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Mari undergoes surgery after stabbing

Pablo Mari faces two months out after after being stabbed last night at a supermarket.

Arsenal defender Mari, on loan at Serie A side Monza, was one of six victims during what appears to be a random attack in Assago, on the outskirts of Milan.

Reports in Italy have revealed a worker at the Carrefour store was killed and Mari was left requiring surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles in his back. 

Recovering in Niguarda hospital, the defender said: "Today I was lucky, because I saw a person die in front of me."

Monza president Adriano Galliani confirmed Mari was in good spirits when he visited the 29-year-old centre-back. 

He said: "Pablo is an amazing guy. He had the strength to joke and tell me that he will be back in training on Monday.

"I brought him greetings from [club president Silvio] Berlusconi and everyone else. His team-mates wanted to come here but obviously it was not possible."

A club statement released today added: "General surgery and trauma team specialists of the Niguarda hospital in Milan this morning carried out surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles on Pablo Mari’s back.

"The surgery went well and a hospital stay of two or three days is expected. After being discharged the player will be able to start a rehabilitation process. 

"This type of muscle injury usually requires two months of rest before you can resume physical activities."

Conte stands by VAR comments

Antonio Conte continued to direct his fury towards VAR in his Friday press conference as Tottenham prepare to face Bournemouth.

The Spurs manager was sent off in the closing minutes of the 1-1 Champions League draw with Sporting on Wednesday and gave a scathing interview to the media post-match.

Club chiefs have decided not to appeal UEFA's decision to ban the Italian from the touchline for one game, meaning he will miss next week's crucial clash in Marseille.

However, Conte refused to retract any of his statements from after the game, instead continuing to express his anger.

He said: "You score, you are already qualified for the next round, you are celebrating and then you have to stay for five minutes to look at the situation with VAR and you take the decision and you don’t know if it’s right or wrong.

"This is not football in this way also because you cut the emotion, the emotion of everybody and especially the players because you don’t know.

"But when I stay at home and I see the image, I am watching another game and I see the image, the VAR, then for me it is easy to take the best decision.

"Instead then you see for example they take the opposite decision. Oh, I don’t know football or maybe who stays in the VAR, they are seeing another image."

Premier League clubs not meeting diversity quota

The FA's second annual report on the Football Leadership Diversity Code has shown Premier League clubs are failing to meet their targets.

All top-flight teams and 32 English Football League sides have signed up to the code, which is intended to increase equality and opportunity in team set-ups, including coaching and senior leadership roles.

Although the FA saw strong results in seven of the eight other targets, there has been a drop in senior management roles for both female and black, Asian and mixed heritage candidates.

Just 10.3 per cent of the candidates hired for senior leadership roles at clubs came from black, Asian or mixed heritage background, which dropped below the 15 per target.

Kick It Out’s Sanjay Bhandari said: "The results on recruitment of black, Asian and mixed heritage coaches in both the men’s and women’s game, and the achievement of targets by the football authorities, are encouraging.

"There is also plenty of room for improvement in other areas such as senior leadership and the recruitment of female coaches.

"Two years into the process, now is a good time for pause and reflection across the industry, to share learnings and best practice. Collectively, that will enable us to increase the pace of change."

Loftus-Cheek dreaming of World Cup

Chelsea star Ruben Loftus-Cheek has set his sights on gatecrashing England's World Cup squad.

Loftus-Cheek, 26, was part of the group assembled by Gareth Southgate as the Three Lions reached the semi-finals in 2018 and the midfielder hopes his versatility will thrust him into the mix once again. 

Despite his eagerness to be on the plane to Qatar, the 10-cap international is fully focused on continuing to impress new Blues boss Graham Potter.

He said: "It would be amazing to go to the World Cup and it would mean a lot to me personally.

"As a player going to the 2018 World Cup, you see your trajectory only going one way and you hope to be at the next World Cup if everything goes well.

"Right now, I'm grateful I'm fit and playing consistently. That's all I can ask for. If I go [to the World Cup], it would mean the world.

"It’s something that's not at the forefront of my mind and my only focus right now is doing my best for Chelsea and helping us kick on with good results."

Merry Moyes

David Moyes has expressed his delight at West Ham securing top spot in Europa Conference League Group B.

The Hammers edged Silkeborg 1-0 at the London Stadium last night in what has been a relatively comfortable European campaign so far. 

And Moyes, 59, said: "To be through already is hugely important with the way the season’s going.

"The biggest thing tonight was that we didn’t get many goals. We’ve been bemoaning that, not being clinical, but in the main we deserved the victory.

"I thought we had a lot of the ball and controlled the game for long periods."

Tha Hammers needed a Manuel Lanzini penalty to see off Silkeborg and ensure safe passage to the round of 16.