis is a person who gets on with other people and players, and when he was playing for West Indies, he was a good team man. He’s a very passionate cricketer and a very good coach, and I just hope he gets the support he needs, from the WICB, and the people throughout the Caribbean.”It doesn’t matter how good you are as a coach if you are just given the best players,” he added. “If those best players came from nowhere, you are going to struggle. [The coach] has to be able to do something at the grass-roots level, so that he knows the young players as they come through the system and, when they reach the highest level, he already knows how to work with them, and they know exactly what is expected of them.”He just has to be given the time and the opportunity to prove himself, because I know he’s going to give everything. He loves West Indies cricket and he wants to see them do well.Gibson, who expects to be in situ in time for the home series against Zimbabwe next month, is West Indies’ first full-time appointment since the former coach, John Dyson, was sacked in August following the team’s strike-affected defeat against Bangladesh. However, the team is currently on a relative high, having silenced many of their critics with a spirited performance in a 2-0 Test defeat in Australia before Christmas.Central to West Indies’ current fortunes is their captain, Chris Gayle, who put his role in the player dispute to one side as he carried his bat for a magnificent 165 at Adelaide before following up with a blistering 72-ball 102 at Perth. His relationship with Dyson was never entirely smooth, but Richardson is confident that Gibson’s easygoing style of man-management will appeal to his laid-back nature.”It’s very important for the captain and coach to have a good relationship and understanding, but I’ve no problem that they’ll see eye-to-eye,” said Richardson. “Chris Gayle is a very cool guy, Gibson is a people’s person, so I don’t envisage any problems. They may have differences, but they will realise the importance of working as a partnership for the betterment of the team, and of West Indies cricket.”It so happens that Gibson is the first West Indian head coach since Roger Harper was in charge of the side at the start of the millennium, and follows on from a trio of Australians in Bennett King, David Moore and Dyson. Richardson, however, does not believe his nationality is as significant as his job specification.”I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter who coaches the team, as long as that person is going to contribute to the development of West Indies cricket,” he said. “When you bring in high-level coaches and pay the big money, but then they only coach the Test team, then that is misguided. It’s good that he’s a West Indian, but most importantly, that he is responsible for cricket throughout the region.”I’ve never had any doubts about the talent that we produce, my concern was always about the structures and systems that we had in place. We’ve never had the right or proper structures for [nurturing] the grassroots in the Caribbean. That’s what we got to look at, how to get the young players coming through.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Havia um pequena esperança, mas Luis Fabiano não vai estar em campo no clássico contra o Flamengo, no próximo sábado, pelo Campeonato Brasileiro. Omédico René Abdalla, que operou o joelho do atacante, recomendou que o jogador realize tratamento em São Paulo ainda durante esta semana. Ele falou da evolução de Fabuloso e acredita que o retorno aconteça contra o Vitória, no dia 5 de novembro.

-Ele teve uma evolução excelente. Está há 10 dias aqui (em SP) se tratando dia e noite e combinei com a diretoria do Vasco dele ficar aqui mais esta semana. A ideia é que na quarta ele já comece a correr, e no fim de semana, voltepara o Rio de Janeiro. Contra o Flamengo ficará muito em cima e a ideia é a de que ele volte contra o Vitória – disse ao ‘UOL Esportes’.

A última partida de Luis Fabiano foi contra o Bahia, no dia 20 de agosto. Por conta de uma lesão, o atacante precisou fazer uma cirurgia no joelho direito. Depois, ele ficou se recuperando no Caprres e voltou a treinar com bola no início deste mês.

Já treinando com o grupo, parecia que o retorno de Fabuloso estava mais perto. Porém, depois de uma reavaliação deAbdalla, foi constatado que era preciso tratamento para recuperação decontratura miofascial na perna direita em São Paulo. Luis Fabiano está na cidade desde o início da última semana realizando o procedimento para melhorar o equilíbrio muscular e ósseo.

Luis Fabiano fez apenas 11 jogos pelo Vasco neste Campeonato Brasileiro. No entanto, o atacante ainda é o artilheiro do time com cinco gols. Ele é a esperança para melhorar o setor ofensivo do time nesta reta final da competição.

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Taking to Twitter, sharing his news on the major links to Jesse Lingard over this last 24 hours, 90min reporter Toby Cudworth has subtly dropped another Adam Hlozek claim.

The Lowdown: West Ham in Hlozek hunt…

Links to the exciting Czech Republic international have been prevalent since just after the end of summer’s eventful transfer window.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-developments-2/” title=”West Ham developments” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Indeed, as explained by the West Ham correspondent back in September, the Irons were still very much keeping tabs on Hlozek even after the window’s closure.

Manager David Moyes once again failed to bring in a back-up striker for Michail Antonio and all eyes will be on whether he can finally break the mould in January.

Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s now confirmed 27% minority stake in West Ham has only accelerated reports of a swoop for Hlozek with 90min reporting in mid-week that they are currently preparing a bid.

The Latest: Cudworth drops another promising Hlozek claim…

Taking to Twitter amid all of the Lingard hysteria, with the Man United ace even dropping a subtle West Ham transfer hint on Instagram (via talkSPORT), Cudworth has gone slightly against the grain as he also makes a Hlozek claim.

He understands that while West Ham’s interest in Lingard ‘remains’, he isn’t ‘necessarily the priority’, whilst interest in Hlozek is ‘very real’ and could present ‘a better long-term option’ – explaining on Twitter:

“#WHUFC & Jesse Lingard as I understand it:

Certain to leave Man Utd

West Ham interest remains

He’s not necessarily the priority

Hlozek interest v real and a better long-term option

Barca, Atleti & Milan options abroad for Lingz”

The Verdict: Double swoop?

The Evening Standard recently reported that Kretinsky’s new-found investment will see Moyes get backed in the transfer market, so much so that they could bring in a striker, new defender and Lingard.

Bearing this in mind, is it too much to ask for both Hlozek and the England international?

Both men would bolster Moyes’ options to no end, with the former lauded as an ‘extraordinary’ player by agent Pavel Paska whilst he also managed an impressive 15 goals and eight assists in just 19 Fortuna Liga appearances over 2020/2021 (Transfermarkt).

Lingard, meanwhile, enjoyed a sensational loan spell at the London Stadium last year and was heralded as the best Premier League player on current form back in April (Adrian Durham to talkSPORT).

In terms of the finances, some sources believe that the playmaker could leave Old Trafford for as little as £10 million in January due to his contract situation as United risk losing him for nothing next summer (The Sun).

Hlozek, meanwhile, is the subject of a potential loan with an obligation to buy bid according to 90min, an arguably more-than affordable move for West Ham depending on the end price tag.

In other news: ‘Yesssss’, ‘Get in’, ‘What a day’…ExWHUemployee’s ‘great news’ has many West Ham fans talking, find out more here.

A round-up of the tenth day of the KPL Cup

Cricinfo staff18-Sep-2009Nishant Shekawat’s 81 and Dilp Sagar’s five-wicket haul set up Bangalore Brigadiers’ (Urban) 26-run win over Mysore Maharaajas at the Gangothri Glades Ground. The opener Shekawat smashed seven fours and four sixes in his 49-ball knock to push his team to 140 in a shortened match. Robin Uthappa chipped in with 26 and the pair put together an attacking stand of 59 in 5.3 overs for the second wicket to lead their team to a formidable score in 14 overs. The Maharaajas’ chase got off to a poor start when they lost three wickets in an over to Sagar. He got the key wickets of KB Pawan and captain C Raghu to leave them at 26 for 3. Chethan William top scored with 36, but after he departed in the tenth over, the lower order crumbled to the left-arm spin of Narayanan Prasad, who took 4 for 14.The Brigadiers are tied on eight points at the top of the league with Bangalore Provident, who are ahead on net-run rate.An all-round performance from Stuart Binny helped Bijapur Bulls to an easy eight-wicket win over Mangalore United in Mysore. Binny was a tad expensive – conceding 10 an over – but he still took two wickets, including that of the Mangalore top scorer Rongsen Jonathan for 73. He then scored an unbeaten 48 off 31 balls to help chase down 179, with 16 balls to spare. Jonathan and Nikhil Haldipur (37) constructed the best stand of the Mangalore innings – 84 for the third wicket – to challenge Bijapur in the chase. But Mithun Beerala (61) and Gaurav Dhiman ensured an easy passage to the target with an opening stand of 93. Both made half-centuries – Dhiman’s was more ballistic as he smashed seven fours and three sixes in his 57, which came off 24 balls. They were separated in the seventh over, which gave Binny enough time to finish off the formalities with ease.

Mike Hussey has warned Jonathan Trott that the step-up in class that he faces at The Oval on Thursday will be like nothing he has ever experienced before in his career, after the ECB dropped a massive hint about Trott’s impending selection for this week’s Ashes decider by withdrawing him from the England Lions team that started their two-day game against the Australians at Canterbury today.In a week in which they have been tight-lipped about their intentions, the ECB said more in 25 words that they could have possibly have revealed in a ten-page dossier. Ten minutes before the toss, an email arrived from their communications department stating baldly that “Joe Sayers of Yorkshire has been called up to replace Warwickshire’s Jonathan Trott in the England Lions team to face Australia at Canterbury starting today.” And the rest was left to assumption.And should the assumptions turn out to be correct, then Trott’s Test debut, at the age of 28, will coincide with England’s most eagerly anticipated fixture for four years. After 131 first-class matches spanning the best part of a decade, and with 8419 runs already to his name, he comes into the game with a pedigree that speaks for itself. But as Hussey himself knows from experience, you can go round the block as many times as you like. Nothing can prepare you for the pressures of top-level Test cricket.”It is a huge step-up from first-class to Test, no question,” he said. “Everyone feels pressure in Test match cricket, no matter whether you’ve been playing for ten years or two games. Particularly in an Ashes series, and particularly coming into a very, very important fifth Test. He’ll certainly know all about it if he’s makes his Test debut in that game.”Hussey certainly found out what he was getting into when he made his debut at the Gabba in November 2005, at the age of 30, and with the small matter of 15,313 first-class runs in the bank, many of them gleaned in a prolific stint as Northamptonshire’s overseas player. His maiden Test innings was a torturous 1 from 14 balls which ended with an ungainly top-edged swish, and afterwards he complained that hearing that “bloody national anthem” had reduced him to a bag of nerves.”I tried not to change too much about my game,” Hussey recalled. “I wanted to stick to what had made me successful before, but certainly the lift in intensity of the game, and the lift of pressure and expectation among the fans and media around you, was pretty extreme and that’s very, very hard to deal with as an international player. From my point of view it’s important to block out as much external distraction as you can, and focus on your own game and hope that’s good enough to get you through.”Hussey recovered his poise swiftly of course, with three centuries in his next four Tests. But Trott does not have that luxury. In a situation akin to Alan Wells’ belated debut against West Indies at The Oval in 1995, everything hinges on this solitary opportunity, not just personally but from the national point of view as well. It would be unkind to recall what happened to Wells on debut, but as Hussey was implying, it’s a curious moment to take a punt on a rookie.”We’ve not seen a hell of a lot of him,” said Hussey. “A couple of us have played a bit of county cricket against him, and seen him on TV, but he looks a pretty good player to me. He’s got a lot of confidence, and it looks like he’s been around for a while so he understands his game well. But there is more pressure on England because they have to win that Test match, whereas we can win the Test, which we’ll be trying to do, but if we can’t win it we’ll do everything we can do draw it.”Hussey admitted he had been surprised at England’s decision to withdraw Trott from the Lions team at Canterbury, but didn’t believe it had been done to shield him from the Australian bowlers. “We were expecting to see him play against us, but you can look at it both ways,” he said. “It would have been a good chance for us to have a look at him, but also a good chance for him to have a look at our bowlers, and see where he can score some runs against us. It could have been helpful for both.”An ECB spokesman declined to offer a direct explanation for the decision, and simply pointed out that, with a century in his most recent match for Warwickshire, he was clearly in form and did not need the time in the middle. The reading-between-the-lines explanation, therefore, was that Trott had more to fear from media hype than from anything the Australian bowlers will throw at him on Thursday.”I haven’t been following what the press have been saying about their team, I don’t even know when they name their squad for the last Test,” said Hussey (it’s on Sunday at 9.30am, for his information). “Whatever way they go, we’ve got to concentrate on our job. We’ve got to concentrate on playing hard, tough, disciplined Test cricket for long, long periods of time. If we can do that we’re going to be competitive against whoever we’re playing in this last Test.”I’m sure the powers-that-be will be working closely to get some good plans on him, but to be honest the game doesn’t change too much,” he said. “We’ve got to keep it simple, keep the disciplines of the game pretty much the same as we bowl to most batsmen. Whether we’re playing against Andrew Flintoff, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, David Gower, whoever it is, we’ve got to keep doing our things well for long periods of time.”Given the disaster that befell England at Headingley, and the frantic speculation that has followed, it is self-evident that Australia have enjoyed by far the better build-up to Thursday’s pivotal contest. But Hussey was adamant that nothing that goes before the match is of any relevance. “All that matters is the first session of that fifth Test match,” he said. “You can prepare as well as you possibly can, do as much as you can and send players off here, there and everywhere, but what actually matters is that first hour, and that’s all we can focus on.”