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The Uruguayan had to wait while his manager continued the rehabilitation of his even more expensive striker from Newcastle

The masks were ready, the T-shirts were on sale again outside the ground and Liverpool prepared to make up for lost time with Luis Suárez on completion of his nine-match ban from the Football Association for improper conduct and racially abusing Patrice Evra. Then the team-sheets landed and shifted the focus from the rehabilitation of the Uruguay international to that of Andy Carroll. He is seizing the chance if not the chances that came his way against Tottenham Hotspur.

It did not take long for Suárez to find controversy in a hard-fought but otherwise forgettable draw at Anfield – four minutes after his arrival as a substitute to be precise, when he kicked Scott Parker in the stomach to earn a booking for a foul that seemed clumsy not malicious but provoked a rebuke from Wayne Rooney on Twitter. Saturday at Old Trafford should be fun. He also left Kenny Dalglish ruing his side's profligacy once more when, late on, he headed Liverpool's best opening into the grateful arms of Brad Friedel.

Suárez's first appearance since Boxing Day was guaranteed to take the spotlight and he did not disappoint even in his brief time on the field. But nor should it disguise another encouraging contribution from the striker who arrived at Anfield on the same day last January, the £35m Carroll, and who, performance-wise at least, has to repair his reputation from a much lower starting point. He too shared the misery of wasting a fine opening to seal victory when he blazed over from Martin Kelly's cross with the bottom corner gaping. He also turned a difficult header just over as an uneventful contest came to life late on. His all-round display, however, augurs well for Dalglish as he pursues the Carling Cup, FA Cup and Champions League qualification.

There was more movement from Carroll, right, throughout, more aggression, clearer illustrations that he has a left foot that complements his obvious prowess in the air and, in the 28 minutes they were on the pitch together, signs of a productive understanding between the former Newcastle United and Ajax strikers bought for a combined £57.8m 13 months ago.

Dalglish cited a lack of match sharpness as the reason for starting Suárez on the bench but the Uruguay international also had to earn the right to dislodge a team-mate and none of Carroll, Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy had offered that route back. Even so, it would have come as a major relief to Carroll to retain the faith of his manager and it was an important call from Dalglish.

Being a young, strapping centre-forward, and one said to have a laissez-faire approach, does not make Carroll immune from a damaging loss of confidence, as his performances had shown before the influential display in the FA Cup win over Manchester United. No amount of public praise from Dalglish, the latest coming after revelations Liverpool had inquired about swapping the England international for Carlos Tevez, can compare with being asked to lead the line against title-chasing opposition. This was Carroll's third consecutive start in the Liverpool team, equalling the best run he has been given all season. He needs far more before a considered judgment can be delivered.

It assisted Carroll's response to complaints over a lack of movement to have Steven Gerrard moved out of central midfield and deployed behind him. The adjustment almost paid dividends in Liverpool's first attack when the home captain pierced the Tottenham defence, rekindling memories of the fruitful supply line he once provided for Fernando Torres, and Carroll peeled away from the recalled Michael Dawson. It required a perfectly executed challenge to prevent the striker testing Friedel.

The early combination proved a false dawn for Carroll and Liverpool who, for all their promise around the Spurs' area, did not escape behind Dawson and the commanding Ledley King that easily again until the final moments. Carroll won a healthy share of headers against the Tottenham central defence but the runners were better marshalled than by Patrice Evra in United's recent visit to Anfield. Kuyt escaped from Benoît Assou-Ekotto once to a flick-on from Carroll and set up a thwarted shooting opportunity from Charlie Adam as a result before the inevitable substitution arrived. Liverpool were in need of ingenuity to supplement the centre-forward's impressive work-rate and the wait was finally over in the 66th minute for Anfield and Suárez. He returned to a strikeforce that, belatedly, is showing it can share the burden.

The Gallery: Clint Dempsey as a retro TV character, a pre-transformation werewolf and an NFL receiver

The visitors were a man down at Anfield before they started and they showed reduced attacking verve against Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur were a man down before they even started. Perhaps that assertion just underlines the fact that great weight is put on everything a manager says and does. In practice it was difficult for outsiders to tell if the visitors would have been more vibrant under the watchful eye of Harry Redknapp.

Managers have been taken very seriously for a long time. It is not enough that they pick the team and lay down the tactics. Their presence on the touchline or in the stand is thought almost essential. Given that the cult of the manager is so marked, the lack of Redknapp made the scene peculiar. The midfielder Scott Parker suggested afterwards that there would have been more energy if Redknapp had been at hand.

Regardless of the court case in London and his inability to get to Merseyside because of a technical problem with the plane, it was still hard to forget him. Kevin Bond, the assistant manager, and Joe Jordan, the first-team coach, would have been in no doubt as to what was required. The plan for the night had been laid down already. All the same the true issue was whether footballers somehow need their leader in view to give of their best.

Bond claimed it had merely been "a different voice" giving the instructions. Tottenham did give a good account of themselves. "We probably have been noted for the way we play our free-flowing football which is lovely," said Bond, "but we weren't able to do that as we liked. It was a different type of display. In previous times we might not have got something."

The assistant rejected any idea that a Martin Skrtel challenge on Gareth Bale merited a red card instead of a caution. Tottenham had beaten Fulham at Craven Cottage this season when an unwell manager was not present, even if Redknapp felt his absence was a "nightmare".

This fixture at Anfield did not call too much for managerial expertise and the lack of Rafael van der Vaart because of a calf strain counted for more than Redknapp's absence. Bond might have claimed a victory as his own had José Reina not denied Bale near the end of the match.

Liverpool held advantages. They were at home and, just as significantly, far closer to full strength than their opponents. Tottenham mostly had to resist in the first half but they still hinted at the ability that makes a Champions League campaign likely next season.

That understrength line-up here did at least have Ledley King in its midst. That, in its own way, was a means of compensating for Redknapp's unavailability. Given the severity of the knee trouble that has bedevilled King's career, it said much that the defender was starting a match for the second time in seven days.

There is hope at least that playing the game regularly might again become normal to the centre-half.

Any small misgiving felt by Redknapp will lie in the conservatism. The best moment for his side in the first half probably lay in Michael Dawson's impeccable tackle on Andy Carroll after five minutes when a penalty could so easily have been conceded. Even so, that stringency would not have sufficed for Redknapp. His emphasis on attacking style had, after all, seen the team notch 20 goals in 11 away fixtures in the league before they got to Anfield.

That incisiveness was out of reach in this match.It was easy to think how exasperated Redknapp would have been while glowering at his television. The bid for the title itself has faded but the manager is still entitled to insist on enterprise when his side is on the ball.

Given the context, it was natural to ask that Tottenham do more than demonstrate efficiency while containing Kenny Dalglish's side. They did better in the second half and looked more interested in attacking but still the verve and penetration were in short supply.

The heartening factor for Redknapp would, conversely, have lain in the discipline in Tottenham ranks when Liverpool commanded so much territory.

That focus had to be even more intense when Luis Suárez made his return from suspension and came on before an adoring Anfield in the 66th minute. Everything depended then on Tottenham's capacity to maintain order even without Redknapp in sight.

• David Bernstein to meet England manager this week
• FA chairman anxious to try to calm situation

The Football Association chairman, David Bernstein, will meet Fabio Capello this week at Wembley to try to draw a line under a public row over the decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy.

Bernstein, who informed Capello of the FA board's decision to remove the armband from Terry on Thursday night in the knowledge that the Italian profoundly disagreed with the move, will address his provocative decision to make those feelings public at their meeting.

However, despite suggestions from the former FA executive director David Davies that Capello could be in "breach of contract" and bookmakers shortening the odds on his departure before the European Championship in June, Bernstein is expected to try to calm the situation. It is understood that the FA has not examined the detailed terms of Capello's contract or taken legal advice on whether he has broken them and is keen to move on, while being clear there is no suggestion of revisiting the decision over Terry.

Capello told the Italian broadcaster Rai 1 on Sunday that the FA had "absolutely not" made the right call over the issue and that he "completely disagreed" with Bernstein. At the meeting he is likely to restate his displeasure about the way the decision was reached and the outcome but has accepted that the FA board was within its rights to act. "I spoke to the chairman and I told him that I don't think someone can be punished until it becomes official," said Capello on Sunday. "The court will decide. It's going to be civil justice, not sports justice, to decide if John Terry committed the crime he is accused of. I thought it fair that John Terry keeps the captain's armband."

Capello was at Anfield on Monday night for Liverpool's match with Tottenham Hotspur, where one of the leading contenders to replace Terry as captain, Steven Gerrard, led out the home team. It remains to be seen what effect Capello's backing of Terry has on the willingness of any prospective replacement to take on the job. Rio Ferdinand has already ruled himself out.

Terry, who has yet to respond publicly to the decision and missed Chelsea's 3-3 draw with Manchester United through injury, was deposed as a result of his trial for allegedly racially abusing the Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand being set for 9 July, eight days after the Euro 2012 final. He denies the charge.

The FA had expected the matter to come to court ahead of the European Championship and after speaking to the 14-strong board Bernstein resolved that the only course of action was to remove the captaincy but allow Terry to remain available for selection.

It would be a surprise if Terry quit international football entirely given Capello's backing, although the government on Monday underlined its support for the FA's stance. The sports minister, Hugh Robertson, said: "If the consequence of [the decision] is the manager walks away, the consequence of that is John Terry walks away. I would regret both of those two things enormously but so be it." The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said: "It's a matter for the FA but they've got our full support. We're in agreement with everything they've done."

Davies, a former longstanding FA executive director called to act as chief executive on two occasions, said he believed Capello could be in breach of contract over his comments.

"It is being taken very seriously by the FA. You have to ask what his motive is. You have to suspect he wants to prevent John Terry retiring as a player before Euro 2012, but there are wider issues," he told the BBC.

"A contract may have been breached, there is strong leadership now at the FA from David Bernstein. Last week he wasn't slow to take things forward and he may not be slow to do so now."

"Por fin llegó el día" was the message Luis Suárez had posted on his Twitter account. "Finally the day came," it translated. This was his first game back since the nine-match suspension that threatened to blow a gaping hole in Liverpool's season and, almost immediately, he was reacquainted with yet more of the controversy he finds so hard to shake off.

Suárez had been on the pitch only three minutes when he swung out his right boot in the penalty area, did not get close to the ball and caught Scott Parker flush in the abdomen. The referee, Michael Oliver, brought out a yellow card but this is the generation of Twitter and Wayne Rooney was already typing in his disdain. "If ref sees that kick from Suárez and books him for it, it should be red," the Manchester United player said.

It was a painful blow for Parker, though there was a legitimate case that it was more to do with overeagerness than genuine malice and Rooney's thoughts would probably have been better kept to himself in light of Liverpool's visit to Old Trafford on Saturday. The Football Association has asked both clubs not to inflame tensions given that this will be Suárez's first encounter with Patrice Evra since being found guilty of racial insults and banned for eight matches to go with the one he had to serve for raising his middle finger at the Fulham crowd.

Liverpool, naturally, defended the Uruguayan. "He didn't see Parker," Dalglish argued, and there was a rolling-the-eyes kind of smirk when informed that the original accusation from Rooney had been endorsed by Gary Neville, formerly of United, now of Sky. "Maybe you should tweet Rooney back," he said. "It's fantastic to have Luis back and he should never have been out in the first place. He knows he's admired and loved here. We don't think he should have been away."

The controversies come hand in hand with Suárez but the overwhelming sense was that Liverpool were simply glad to have him back even if his introduction, after 66 minutes, could not conjure up a winner in a game that flickered without truly igniting and left Dalglish, once again, reflecting on their habit of being less than clinical in front of goal.

It has been the story of their season, particularly at Anfield, with 14 goals from 12 games. Six of them came in two matches and the statistics show their 9% goal-per-chance ratio is the worst in the league. To give them their due, they have now kept more clean sheets than any other team, but the lack of goals is perplexing. "We're three-quarters of the way there," Dalglish said.

Suárez, afforded a standing ovation, was lively and will reflect on a great chance to head a dramatic late winner. Andy Carroll continued his recent improvement but will also think back to a couple of wasted chances and, for all Liverpool's pressure, the best opportunity fell to Gareth Bale when he sprinted clear five minutes from the end. Bale has played with such self-belief this season it was surprising he did not take his shot with more confidence and Pepe Reina saved with his legs.

Tottenham's lack of adventure was disappointing otherwise on a night when Harry Redknapp's planned journey from Southwark crown court never got past London City airport because of a technical problem with his plane.

This was the first match Redknapp has missed as a consequence of his trial and, though too much can be read into it, in his absence his team seldom displayed the kind of exhilarating football that has taken them to third in the league.

Bale was strangely peripheral on a night when he was booked for a blatant dive and possibly fortunate not to be hurt more seriously in Martin Skrtel's later studs-up challenge. Emmanuel Adebayor was even more on the edges and their more incisive moves were generally started by Kyle Walker's surging runs from defence.

The problem for Liverpool was they lacked the ingenuity to get behind a Spurs defence in which Michael Dawson was superb. Dawson's saving tackle on Carroll, after the striker had been released by Steven Gerrard's beautifully weighted through-ball, was the outstanding moment of the night.

That was inside the first five minutes but there was little else in the first half from either team. Spurs started to take better care of the ball after the break but the home side began to wear them down again. Gerrard was excellent in front of Fabio Capello, demonstrating why he will almost certainly be named as the new England captain, but Spurs defended with resilience and purpose and Parker started to match Gerrard as the game went on.

• Second-row was shown yellow card for off-the-ball offence
• 'You have got to keep your head,' says coach Warren Gatland

Wales are expecting the second-row Bradley Davies to be cited for dumping Ireland's Donnacha Ryan on his head in an off-the-ball tussle during the 23-21 victory in Dublin on Sunday.

Davies reacted to a challenge by Ryan on the prop Adam Jones but received only a yellow card on the recommendation of the touch judge Dave Pearson. The Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, who said the offence merited a sending-off, revealed on Monday that he had been told the Italian citing commissioner, Achille Reali, had instituted disciplinary proceedings.

"You have got to keep your head," said Gatland, who is already without two second-rows, Luke Charteris and Alun Wyn Jones, and faces losing Davies for the rest of the tournament. "It is not like club rugby where you can get away with things like that. You cannot get caught up in the moment and be undisciplined because it will cost you."

The 19-year-old Wales wing George North provided the most eye-catching display of the opening weekend, scoring one try and creating another in his second Six Nations appearance. He admitted that his form going into the tournament for the Scarlets had been far from impressive.

"I was pleased with the way it went," said North. "The boys showed what we are about: we were able to dig deep to get a result and there is a great camaraderie among the squad. It is a great place to be and we can look forward.

"We know we can get better. I came into the tournament feeling disappointed with the way I had been playing for the Scarlets [it is a year since he scored a try for the region] so to score a try as well as get the win was a great feeling. Pulling on the Wales jersey again was an awesome experience."

Wales have another Sunday fixture this weekend. Scotland, who have dropped out of the top 10 of the world rankings, will travel to Cardiff having won only once at the Millennium Stadium, in 2002.

"They are going to come out strong after what happened against England," said North. "It is always about the next game and we will be going into it with confidence. Being back in Cardiff is a bonus. We are not getting carried away with the win in Dublin, there were a number of pleasing aspects to the way we played, but there are also areas we want to improve on."

North, who has scored 10 tries in his 17 appearances for Wales, appreciates teams will be paying him considerable attention after the havoc he caused in an Irish defence that, admittedly without Brian O'Driscoll, has gained the reputation of being one of the hardest to break down in Test rugby.

"You have to expect that but there are threats across our back line," he said. "If the opposition focus on one player, there will be more space for others. We have got some big men in that backs who can get over the gain-line, but we also showed we are not just about trucking it up: there was plenty of skill and finesse in our play as well as we showed for all the tries."

Gatland, who has been trying to convince his squad players who have had offers to join French clubs, following Mike Phillips, James Hook and Lee Byrne, enjoyed success on Monday when the Lions prop Adam Jones, a reported target for Perpignan, signed a new two-year contract with Ospreys.

• Trip would be followed closely by visit to Nigeria
• Stan Kroenke's strategy is to capitalise on club brand

Arsenal intend to conduct a three‑stage Far Eastern tour this summer, in addition to the planned visit to Nigeria.

The club are in the latter stages of negotiations to take the squad to Seoul, Beijing and Hong Kong, where they hope to play glamour friendlies and enjoy promotional events.

Arsenal have not yet signed off the proposals but Arsène Wenger stands to be asked to take his players to the Far East towards the end of July, return to London for a short period and then travel to the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

The 2012-13 Premier League season is scheduled to start on 18 August, six days after the London Olympics finish. The current football season started one week earlier. If Arsenal finished fourth or fifth in the Premier League, their play-off ties in the Champions League or Europa League would not be until the end of August. There would be greater scope for a logistical headache if they were to enter the Europa League third qualifying round, via a lower league position. The first leg of this tie would be played on 31 July or 1 August.

It feels like a punishing schedule for a club that, until last July when they staged an eight-day whistle-stop tour to Malaysia and China, were hardly synonymous with far-flung close-season adventures. Wenger preferred a training camp in a remote Alpine location.

The manager, though, has been forced to fall into line as a significant part of the club's business strategy under the majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has come to rest on the development of the Arsenal brand around the world and the attempt to capitalise upon it in commercial terms. Arsenal have done a good deal of positive work to build their fan base in Asia and Africa, two of the great untapped markets, and the success of last summer's tour has whetted the appetite at boardroom level.

According to the Premier League's research, there are 342 million Premier League fans in Africa and Arsenal are particularly popular in Nigeria because of their association with the country's striker Kanu, who played for them between 1999 and 2004. Asia is also a hotbed of support for the English game and Arsenal believe that going on a high-profile tour in the region can only help to fire their popularity which, in turn, can be exploited in hard financial terms.

• 'It's like we lost' says new signing after 3-0 lead given up
• Owner Roman Abramovich addressed players after the game

André Villas-Boas must lift a Chelsea dressing room that, according to the new signing Gary Cahill, was "flat" and sickened after they surrendered a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The manager is under pressure to win silverware as he manages a transitional period for the squad and he was paid a training ground visit by the owner Roman Abramovich on Saturday, during which the pair spoke for 20 minutes. Abramovich also addressed the players after the United game.

Abramovich's focus has been on his high court litigation battle with Boris Berezovsky – he is being sued for more than $5bn by his former business associate; Abramovich's fortune is put at $13.4bn. But the hearing ended on 19 January and with Mrs Justice Gloster writing her judgment, Abramovich has been able to concentrate more on his football club.

That might feel ominous for Villas-Boas, whose team sit fourth in the Premier League, 14 points off the title pace and casting nervous glances back at the pack chasing the final Champions League spot. Abramovich has earned a reputation for being a trigger-happy owner, even if he appears content to give Villas-Boas at least until the end of the season. Villas-Boas, who remains in the Champions League and FA Cup, says he accepts the pressure and speculation, and has "no doubts in my mind that I will be here next season".

The visit to Everton on Saturday will be accompanied by an even more intense spotlight than usual after his team found their character called into question following United's comeback, which was sparked by two penalties from Wayne Rooney.

"We had a fantastic start but we have come away with a sickening feeling," Cahill said. "It's like you've lost the game, to be honest. The mood's a bit flat. It was disappointing in the end. At 3-0 up we really should have seen the game off. The two penalties were disappointing. The second one, I didn't think was one at the time. So that was unfortunate."

Cahill described himself as being thrown "in at the deep end". He signed from Bolton Wanderers on 16 January but Sunday was his first football in a Chelsea shirt and his afternoon might have ended prematurely for his challenge on Danny Welbeck, after the United striker had wriggled clear on the edge of the penalty area.

"I felt at the time that I got the ball," Cahill said. "I didn't think it was a penalty. If it was a foul, it was a free-kick anyway so I'm slightly fortunate to get away with that one."

• Ben Morgan in frame to make first start for England
• Lee Dickson hopeful despite breaking hand against Scotland

England's rugby players will head to Greenwich on Tuesday for a full-scale practice match which Stuart Lancaster says will shape his team selection to face Italy in Rome this weekend. A gladiatorial-style showdown on an artificial pitch adjoining the O2 Arena is a major departure from England's normal Six Nations routine but Lancaster is determined to banish complacency following the win in Scotland last Saturday.

Among the players eager to catch Lancaster's eye will be the Scarlets No8 Ben Morgan, who made a good impression as a replacement at Murrayfield and is under serious consideration for a place in the starting XV. Northampton's Phil Dowson, who made his long-awaited Test debut in Edinburgh, is equally determined to retain his place and fierce nose-to-nose competition is precisely what Lancaster is seeking.

"I'm going to try and make sure that players on the fringes or the bench get a genuine opportunity to train in situations that are competitive and allow them to show their skills, as opposed to just giving them a bib and telling them to be a defender," said Lancaster. "Everyone has to train well. I place as much importance in how people conduct themselves in training during the week as what they do at weekends. You obviously take past experience into account but, equally, I want to create a mindset in which people are thinking about being excellent every day."

The Bristol-born Morgan, who turns 23 this month, is clearly among those on an upward curve, despite never having represented England at age-group level. "We were pleased with Ben Morgan's impact from the bench," said Lancaster. "He has taken a huge step in going straight into the England side and he's finding his feet quickly. He's certainly part of the selection dilemma going into this weekend."

In addition to the back-row equation, the return to fitness of Toby Flood offers Lancaster an alternative at No10 should Charlie Hodgson, who injured a shoulder during his try-scoring performance against the Scots, not recover as promptly as the physios expect. Flood, however, should not expect to waltz back in to the team until there is compelling evidence he deserves to start.

"Everyone has to work hard to keep the shirt and players coming back in [from injury] have no divine right to expect it either," stressed Lancaster. "Once you get that competition and desire you really begin to create some high performance because it gets driven in training. Saturday has given us a reference point to build from but we recognise we've still got a lot to do."

England are also keen to make the most of the limited time available to them before the squad fly to Rome on Thursday. The weekend travel disruption caused by snow and ice meant the team did not return from Edinburgh until 3.30am on Sunday and Monday was entirely taken up with team meetings and one-on-one reviews. With the squad's normal practice pitch at Bagshot frozen Lancaster has switched training to the all-weather surface at the London Soccer Dome, not a venue normally linked with elite oval-ball preparation.

Among those hoping to be involved, after all, will be Northampton's scrum‑half Lee Dickson, who broke a bone in his left hand during his brief cameo off the bench against Scotland. Further specialist opinion has subsequently been sought and Dickson, whose younger brother Karl was called up as cover, is now optimistic of being available to face the Azzurri.

The Bath prop David Wilson, in contrast, sustained a suspected broken jaw in Bath's 31-3 victory over Exeter on Sunday and is awaiting the results of X-rays. The Rugby Football Union, meanwhile, has announced a four-year extension of their sponsorship deal with O2. The agreement maintains O2's presence on the shirts of the senior, Saxons and women's teams.

Scotland have dropped out of the world's top 10 rugby nations following their defeat by England. The Scots' 13-6 loss relegated them one place to 11th, swapping positions with Samoa in the latest International Rugby Board rankings. England stay fifth, but Wales have climbed two places to sixth. Ireland have now fallen to eighth.

• Striker delighted with impact of Papiss Demba Cissé
• Leon Best and Ryan Taylor injured for Tottenham game

Demba Ba says he is happy at Newcastle United and had no desire to depart during the January transfer window. The Senegal striker's contract contains a release clause enabling him to leave Tyneside for £7m but Ba has not angled for its activation.

"I never talked to anyone to say I wanted to leave," said Alan Pardew's No19 who returned from the Africa Cup of Nations to score his 16th goal in as many Premier League games during the 2-1 home win against Aston Villa on Sunday. "I was just listening to people saying 'He's going there, he's going there, he's going there' and I had a big smile on my face. It was funny to me. The most important thing is being happy with your football and I am happy here."

Ba's bright smile seems a little more radiant now that he has been joined by his compatriot, Papiss Demba Cissé, the new owner of Newcastle's No9 shirt, worn by Alan Shearer, Malcolm Macdonald and Jackie Milburn.

Cissé, a £9m purchase from Freiburg, scored the winner against Villa and Ba could not have been more delighted. "I am really, really happy for Papiss," he said. "It's really important to score for a new club early on; when you come in and score right away you feel much better. It helps a lot and his was a goal of real class on the perfect return to Newcastle for me. It was such a good day; there wasn't even too much snow."

It is safe to assume the north-east weather did not loom overly large during Ba's attempts to sell the idea of joining Alan Pardew's side, now placed fifth, to his friend. "Papiss was a great signing for us," he said. "I was really happy when he signed because I talked to him a little bit beforehand. I just said, 'Go on. Sign.' He asked everything about Newcastle, about the supporters and the club but I've not told him everything because I wanted him to see for himself what it's like here. I think he loved the reception he got but he hasn't seen anything yet."

Ba, despite his prolific form in front of goal, never craved the No9 shirt. "I always said that I wanted to keep my number [19]," he said. "I always said that, if someone comes in and you want to give him No9, don't even ask me – just give it to him if he wants it. The manager asked me if I didn't mind it going to Papiss. I said just give it to him if it helps to sign him."

Ba's presence possibly clinched the deal. "We're from the same country, we live the same way as well," said Pardew's leading scorer. "Both of our parents are from Senegal and, even though I grew up in France, I always lived like I was in Senegal."

He seems amused at the idea of being one of two devout Muslims from West Africa who find themselves on Tyneside. "I think the Senegalese are happy about it," he said. "I guess there are a lot of Senegalese Newcastle fans now. But Papiss is a very quiet guy, all the fuss and hype will not affect him. I've told him everything about the No9 shirt here but I've always said it is just a number."

On Saturday Pardew's new strike force travels to Tottenham Hotspur – coincidentally a club reputed to be extremely keen on acquiring Ba this summer. "We go there and believe we can win," said the former West Ham United forward. "I look at the table and think 'Fifth, woah.' Now we just need to continue our road, continue what we are doing. We need to keep our focus but, as long as we do that, we'll be dangerous."

Newcastle travel to Spurs without the injured Leon Best and Ryan Taylor. Best will be sidelined for several weeks with knee ligament damage while Taylor is expected to make a swifter recovery from soft tissue damage to his right shin sustained when he was caught by Stephen Warnock's studs. Although eyebrows were raised that what seemed a wild lunge as the Villa left-back endeavoured to block Taylor's shot went unpunished, the FA will not review the incident retrospectively as it it says it was an "on the ball" challenge.

The Great Britain cyclist tells Donald McRae of the lengths she will go to in her bid for two gold medals

I love the pain," Laura Trott says, opening her eyes wide as she imagines the hurt that will accompany her pursuit of at least one gold medal at the Olympic velodrome this summer. "Everyone goes on about the lactic burn and all that. They talk about the weird feeling you get in your mouth when the pain is bad – it tastes like blood – but I love that feeling. That's just me."

Trott emits one of many infectious laughs, and then hammers home her point. "Coping with that pain is the difference between winning and losing," the teenage cyclist says as she prepares for a World Cup event in London later this month. "You know it's going to bloody get you at some point in a race. But you can't exactly stop, can you? The important thing is to ride through the pain. I come out the other side and I'm going a heck of a lot better then."

Her name might still be obscure outside track cycling but the 19-year-old is on the brink of breaking into the national consciousness. Trott is the key rider in the most obvious gold medal chance for the GB team, as part of an imperious women's team pursuit trio, the current world champions, and she is also a serious contender in the omnium.

Even an hour with Trott in a deserted cafe at the Manchester velodrome, on a freezing evening, is enough to see a star in the making. Beyond her gritty resolve, Trott is a real hoot. She comes from Cheshunt, a small Hertfordshire town where Victoria Beckham went to school, and her home is 20 miles from the Olympic venue. Whether claiming she's "not exactly the brightest spark out there", or explaining how an early mishap with a baked potato nearly burnt down her Manchester flat, Trott rarely stops laughing.

But she is at her most interesting when detailing the physical trials she has survived in her short life. Born with a collapsed lung, which threatened her life, Trott then overcame asthma while continuing to struggle with an ailment that means she vomits after almost every race and serious training session. Her sickness does not result from anything as innocent as a teenage hangover.

"I don't even like the drunk feeling," she exclaims. "I don't see what these bloody students get out of it, spending money they don't even have on drink."

Trott is too amused to start ranting and so, instead, describes what happens to her on the track. "They've given me some tablets to calm it down because I have such a high acid lining in my stomach. Whenever I tense, dead hard, it pushes all the acid up and makes me throw up. I've been throwing up since I was 10. As soon as I stop I can't control it for long. The worst was at the [2010] Commonwealth Games. It was on telly, wasn't it? Me being sick in a bucket."

She covers her face in mock embarrassment. "But the tablets are working. I did a sprint the other day and didn't throw up afterwards for the first time in years."

Adversity led Trott to cycling and the glittering place she may occupy at the Olympics. "Everyone calls me an Essex girl," she says, starting a new anecdote in a roundabout way, "but I'm real Hertfordshire. My only problem is I was actually born in Essex, in Harlow. But to cut the story short I had a collapsed lung. I was in intensive care for six-and-half weeks – on a ventilator. And I was four weeks early. But I survived and the doctors said I had to do lots of swimming to get things regulated."

Trott leans forward and says, almost confidentially, "You know what mums are like, always nattering? At swimming my mum explained to this other lady that she wanted to lose weight because, with the stress of me, she'd put on loads. This lady said, 'Why don't you try cycling at the outdoor track at Welwyn?' So we did – the whole family."

Initially, Trott resisted the lure of cycling. "Eight-year-olds don't like getting up early and every Saturday morning we had to tromp down to bloody Welwyn. That's not my idea of fun. But, once you start winning, it's completely different. I loved winning. And it helped that, when you won, you got money."

How much would she earn for winning a junior race in Hertfordshire? "Two pounds. But two quid's a lot of money when you're eight. It wasn't just the money. I won this 500 handicapper at Welwyn. I was so small they'd put me miles ahead even though the whole race was only a lap long. Everyone was cheering me. To an eight-year-old that's a big deal. I was National Champion at 12 and at that age kids start hanging out on the streets. I'd prefer a turbo session in the garage."

Trott is at the forefront of a group of talented young British women who have burst into the sprint and endurance events. Victoria Pendleton, her girlhood idol, rode a more solitary path. When Pendleton, the current Olympic sprint champion, joined the track programme 10 years ago, she was a lone girl in a masculine environment.

"I know what Vicky's done for us," Trott says of Pendleton. "I've always looked up to her. She's definitely our role model. I used to do grass-track cycling and her dad organised it and so I met Vicky when I was 13. I actually outsprinted her once, on a grass track, in 2007. Me and my sister Emma planned it. Emma attacked and I knew I had to draw Vicky out and go around her at the last minute. Emma won, I was second and Vicky was a world champion then. But she was cool about it. I wasn't much of a sprinter though. I'm not the brightest spark out there so for me to actually master sprint tactics? Nah. I just ride – as fast as I can and as long as I can."

Trott's self-deprecation cannot mask the ability and temperament that fast-tracked her into the senior squad a year ago. Her progress has been remarkable but she is more intent on describing the shock that awaited her when, for the first six weeks in Manchester, she lived on her own.

"I like Northerners," she says. "They're dead friendly. But it was scary when I got here. It didn't help that I set fire to the oven. I'd never cooked because my mum ran around for me at home like there was no tomorrow. I was trying to cook a jacket potato but I put it on the grill accidently and shut the door. All this smoke started gushing out. I didn't know what to do. So I ran out and burst into tears. I was banging on my neighbour's door saying, 'I've set fire to the place!' We opened my front door and this thick black smoke gushed out. If not for her I wouldn't have had a clue. I would've just screamed."

Trott now flat-shares with that resourceful neighbour, a cyclist called Katie Colclough, and has apparently mastered the most basic culinary art. "I can do a baked potato now," she says. "I didn't realise that you could speed it up by putting it in a microwave. I'm quite a good cook now and I don't burn the place down anymore. That was so scary."

She showed none of that fear on the track. Instead, Trott might even have surprised some venerable figures in British cycling. "I shocked them. They were like, 'Wooh, who is this 18-year-old telling us what to do?' But it's better to be upfront."

That same straightforward approach defines Trott's reaction to the GB women's pursuit team being heavily favoured for Olympic gold. "As long as we do our jobs it can happen. But what people say doesn't bother me. I don't even get that nervous. I just do my job."

Identifying New Zealand, United States and Australia as their rivals, Trott believes this month's test event in London will be crucial for her, Dani King and Wendy Houvenaghel. "We're world champions, and if we win again this month that would be really good psychologically."

Jo Rowsell is the fourth squad member now that Rebecca Romero and Sarah Storey have lost their Olympic chance. Storey, a member of the team that won the pursuit with Trott and Houvenaghel at a World Cup event in Colombia two months ago, was disappointed to have been axed. She would have become the first Briton to compete at both a Paralympics and an Olympics; but Trott shrugs. "It's sport. Sarah rode well and, as much as I want her on the team, I want the best four in London." Trott also harbours real belief in the omnium. "I know I only came third in Colombia but to be behind them two was massive – Tara Whitten is world champion and Sarah Hammer is unstoppable. You can barely beat that girl. I was so happy because it was the first omnium I properly nailed. So I've definitely got a chance – but it's close between me and Dani for the one spot."

The way in which Trott became European champion in the omnium last year would suggest she is likely to be the British choice. "My mum and dad were there," she says, "and it was extra special because Emma was commentating on Eurosport. When I won she went mad. They like you to talk to the BBC first and then Eurosport. But because Emma was on Eurosport I just ran over to her. It was live and it looked dead nice – us hugging."

Twenty-two-year-old Emma Trott is on the British longlist for the Olympic road-race. Yet, after injury, 2016 is a more realistic target for Emma, who now rides professionally in Belgium. "Emma's with a new Dutch road-team," Trott says. "She loves it and she's really brave. She went out last weekend and she'll be there until, God knows, September."

Trott shudders. "I don't like the road. I love being on the track. I like being indoors and the fact I'm not battling past 200 other riders. Anything can happen on the road – and I don't like the fact it goes on for three hours. Get me on the track for 20 minutes. That's enough."

The Olympics might see Trott emerge as one of the most distinctive faces in British sport – and it's easy to imagine the country going crazy about her with a couple of medals around her neck. "I do think about how different life will be afterwards," she says before a small smile breaks into another riotous laugh. "But, right now, I'd better focus on winning the bloody thing!"

• McLeish doing well and is 'strong and positive', says Petrov
• Charles N'Zogbia and Stephen Ireland challenge authority

Stilian Petrov has defended Alex McLeish's management of Aston Villa. Increasing frustration at Villa's current struggles to translate good performances into wins saw the Scot face borderline insubordination from Charles N'Zogbia and Stephen Ireland during Villa's 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday but the team's key midfielder remains firmly behind him.

"Our manager will get it right," said Petrov. "We believe in him and we will keep fighting." While Ireland exchanged words with his manager, apparently swearing at McLeish when he was censured for failing to cut out the cross which prompted Newcastle's opening goal, N'Zogbia tweeted his displeasure at being replaced by Emile Heskey.

"First time in my life I'm not happy playing football," said the French winger in a tweet which was subsequently removed and will not result in any disciplinary action from Villa. Ireland, too, was substituted but McLeish maintained his half-time withdrawal had nothing to do with their spat and was because the midfielder who, has begun returning to form in recent weeks, had sustained an ankle injury.

If Villa's supporters did not contest Ireland's removal, they subjected McLeish to chants of "you don't know what you're doing" when Heskey replaced N'Zogbia.

"Managers will always be under pressure when you don't get results even if you play well," said Petrov. "Ours is doing well and he's strong and positive but unfortunately we can't get a result.

"He's a strong character, though. He'll never give up. He'll keep fighting and driving us forward. We are behind him. It's just that we can't get results at the moment. We've been creating chances but we just can't keep a clean sheet. We've been working really hard but it has not been paying off."There is general disappointment that Villa are 13th in the table and it is felt that this rather than any wider disillusion was behind N'Zogbia's tweet. Having reflected on the events of Sunday the former Newcastle and Wigan Athletic player subsequently tweeted in rather more positive, possibly conciliatory, mode. "Football goes up and down," wrote N'Zogbia. "Massive challenge 4 me. What doesn't hurt u make u stronger. I have learned from it."

Petrov understands such introspection. "The margins between winning and losing are very small in the Premier League," he said. "If you are not careful things can turn against you so I hope we can start getting some points and climbing the table. That's important for us now but we know we have enough quality to pull out of this. We know we will score goals and there will come a time when we will defend better. We will get it right."

McLeish has criticised certain players for not saluting travelling Villa fans after the final whistle at Newcastle. Only the manager himself, Barry Bannan, Darren Bent and Shay Given went over to acknowledge those visiting supporters.

"They shouldn't be doing that," said Villa's manager. "Even if they go over and get abused they should still do it. They need to show a touch of humility. I will have a word with them."

Luis Suárez misses an excellent chance as he makes his comeback from suspension. Also, a cat runs on the pitch

Simon will be here from about 7.30, so until then why not read this preview?

Kenny Dalglish says Luis Suárez is keen to play against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night following his eight-match suspension for racially abusing Patrice Evra but the manager is not sure whether to throw him in at the deep end.

The Liverpool manager said of Suárez, who has not played since the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day: "He'll want to play, won't he? There is a lot to be taken into consideration – the way the other boys have played without him and the fact he has not played for a month.

"After five or six weeks out, it's not automatic someone will come straight back into the team. It depends on the individual, it depends on our needs; not just who we have available but who we are playing against."

To continue reading click here.

7.03pm: News: the fog that threatened to force a postponement just a few minutes ago has lifted. But what hasn't lifted, sadly, is Harry Redknapp's flight from London, grounded because of "technical difficulties".

7.08pm: Early team news: Steven Gerrard starts for Liverpool but Luis Suárez is only on the bench.

7.27pm: Today's teams are in!
Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Adam, Spearing, Kuyt, Gerrard, Bellamy, Carroll. Subs: Doni, Aurelio, Suárez, Henderson, Coates, Downing, Carragher.
Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Parker, Livermore, Kranjcar, Modric, Bale, Adebayor. Subs: Cudicini, Saha, Rose, Nelsen, Khumalo, Luongo, Lancaster.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).

7.35pm: We had an inkling of Liverpool's line-up, but José Enrique and Jordan Henderson are the players who drop out of the team to make space for Kelly and Gerrard. Tottenham bring in Michael Dawson and Jake Livermore, in place of Younes Kaboul and Rafael van der Vaart.

7.42pm: Has anybody not yet seen ? Worth a watch, if you haven't.

7.48pm: Redknapp latest, from Kevin Bond: "He was going to be here in plenty of time, then he was going to be here but not in much time, and now he's struggling. I'm not really sure. Hopefully it won't make too much difference to us." (If you don't know, his plane up from London, where his trial continues, failed to take off due to technical difficulties).

7.54pm: Fabio Capello is in the stadium. Perhaps it was the hot air emanating from the Italian's mouth that did for the Anfield fog.

7.55pm: The players are in the tunnel. Action imminent. Well, the Spurs players are in the tunnel, and a couple of Liverpudlians.

7.57pm: And they're out! There's absolutely no sign of fog, or Harry Redknapp, and football is moments away.

7.59pm: According to @InfostradaLive on Twitter, Liverpool have a 46% chance of winning, Spurs have a 23% chance of success, and there's a 31% chance of a draw. They may just have made those numbers up.

1 min: Peeeeeeeep! They're off!

3 mins: Three minutes played, three long-balls aimed at Carroll's head. "An intriguing development, Redknapp's plane being delayed and Spurs facing the prospect of playing a vital away match without the gaffer on the sidelines," writes Peter Oh. "I wonder does this make a difference to today's players or are they so self-absorbed as to not even notice the difference?" Interesting point. I think Redknapp surely deserves some credit for Tottenham's excellence, but it's only a matter of time before players just listen to, um, dubstep or something on their iPhones in preference to the manager's team talk.

3 mins: Then Carroll concedes a comedy corner, sliding a side-footed pass from near the half-way line into precisely the one area of the pitch where there was no Liverpool player to stop it trundling out of play.

4 mins: Gerrard's pass plays Carroll through, Dawson slides in and appears to poke the ball away from the striker as he prepares to shoot. Yet to see a replay, but Carroll's reaction (apoplexy, basically) suggests that Dawson perhaps didn't get the ball at all.

6 mins: Parker sends Johnson flying, inches outside the penalty area. And now we have seen a replay, and Dawson's tackle was exemplary. It had to be.

7 mins: The free-kick is touched to Gerrard, whose shot flicks the wall, hits a team-mate and bounces to safety. A very good shooting chance wasted, that.

10 mins: Tottenham have yet to do anything of note. Kelly has just ended a long spell of Liverpool possession by miscontrolling and letting the ball bobble out of play.

11 mins: There's a cat on the pitch. It's currently settled in Tottenham's penalty area. Not a fox in the box, but not too far off. "After the Manchester United game Carroll said that Kuyt had shouted at him to knock the ball down for him to run on to it. Which he did. To great success," writes Phil Sawyer. "And then carried on doing during the Wolves match. Had it not occured to Dalglish to mention this tactic in the previous 12 months, or have Carroll's travails at Liverpool been because he's really really hard of hearing?"

13 mins: The cat has now been removed, quite gently, by a burly steward. Carroll celebrates this with a couple of tasty touches.

16 mins: "Would it be unfair to say that the stray cat has already shown more awareness in the penalty area than Andy Carroll?" asks Michael McCarthy, not alone in comparing the two. It showed a good turn of pace and its movement was decent if unconventional, but it also showed a very limited grasp of the offside law and offered limited aerial ability. I'm giving Carroll the nod here.

17 mins: Walker loses the ball to Charlie Adam. Pretty embarrassing, but if there's one player it's OK to lose the ball to in these circumstances it's Charlie Adam: by the time the Scot runs two paces Walker has covered the five yards that separated them and stolent he ball right back again.

20 mins: Before kick-off Gary Neville named his favoured England starting XI. It was interesting to see Gerrard in it, while Lampard (for example) was not in his squad. Andy Carroll was in there too. Perhaps his hatred of Liverpool is waning?

22 mins: Liverpool continue to dominate, buy Tottenham are impressively alert around their own penalty area and are proving hard to break down. "Re: Carroll's tasty touches (13 mins), Maybe Carroll was celebrating the fact, that it was the cat who was taken off, not him!"

24 mins: Finally Spurs do get the ball into Liverpool's box, and with Adebayor only a couple of paces away Reina and Skrtel have a you-take-the-ball-no-you-really-it's-all-yours-no-you-simply-must moment, before the keeper eventually picks it up.

27 mins: Liverpool are suffering from a lack of width here, with Kuyt playing pretty centrally when they've got the ball, and Bellamy quite often leaving his post on the left as well. Tottenham's defence requires a bit of stretching, I think, and I'm not sure Kelly's the man to do it.

29 mins: Carroll is fouled near the half-way line, on the left wing. Adam plays a brilliant curling ball into the penalty area, which Kuyt unaccountably heads wide. No matter; he was a yard offside. For those asking for Neville's England XI, from memory it was: Hart; Walker, Jones, Smalling, Cole; Gerrard, Parker, someone I've forgotten; Sturridge, Rooney, Oxlade-Chamberlain. Can anyone fill in my gap?

31 mins: Kranjcar forces Reina into his first save, with a low, hard shot from distance which the keeper collects at the second attempt.

32 mins: Good play by Liverpool fiunally presents Spearing with a decent shooting chance, from which he produces a decent shot. It curls just wide of the post from 20 yards. "I'm worried about Spurs tonight," frets Russell Hope. "In away games against rivals we have a habit of playing this type of containing game and, as in the City game, often don't attack properly until we're behind. Very frustrating as, if we just WENT FOR IT, we'd probably have more of the ball, carry more of a threat and we've got a solid defnce to rely on IF things get hairy.

34 mins: "The cat can expect an appearance in court tomorrow morning, a fine and a lengthy ban," suggests Gary Naylow. "It may not be fur but it's a paw show from the cat and we can't just scratch it from the record, after all, a number of claws in the stadium rules were broken. Why didn't it just flea?" Um, because it wanted someone to whisker it away?

37 mins: Gareth Bale gets a rare touch of the ball. Skrtel takes full advantage, clearing ball and player into touch with maximum muscularity. "Actually, if Carroll fails to recapture his Newcastle form and ends up having to find a life outside football, Carroll's Tasty Touches does sound like a potential range of cat treats," suggests Phil Sawyer (see 13 mins).

37 mins: Liverpool win a corner from another Kelly cross. I think he's had most of their crossing chances, and hasn't beaten a defender with any of them. He also quite likes to whip a low cross into the box, which kind of misses the main point of Andy Carroll. Anyway, nothing comes of the corner.

39 mins: Another edge-of-his-own-area foul from Parker, on Gerrard, earns him a yellow card. Nice foul that. Miles away from the ball, but importantly one-footed.

40 mins: Bellamy hits this free-kick, also straight into the wall. For all that Liverpool have been the better team here, Reina's been the only keeper to have a save to make.

40 mins: Johnson cuts in from the left flank and curls in a right-footed cross that would have crept in at the far post were it not for Friedel's late and desperate stop.

42 mins: Walker gets the ball on the right of the penalty area and drives in a lowish cross which Bale backheel flicks goalwards. Nicely done, but there's no pace on the ball and Reina just catches it.

43 mins: Spurs are having their first period of controlled possession. At the end of it Walker benefits from a lucky break off Johnson and flies into the penalty area, but Agger deflects the shot wide. Gary Neville's missing player (see 29 mins) responses: "Must be Beckham," offers Andrew Austen. "Must have been Scholes," identijokes Simon Ward. "Wilshere," matter-of-facts Andrew Whittaker. Yes, that's the lad.

45 mins: We'll have a single minute of stoppage time.

Half-time: Johnson's low shot is pushed clear by Friedel, and that's half-time. This match is not living up to its billing. This is the second time of late that I've seen Spurs play without Lennon, and though the chap on the other wing gets all the good press, they seem to really miss him. "The half-time message from Kenny will be to stop pussyfooting around and sling it high to Andy Carroll, or Andy Cee as he's probably known in England-squad circles," suggests Justin Kavanagh. "And the message from Big Joe Jordan won't really matter because none of the Spurs players will probably kin what he's on about."

Still half-time: But not for long – the players are coming back out right now. "Despite the usual published emails about Carroll being useless, aside from the comedy corner his touch has been excellent tonight and he's finally looked fit in the last few games," writes Anthony Hulse. And he's right – Carroll's looking pretty good. "The one decent ball he's had in the box his first touch was perfect and would have created a chance out of very little but for an unfortunate slip. The player who should be getting slagged off is Dirk Kuyt, whose every touch has been horrific and takes any momentum out of every attack that goes near him."

46 mins: Peeeeeeeep! They're off! Again!

49 mins: Bale has just popped up on the right for the first time, which suggests 'Arry's been on the blower at half-time.

50 mins: Walker loses the ball and Johnson carries it forward, up against an out-of-position Dawson on the left wing. Options here for Liverpool, but Johnson just keeps running in a straight line until he runs out of pitch. Goal kick.

53 mins: Bale, still on the right, cuts inside and unleashes a low, hard but off-target attempt from 30 yards. The pattern of the first half (the game basically hovering somewhere between not-that-bad-really and I-wonder-what's-on-ITV) has continued thus far.

54 mins: FIGHT! Excitement at last as Bale goes down under Agger's challenge and everyone gets exercised. A bit of mild pushing and shoving ends with Bale – who actually wasn't touched, and then gave Agger a proper shove – getting booked.

57 mins: Spurs have improved since Bale's booking. Walker crosses from the right, Adebayor turns the ball back into the centre and Bale, right-footed, miscues his volley wide. "I'm a bit surprised that the cat wasn't taken off by the felinesman," puns the terminally late Matt Cast.

59 mins: Kelly, who has finally tired of sending in poor crosses, cuts inside and lets fly from 25 yards. It was on its way in at the near post as well, but Friedel saved at full length.

61 mins: An hour gone, nothing happening. Is it time for a certain Uruguayan to start warming up?

61 mins: After all, what are all the journalists going to write about if he doesn't?

61 mins: Adam's corner from the right goes just over Carroll's head and Agger, clearly surprised that it reached him in the first place, sends his free header wide.

62 mins: And Suárez is stripping off.

64 mins: Carroll flicks the ball on nicely to Kuyt, on the right-wing, who waits for a while and then produces a ball which was midway between pull-back and clearance. Adam's resulting 25-yarder is charged down.

66 mins: Dirk Kuyt comes off, Luis Suárez comes on. Tremendous ovation.

67 mins: Suárez's first involvement could very easily have brought him a goal, but Parker is alive to the danger and comes across to clear.

70 mins: Parker is rolling around in apparent agony. I think he's alleging that Suárez kicked him. And the referee agrees – Suárez is booked. And so do the replays – clearly accidental, but a boot in the balls is still a boot in the balls.

71 mins: Louis Saha comes on for Emmanuel Adebayor.

72 mins: Skrtel's headed clearance falls at Gareth Bale's feet, and the Welshman skips off towards the penalty area before shooting narrowly wide. Liverpool bring Downing on for Bellamy.

74 mins: MISS! The best chance of the game, from a terrific Kelly cross. It looks like Agger will head it at the near post, but when he misses the ball bounces into Carroll's stomach, and falls perfectly for a half-volley, which he sends very high from about eight yards.

75 mins: Skrtel goes in late, high and wild on Bale. It's not a good tackle, but it's one-footed and so he's only booked.

78 mins: Spurs give the ball away to Suárez, whose pass to Carroll sends him a bit wide. He could still have had a shot, perhaps, but instead he turns into trouble and the ball is whisked away.

80 mins: CHANCE! Johnson gets away from Walker on the left and crosses towards the near post. The ball seems to curl away from goal at the last moment, enough to befuddle Carroll, who adjusts but sends his header wide.

83 mins: Over on Twitter, @AnfieldCat already has 5,872 followers. "At this rate it will be me on the back of the Echo tomorrow, I won't be using that to line the bottom of my litter tray," it tweets.

84 mins: I don't know what they teach in biology lessons up Liverpool way – the Anfield crowd seem to claim handball every time a Spurs player touches the ball in the penalty area with anything that isn't a foot.

85 mins: FANTASTIC CHANCE FOR SPURS! A long ball finds Bale suddenly racing clear, in absolutely loads of space. Reina comes out decisively and rapidly to narrow the angle and the ball is eventually hacked clear.

86 mins: AMAZING CHANCE! Liverpool send the ball into the area from the left wing, and Suárez wins a free header six yards out but sends the ball straight at Friedel. Come on, give us a ruddy goal you useless lot.

90 mins: Another chance! Gerrard's long ball forward, Carroll's excellent knock-down and Suárez controls, turns and shoots at goal, but the shot is blocked. That one actually might have been handball.

90+1 mins: We're going to have four minutes of stoppage time.

90+3 mins: Spurs keep giving the ball away here. If only Liverpool could find a decent ball into the box, they might get somewhere.

90+4 mins: Johnson floats a ball over everybody's heads and out of play. Bah!

90+5 mins: Liverpool find Carroll in the penalty area, the referee finds a foul somewhere. No idea where. Spurs free-kick.

90+5 mins: Peeeeeeep! It's all over. And, frankly, thank heavens for that.

Final thoughts: Not a terrible game, but certainly not a very good one and not one that showed either side in a very good light. Liverpool at least tried to score occasionally. Tottenham had some injuries, but no ambition. One chance for Bale, albeit a very good one, was as good as it got. They're having a wonderful season, but they didn't look like potential champions tonight. Liverpool did OK, but seem in very desperate need of a decent winger, someone to stretch an opposition defence, bring more pace to their attacks and cross the ball towards Carroll's forehead.

This match will be remembered because of a cat. This is not the mark of a good match.

England's head coach has had his authority undermined as he tries to get his squad right for Euro 2012

Undermining of manager's authority

David Bernstein, the Football Association chairman, was lauded as the person committed to taking the captaincy from John Terry. In retrospect, though, he acted bluntly since he seems not to have consulted Fabio Capello. He must have known how vehemently the manager would disagree. The authority of Capello was waning in any case since his time is nearly over but the Terry issue leaves him looking an irrelevance. The Capello aura has been a key to his long career and he might have thought he had escaped the sort of high-handedness even he must have encountered when employed by the owners of Serie A clubs. In practice it will be hard now for him to cut a magisterial figure before a squad that has seen him treated so dismissively by the FA. It underlines the fact that this seeming autocrat is as vulnerable as anyone whose countdown to retirement is being recorded by everyone around him.

Lack of alternatives for Rooney

Most people are delighted that this year's European Championship will still be a short, sharp event for 16 countries even if it will be bloated in future but in the present circumstances the FA would surely have preferred a dull start. Much depends on Wayne Rooney yet the idiocy of his red card in Montenegro means he will be banned from games with France and Sweden before being available to take on the co-hosts Ukraine. There is, of course, no straightforward alternative to Rooney and we could see Capello searching for a target man who will allow players to break forward in support. The England manager can be grumpy about the decline of 4-4-2 but, while he sneers about the 9-1 formation he sees everywhere, Capello cannot buck the trend completely. In November his 4-3-3 formation against Spain, for instance, had wingers who could drop back, leaving Bobby Zamora alone in attack.

Potential rift between centre-backs

England's situation in the core of defence ought to be a source of comfort rather than a cause of profound disquiet. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry do show signs of wear and tear but know-how is meant to be the key element at international level. Those two centre-backs, though, look like a problematic combination given the charge that Terry racially abused Rio's brother Anton, the Queen's Park Rangers player. It is just about feasible that the issue can be set aside for Euro 2012 since both defenders must ache to have a memorable tournament with England. Should the campaign go awry, though, the stresses might resurface. There are other contenders available but Gary Cahill has only just joined a Champions League club, Chelsea. The matches he now plays in Europe will be valuable, but Capello must pray that such games will not shake the defender's confidence.

Diminishing options in midfield

Midfield once looked a source of strength for England. It still is in terms of know-how but Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have to tailor their game to the fact that both are moving into the veteran phase. That could not have been more apparent than in Liverpool's FA Cup tie with Manchester United when the Anfield manager, Kenny Dalglish, ruled correctly that Gerrard should be taken off, with his side going on to notch a winner. Gerrard and Lampard will have to be used with care at Euro 2012. In other circumstances that might have suited Capello. It is very likely, after all, that he will want to see the youthful Jack Wilshere bring his talent to bear. That should work but first the issue of an ankle injury that is not clearing up as quickly as anticipated will have to be addressed. Arsene Wenger would certainly not stand for Capello taking a risk with the prodigy.

Stress caused by burden of expectation

The England line-up will differ somewhat but there is a collective memory to football teams and the misery of the 2010 World Cup is still an ache in the bones. There will be claims of confidence this time but England players, in common with the fans, have to set a different tone on the pitch. It may be of benefit that a brisk tournament such as the European Championship does not leave players with so much time on their hands. Nonetheless realists in the squad will appreciate how greatly the odds will be against them when Spain, Holland and Germany are contenders. It would be pleasing to suppose that the weight of expectation will be hoisted from the shoulders of the squad but, justified or not, it is most likely to press down on them once more.

All the best images from Anfield where Liverpool will be trying to extend their unbeaten home run and Spurs will be going for a win to keep their title dreams alive

The 2012 Olympics is meant to be 'a showcase for British talent'. Yet out of the entire country, teeming with artists, these nasty designs were the absolute best they could dredge up

I'm trying my very best to be reasonable about the Olympics and not to spew poisonous bile about the already non-stop coverage and banging-on, the super-colossal expenditure, the predicted internet meltdown, the transport dog's breakfast, ruined small businesses and lives, bulldozed homes, allotments and little bits of London we were fond of, because I never have been keen on sport and am probably biased.

American Cousin, who lives in town, is leaving the country, but I can cope with it. It won't last for ever. Nobody's forcing me to join in. I can stock up and stay in for two weeks. I can be the Luddite I've always wanted to be: turn the telly off, use my quill pen and paper, and deliver my work by bicycle in the dead of night, when the traffic jams are over and the visiting hordes are in bed.

Anyway, that was my plan. Why rain on everyone's parade? But something has tipped me over the edge – the Olympic designs. Aren't they all grim? That ghastly mess of a logo, then the sickening uniforms – maroon with red piping and beige. Erk. Then the Anish Kapoor big, tangly, helter-skeltery tower thingy. But worst of all, those horrid silvery, pointy, lumpy, one-eyed mascots, Mandeville and whatsit. In the whole history of Olympic mascots – and none of them have been much cop – these must be nadir of mascot creation. And the 2012 Olympics is meant to be "a showcase for British talent". Yet out of the entire country, teeming with artists – professional, amateur, student, infant and the odd trained elephant – these nasty designs were the absolute best they could dredge up. Who designed this drek? A human? A committee? Who chose the winner? Another committee? I  want them all punished.

"They said the same thing about Guernica," says Fielding. "You may mock it, you and your snobby, lefty friends, but it's going to be a fabulous success. Everybody loves sport, patriotism and flags, and the Tories are going to be in for ever. That's not what I want. I hope you'll make that clear." Thank you Fielding, man of the people.

Nick Spencer (Face to Faith, 4 February) has used the recent football stadium tragedy in Egypt as a vehicle for his dislike of sport in general and football in particular. He doesn't want to ban sport outright, he just wants supporters to lock themselves away in their front rooms! His utopian dream is a sport-free country where nobody can display their sporting abilities in public for fear of arousing passions. Poor Nick Spencer. Even the communists were proud of their football teams. Under which sort of political regime does he imagine a sport-free existence? I can think of a recent sport-free nation – Afghanistan – when run by the Taliban, who used the national sports stadium for executions and banned all sport. Football is enjoyed by countless millions worldwide and is usually a reflection of a free-thinking, free-acting society. Think of Iraq and Palestine. One politically motivated incident in a fragile country resulting in awful deaths should not be used as a measure or a guide.
Andrew Spacey
Wakefield, West Yorkshire

• Trainer has high hopes of Sir Alex Ferguson-owned runner
• Empire Levant is a lively Betfair Hurdle outsider

Paul Nicholls talked extensively on Monday about the horses he plans to run this weekend at Betfair's Super Saturday meeting and is expecting the Sir Alex Ferguson-owned What A Friend to run very well in the Denman Chase. Here are his thoughts on that runner and all his other hopes on the Newbury card.

What A Friend

He runs in the Denman Chase on Saturday. He was beaten a head in it last year with a 10lb penalty by Noland and then ran an absolutely corking race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, only just failing to beat Kauto Star on the run-in, finishing fourth. The idea this year was to train him for two races, one being the Cheltenham Gold and the other is the Guinness Gold Cup at Punchestown in April.

The idea is to go for the Denman Chase, which he doesn't have a penalty for this year, and then go on to Cheltenham. We couldn't run him after [the John Smith's Hurdle at] Wetherby in October, which has probably worked in his favour as he goes well fresh. He's way more forward in his coat than he was this time last year, so I can see him running really well on Saturday.

He's 40-1 for the Gold Cup and, when you look at some of the horses in behind Long Run and Kauto Star, I think he's a massive each-way bet. If the ground's quick and dry like last year, he's a lively outsider.

Tidal Bay

He ran a really good race in the Argento [Chase at Cheltenham] the other day and stayed on really strongly. If I could get him jumping a bit better he'd be finishing a lot closer in his races.

I was going to go straight to the Gold Cup with him, and then go on to something like the Totesport Bowl at Aintree, but he came out of last week very fresh and well and worked nicely on Saturday, so we've stuck him in the Denman Chase on Saturday to see what's in it. We're not saving him now for anything, so he might well run this weekend. He gets no penalty and the race should suit him.

Zarkandar

He is favourite for the Betfair Hurdle on Saturday, unbeaten last year winning the Adonis, the Triumph and then at Aintree, and he's on a mark from the end of last season based on what he did last season. Whether he's well in or not, we'll know this weekend.

He did have a breathing operation in the summer, because he was always making a noise last year and I did say to the owners before the Adonis that, if he didn't win that day, we'd put him away and do the breathing operation then, so he'd be a novice this season. Of course, he won, so we carried on.

He had a bit of a setback earlier in the season. He was cast in his box which meant that I missed two or three weeks' work. I said to his owners that he wasn't going to be ready for Christmas, so we should give him one run and go for the Champion Hurdle, which has always been our target. So that's why he hasn't run; it was nothing major. He's done lots of work and had a racecourse gallop but first and foremost I haven't trained him just for Saturday. That is his prep race for the Champion Hurdle and that is when I want him at his very best for obvious reasons.

He could have a nice handicap mark on Saturday. It doesn't necessarily mean he's going to win, he could win a blinder and improve. Look at Long Run last year, he was beaten in the Paddy Power off 158 and then won the King George on his next start. Because they're well in, it doesn't always mean that they're certainties.

A race like this is going to be competitive and it's obviously a bit of a disadvantage that he's not had a run since April, so whatever he does on Saturday, he will improve. I pray to God it's on, as it would give us a headache as to what to do with him [if Newbury is called off], as I do need to give him a run before Cheltenham.

Brampour

He runs on Saturday in the Betfair Hurdle, he'll have top weight so it will be quite handy to have Harry [Derham] taking 7lb off him. He stops the weights going up a bit, so people seem to think I'm keeping him in to keep the weights right for [my] others but it probably suits everybody else really.

I need to give him a run before the Champion Hurdle and it's perfect to run him in this with 7lb off him. He was beaten only four lengths by Grandouet in the International Hurdle and he could run a really nice race on Saturday and pick up some crumbs in fourth or fifth.

He's done nothing but improve this year, he's had a break since Christmas and after Saturday and he'll go to the Champion Hurdle with Harry keeping the ride. Later on I'd look at something like the Scottish Champion and he'll hopefully improve again over the summer and contest all the good hurdle races next year.

Empire Levant

He's a big, scopey, rangey horse and I'm looking forward to him jumping fences next year. I still think he needs another summer but he's done nothing wrong this year. He won first time up at Newbury when he had a really nice handicap mark. He absolutely hosed in, then we ran him again two days later and he was second to Rock On Ruby with Rayo Star in third. Rayo Star then won the Ladbroke Hurdle [at Ascot] so that's good form.

He had a few little problems over Christmas but the intention is to run on Saturday and he'll have 10st 4lb, which is a great weight for a handicap like that. Then he'll probably run in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham.

He loves Newbury, as he's shown in his two runs there. With soft ground and a good gallop he's definitely not without a chance on Saturday. He's a really good outsider, a great each-way bet. He'll be a good chaser next year but there's another good hurdle in him before that.

Dodging Bullets

He's got an entry on Saturday in the novice hurdle at Newbury and he's also in at Taunton on Thursday and will run in one of those two races. He came from Ireland, did well on the Flat last summer and won his last two, and was quite impressive.

He's taken a little while to come to himself but he goes nicely enough at home and we're very much looking forward to running him. I need to get a run into him and then decide what we're going to do with him later in the season.

Silviniaco Conti

He's entered in the three-mile chase at Newbury but that doesn't mean he's going to run as he's got other options. He could go for the Reynoldstown Chase [at Ascot] or the Pendil or a race at Fontwell. We haven't decided for definite if he's going to run at Cheltenham, he's in the 2½-mile [novice chase] and also the three-mile [novice chase]. He ran an absolute blinder in the Feltham [Novice Chase] at Christmas, where he beat Bobs Worth. I still don't know why Bobs Worth is a shorter price than he is [for the RSA Chase at Cheltenham next month], because he beat him fair and square.

He jumps really well and he's improving, he's strengthening up all the time but I still see him as next year's horse, hence I don't really want to do the wrong thing. I want to mind him a little bit and, if we don't go to Cheltenham, we'll go to Aintree and then we'll be looking after him because next year I can see him contesting all the top three-mile races.

If Grands Crus runs on Saturday, I don't see any reason to take him on at this stage, so we might go elsewhere, but I'm sure he's going to do really well as a chaser.

Join Together

He's done really well this year and won at Cheltenham both times he's been there. He's in the RSA Chase [next month] and he's entered on Saturday at Newbury as well, again with an alternative in the Reynoldstown at Ascot the following week.

There is also a nice race at Fontwell in a few weeks' time that I won with Star De Mohaison en route to [winning] the RSA. Again all options are open with him and I don't want to give him that hard a race before Cheltenham. He goes well fresh and it wouldn't be the end of the world if he went straight there. A big galloping track like Newbury would suit him really well, and Denman won the same race en route to the RSA, but we'll just see what the opposition is and weigh it all up and see what we're going to do.

He was particularly impressive last time and I'm hoping he will progress to run in the Hennessy and the top chases next year. He's a typical [son of] Old Vic, who will just get stronger as he gets older.

Hold Fast

He's got an entry for the Champion Chase and also the Grand Annual Chase at Cheltenham. He's in the Betfair Super Saturday Chase [formerly the Game Spirit], which looks like being a hot race, but he won very nicely at Sandown last time.

We thought we'd run him at Newbury which will tell us whether he's good enough for the Champion Chase in which he might hopefully get a place. Master Minded took that same route, from Sandown to the Game Spirit and then the Champion Chase. I'm not saying he's Master Minded or anything like that but Saturday will tell us where we go at Cheltenham, if it's the Grand Annual or to be a lively outsider for the Champion Chase.

Ruby [Walsh] keeps telling me that he needs to go right-handed but then he used to keep saying that about Master Minded as well. I suspect he'll end up in a handicap at Cheltenham but, bar the top two or three in the Champion Chase, it's looking fairly open.

• Spaniard banned until August after positive test in 2010
• Tour de France organiser welcomes decision

Bradley Wiggins's chances at the Tour de France and in the Olympic time trial have been improved by the banning of Alberto Contador, who will contest neither after being banned for his clenbuterol positive test in 2010. The odds on Wiggins winning the Tour were shortened after the ruling by the court of arbitration for sport to ban Contador until 5 August this year.

Contador, who had won three Tours before being stripped of his 2010 title, would have been among the favourites for the Tour and the time trial, which is among his strong suits. The Spaniard did not react initially to the verdict from the CAS but will give a press conference on Tuesday.

Contador proclaimed his innocence from the moment the test result was made public, claiming that he could have ingested clenbuterol only through eating beef that had been contaminated with the drug. The report from the three-man panel at the CAS said such a claim could not be proved; however, the theory that the clenbuterol might have been ingested through a blood or plasma transfusion was "equally unlikely".

His brother Fran, who is also his manager, said he would continue racing after the ban ends. "Things are clear for my brother," he said. "He will not quit cycling." Contador is banned until 6 August, which leaves him free to race in the Tour of Spain, which starts on 18 August.

The ruling means he is set to sit out the Tour involuntarily for the third time in his career. In 2006 he was refused permission to start the race along with other members of his team as the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal rocked cycling while two years later the organisers refused to invite him and his Astana squad following a scandal involving the team in 2007, in which Contador had played no part.

There was little joy from rival cyclists who stand to benefit immediately from the decision to strip him of the 2010 Tour title and his major victories in 2011. Andy Schleck lost the 2010 race in controversial circumstances by 39sec but said that he was "sorry" for the Spaniard and he had always believed in Contador's innocence.

Schleck will become only the second Luxembourgeois to win the Tour, after his compatriot Charly Gaul in 1958. Schleck was echoed by the Italian Michele Scarponi, who will be awarded victory in the 2011 Giro.

The organiser of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, welcomed the verdict, having seen the 2011 race disrupted by Contador's presence as the Spaniard drew catcalls from the crowd and criticism from the media.The Spaniard's fifth place in that event will be cancelled as well as his 2010 victory. "My first reaction is to say 'at last'," said Prudhomme. "It ends an interminable process which had simply gone on too long and which was embarrassing for the organisers of all the races in which Contador had been able to take part."

After being allowed to return to racing in February 2011, Contador had also won the Tour of Murcia and Catalonia and taken stage victories in the Tour of Castille-Leon and, this year, in the Tour of San Luis in Argentina. All those results – 12 victories in all – will have to be rewritten.

The Spaniard had been provisionally suspended after the positive test, on a sample taken on the rest day of the 2010 Tour, until two initial rulings by the Spanish Cycling Federation, RFEC, at the start of February 2011. The first verdict proposed a 12-month ban due to the small quantity of clenbuterol found in his urine but that was contested and the RFEC then ruled he had no case to answer.

The ICU and Wada then appealed that verdict at the CAS, forcing their ruling of Monday that Contador should serve the usual two years for an anti-doping infraction. The ban is backdated to begin in August 2010 when Contador was first advised of the positive. The Tour organiser praised the "stubbornness" of the two bodies which appealed against the RFEC's absolution of Contador. "Today, no matter what the cost and no matter who is the person accused, those organisations will pursue those cases."

In hindsight Contador's key error looks to have been his refusal to accept the initial one-year ban suggested by the Spanish Cycling Federation's disciplinary commission. At worst, taking that would have sidelined him for a single summer. As it has turned out, by contesting the ruling he has ended up losing all of 2011 and most of 2012.

UCI and Wada took a gamble taking on the Spaniard – they had to win for the greater good of the sport

And so, after 585 days, the 2010 Tour de France has finally been decided in favour of Andy Schleck. It has been a long wait for the conclusion of Alberto Contador's clenbuterol case, but it is not the longest grande boucle in history: that dubious honour goes to the 2006 race, which was wrecked by Floyd Landis's positive for testosterone and was not awarded to the Spaniard Oscar Pereiro until the end of June 2008.

The wait was worth it, however, because as well as a conclusion – the case had got to the point where any ending would have been welcome – the verdict provided a measure of dispassionate clarity in a case that has been marked by more than the usual measure of hyperbole and propaganda. The report from the three-man panel at the court of arbitration for sport runs to 96 pages and more than 500 paragraphs but is worth a long look.

Its conclusions are simple: Contador's defence that the clenbuterol could only have got into his system through contaminated beef cannot be proven. Nor can the theory that the clenbuterol might have been ingested through a blood or plasma transfusion. The report describes them as "equally unlikely". Intriguingly, the panel said the most likely cause was one that has been kept on the sidelines: supplement contamination.

But that, too, was no more than a hypothesis alongside the other two; like the blood doping and the beef, it could not be proven. The critical element, however, is that very lack of definitive explanation and how it impacts on doping cases. There was no doubt the clenbuterol was found – the report repeatedly underlines that Contador never contested that – and its presence could not be explained conclusively. In that event, how to proceed?

The key is to be found in paragraph 202A, under the heading "Issues to be decided". It's a single sentence: "Taking into account that an anti-doping rule violation has been established by the Appellants [UCI, world cycyling's governing body and Wada, the World Anti-Doping Agency] did Mr Contador establish, considering the required standard of proof, how the prohibited substance entered his system?" The answer, the reader figures out eventually, is no. How it happened is irrelevant. What mattered to the tribunal was that Contador had broken the anti-doping rules.

The finding is a vital one for anti-doping, because it reasserts the fundamental principle of strict liability: that the athlete is responsible for a banned substance that is found in his or her blood or urine and that the absence of proof that it has been ingested deliberately is not in itself proof of innocence. The athlete is guilty of doping unless he or she can prove they hold no responsibility for the presence of that banned substance. They have to provide that proof.

Contador's defence was that the clenbuterol must have got into his system through contaminated meat, not because that fact had been proven, but because there was no other possible explanation. The absence of conclusive evidence was claimed to be evidence. Had that principle been upheld, it could have established a precedent and driven a coach and horses through the strict liability rule. It seems harsh, but the balance of probability has to remain against the athlete.

Do not go to the report looking for light relief, apart perhaps from in paragraph 277, part of a section dealing with the Basque government's report into the provenance of the controversial joint. They concluded that it had to be "solomillo veal" due to the price of the meat purchased, €32 per kg, and that the animal in question must have weighed about 290kg, and that Alberto's bit of veal would have been roughly half the veal joint available from the animal.

Questions for future cycling pub quizzes apart, what else does the Contador verdict provide? It has been criticised by a variety of worthies – even by none other than Richard Virenque, the man who took two and a half years to own up to doping, which brings a wry smile to the lips and a slight feeling of nausea to the stomach – but it is vitally important.

The verdict will not kill cycling, as its critics claim. Rather the opposite. Contador is, after Mark Cavendish, the cyclist with the highest profile in the world. His campaign was determined and well-fought and backed at the highest level in Spain. Yes, the process took more than a year and a half, and important race results have to be rewritten, but it has proved that Wada and the UCI will contest the most high-profile of cases, as far as is necessary.

The UCI took a considerable gamble in taking Contador on, not least a financial risk. It and Wada had to win for the greater good of the fight against doping. There can be no pleasure in the verdict, but there can be a big sigh of relief. The sport can at last move on, and it does so in a stronger position.