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• Football is the ‘worst sport’ for racism, says Sheff Utd boss Paul Heckingbottom

  Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom says football is the “worst sport” for racism after goalkeeper Wes Foderingham was abused during last week’s defeat at Tottenham.

  Foderingham took to Instagram on Sunday to reveal he had suffered from “racism and family threats” after his side’s 2-1 loss in north London.

  Heckingbottom said the police are now involved and could not hide his contempt that racism is still so prevalent in the game.

  He said: “You can say it’s all social media and people are tough on there and they can say what they want. You can take it away, but it is deeper than that because it’s inside people.

  “It’s sad, I think we are the worst sport for it. I don’t know if it’s the profile but we are the ones who get the most.

  “There have been big improvements, in society and our game, so we have to just continue being harder and stronger and every time we get a prosecution let’s make those punishments harder.

  “I knew I’d get asked about that and when I speak to you guys I don’t want to say what I really think about it. It is something that reflects really badly on football. It’s not Spurs’ problem, how can a game of football make someone speak like that?

  “We’ve gone through the correct channels and we have had the police in to speak to him. It’s not right, it’s sad, the fact he says he is alright to deal with it shows how much of a problem it is.”

  The Blades take on Newcastle on Sunday aiming for their first win of the season.

  They were minutes away from winning at Tottenham last week, before succumbing to the latest ever Premier League comeback by the hosts, and have shown they can be competitive this season.

  However, reports surfaced last week that the Blades have sounded out former boss Chris Wilder about a possible return to the club.

  Heckingbottom laughed off questions about his future.

  “You are asking the wrong person, you can ask me about a player, is he going to play, what’s he going to do,” he said.

  “But you can’t ask me about me, you need to speak to other people about that.

  “I have no reaction at all. The amount of things that get into the media that are rubbish, am I worried about it? No. Even if there is any truth in it, am I worried? No, because it is not going to affect me one little bit.

  “You are asking the wrong person. You need to ask board level about that. I have spoken to Steve (Betts, chief executive), he says it is nonsense and just carry on. It is always there as a manager.”

• Mauricio Pochettino warns Nicolas Jackson over ‘cheap’ yellow cards

  Mauricio Pochettino has spoken with Nicolas Jackson to try to address the striker’s discipline on the pitch after he was booked for dissent for the fourth time in five games against Bournemouth last weekend.

  The summer signing from Villarreal has cut an increasingly frustrated figure during Chelsea’s early-season struggles, scoring just once in last month’s 3-0 win over Luton.

  Chelsea are 14th in the Premier League after Pochettino’s first five games in charge and have not found the net in their last two outings.

  Jackson, who was signed for £31million in part as a response to the team’s woeful goal return of 38 last season in the league, has shown flashes of promise.

  But he was a peripheral figure for much of Chelsea’s dour stalemate at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, when the home side coped comfortably with what little threat Pochettino’s side posed.

  The manager reiterated his call for Jackson and the rest of the club’s young new recruits to be afforded time, and pointed to the example of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior – one of the most effective forwards in Europe last season.

  After joining the La Liga giants in 2018 from Brazilian side Flamengo he scored just seven league goals in his first two and half seasons, but has since taken his total for the club to 60.

  “I had a meeting today (Friday) with Nicolas and Enzo (Fernandez),” said Pochettino. “I said ‘come on, a striker with four yellows cards for protesting?’ You need to get yellow cards but in different actions, not for that. Not so easy, so cheap. It’s going to put him in a very difficult situation with the team.

  “He understood. But Jackson is 21, he’s young. He needs to learn, needs to improve, needs to settle. He’s going to be a fantastic player. But he needs time.

  “I like to make similarities with players at other clubs. Jackson is a fantastic player but he needs to be calm and relaxed in front of goal. I said remember Vinicius, he took three seasons, or two and a half seasons, to perform (at Real).

  “We’re talking about young players. You can blame us, blame me. We can talk about tactics. But they need time. It’s no doubt we have amazing talent on the team, but now they need time to settle.

  “But he needs to be clever not to protest to the referees in this way.

  “Maybe it’s his normal behaviour on the pitch, it’s something maybe he can improve. Maybe this season they change the rules, he came from Spain where it’s different the relationship with the referees.”

  Pochettino said there was a good chance Armando Broja would be available for Sunday’s meeting with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge after he recovered from the ACL injury that has kept him out since December.

  “Broja will maybe be involved at the weekend,” he said. “But it’s after nine months that he’s not competing.

  “We cannot expect Broja to arrive to score every single touch, he needs time to feel the competition and start to perform in the way we expect he can.”

  The manager added that despite the team’s run of one win in five league games this season he has been pleased with the emotional reaction shown by his players to the team’s indifferent start.

  “I’m so happy the way they felt after Bournemouth and (the 1-0 defeat to) Nottingham Forest. They really care about performing better.

  “This week was good to work really hard and create a good atmosphere to try to translate to the competition.”

• Warren Gatland expects ‘one hell of a game’ as Wales tackle wounded Australia

  Warren Gatland believes there will be degrees of desperation on both sides when Wales tackle Rugby World Cup rivals Australia on Sunday.

  Victory for Wales would send them into a fourth successive World Cup quarter-final with one group game to spare.

  Australia, meanwhile, know that defeat realistically condemns them to a pool-stage exit for the first time in World Cup history.

  “It will be one hell of a game, and that will be down to not just them being desperate, but us being desperate to progress through this pool,” Wales head coach Gatland said.

  “There is definitely desperation for us because a loss or no points and the group could potentially come down to points difference.

  “That is the last position we want to be in. I think that, when you’ve worked so hard and made as many sacrifices as the coaches and players have made in the past four months, that creates its own desperation.

  “Why give yourself a get out of jail card when you don’t need to do that? We are desperate for the right reasons.”

  Wales co-captain and hooker Dewi Lake has missed out on a place in Wales’ matchday 23 for the Lyon showdown.

  Gatland has named the same team that defeated Fiji 12 days ago, with Ryan Elias starting at hooker in a side skippered by flanker Jac Morgan.

  Elliot Dee provides cover for Elias on the bench, while lock Adam Beard will win his 50th cap. There is also a spot among the replacements for former England prop Henry Thomas, who is on course to make his Wales World Cup debut.

  Flanker Tommy Reffell, a late withdrawal due to a tight calf muscle before Wales faced Portugal last weekend, also misses out, with Taine Basham providing back-row bench cover.

  “He (Lake) was disappointed. He hasn’t had a lot of rugby, he has been carrying an injury and that was probably the decision we made for that one,” Gatland added.

  “I have always been a fan of Elliot Dee in terms of his lineout throwing and how he brings energy off the bench. I know Dewi was disappointed, but it doesn’t mean that he is not going to feature in further games.”

  Gatland is relishing another coaching encounter with Australia head coach and former England boss Eddie Jones, who has come in for considerable criticism following the Wallabies’ 22-15 defeat against Fiji last weekend.

  That result has left Australia in the last-chance saloon as they look to navigate their way out of Pool C and onwards in the competition.

  “You have come to realise what to expect from an Eddie team,” Gatland said.

  “With regards to the way they are going to play on Sunday, we have prepared for a couple of scenarios.

  “I was surprised at their tactics against Fiji. There were 11 less minutes ball-in-play time to us (Wales against Fiji), so I am not 100 per cent sure tactically how they will come at us.

  “As coaches, we all come under pressure at times – it is part of the job.

  “In fairness to Eddie, he is trying to take as much pressure off the players as he can, saying he is responsible for the results and that things aren’t good enough.

  “Our relationship has always been good. We have been out on a number of occasions and had meals together. I find his company good – he is engaging.

  “If you look at the recent record of games between Wales and Australia, there is never much in it. They won’t lie down and roll over for us.

  “What I am happy about at the moment is putting some pride back in that Welsh jersey. It doesn’t take long to lose it.

  “I don’t think we had the respect of the rugby world in terms of performance and results. That has been an objective of ours over the last few months, and players have made a lot of sacrifices.”