• John Terry's club and country managers back defender
• Fabio Capello may wait to name new permanent captain

Fabio Capello is sure that John Terry will not retire from international football despite being stripped of the England captaincy by the Football Association. The head coach may also appoint a temporary captain for England's next game, the friendly against Holland later this month, before deciding on a long-term replacement, with Glen Johnson, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry among those in line behind the Italian's current favourite, Steven Gerrard.

After Terry was stood down from the captaincy by the FA on Friday morning, the prospect was raised of the Chelsea captain walking away from international football completely. But Capello is confident that this would be anathema to Terry, believing that he will wish to continue playing for England despite now having lost the armband twice.

Terry was removed from the role by the Italian in February 2010 due to revelations about his personal life. The head coach has drawn on how Terry played on after that incident as well as his knowledge of the defender's resolute attitude to conclude that Terry will not quit.

Regarding his replacement the vice-captain Gerrard is the natural successor and provided he stays fit and continues to play regularly for Liverpool after a prolonged injury lay-off the midfielder should lead England against Holland on 29 February.

Capello also has Barry and Lampard in mind, though he is conscious that the latter is no longer a regular starter for Chelsea, and neither he nor the Manchester City midfielder are automatic choices since Scott Parker's emergence. However, the Italian still admires both players and with Wayne Rooney banned from the first two matches of Euro 2012, and with a three-month gap until England's next match after the Dutch friendly, against Norway in Oslo, Capello may wait until then to assess fitness and form regarding before deciding who will lead England in Ukraine and Poland.

While Parker and Johnson also have outside chances of being made captain, Capello is yet to speak publicly about the removal of Terry and the fact that the decision was taken over his head by the 12-member FA Council. He may well do so before England next meet up in around three weeks to clear the air ahead of the Holland friendly though if Terry does play on the issue of team unity is bound to linger.

Rio Ferdinand, Anton's older brother, spoke for the first time since Terry lost the captaincy on Saturday stating that he was unconcerned whether the Chelsea defender played or not in Sunday'smatch against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

There had been speculation over whether Ferdinand would shake his fellow England centre-half's hand now Terry has been charged of making a racial slur at Anton, a charge he will deny at Westminster magistrates' court on 9 July. But a knee injury has ruled Terry out of the game and Ferdinand said: "I couldn't care less if he played or not. I just think about playing for Manchester United and winning the game. I let the media talk about it, go on about it and create the storm. We are footballers. That is where we are best. That is where we enjoy being. The result and the performance of our team against theirs was definitely the most important thing for me."

Of the furore's effect on his brother, Ferdinand said: "Anton is my little brother. We have grown up together and I have looked after him when we were kids. If something is going to affect him and hurt him, I am always there as a shoulder to lean on. In moments like this, when things are so public and you can't really say anything, it can be frustrating.

"For my family, yes, it has been tough. My brother has not brought any accusations to anyone. He is not the accused. But he has had to sit there and take abuse from some small-minded people, which has been very disappointing."

Meanwhile, André Villas-Boas suggested that Terry's capacity apparently to thrive on adversity has in a perverse way suited Chelsea, and the manager sees no reason why the same would not apply to England, should Capello continue to select the centre-back. "For us, we benefit," the Portuguese said. "Hopefully for his country it will continue to be the same. I'm not saying it fuels him, that he needs negativity, but he has been outstanding."

• Chelsea will struggle to finish in top four, says United manager
• David de Gea set to return for Stamford Bridge showdown

Sir Alex Ferguson is used to new challenges. In Manchester United's two decades at the top he has experienced intense title rivalry with Arsenal and then Chelsea, though now it appears Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are the greatest dangers. And, though United visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, a ground where they have not won in the league for a decade, Ferguson believes Spurs a month later could prove the tougher trip.

"We'll certainly be glad to get the two games out of the way," the United manager says. "Chelsea away followed by Spurs away is a tough spell for us and, if we can get through them both and still be in a good position, it gives us a chance. The league table suggests Tottenham might be the harder game because they have been playing well all season and they are challenging for the title.

"We have had some fierce battles with Chelsea over the years but this time they might not finish in the top four. I am certain Spurs will qualify for the Champions League this season, so if the two Manchester clubs stay in there as well, that only leaves one spare place. The way it looks at the moment, either Arsenal or Chelsea are going to miss out."

That Arsenal and Chelsea have found it difficult to maintain momentum over the years while United have remained a constant in pushing for the title is a testament to the stability and sustainability of Ferguson's long reign. "Arsenal used to have some very good sides and you knew you would be in for a tough, physical encounter," he says.

"That has changed in recent years. Chelsea used to get off to terrific starts to the season under José Mourinho. They caught us cold at first until we started to make sure we could do the same. For the past seven years all our games with Chelsea have been battles, nip and tuck all the way, but you can see the new manager is trying to introduce a different style. Didier Drogba is getting a bit older and they have let Nicolas Anelka go but players like Ramires and Juan Mata have been brought in and Daniel Sturridge is a real threat."

Chelsea were beaten 3-1 at Old Trafford in September, in a game so open Ferguson suggested the final score could have been 20-18, back at the stage of the season when United were still giddy with their 8-2 win over Arsenal and unaware that a 6-1 home defeat in the Manchester derby was around the corner. If you had told Ferguson after that result that he would go into February level on points with City at the top of the league he would have been extremely relieved, Chelsea and Arsenal have not proved quite as adept at reacting to a new set of circumstances.

"The landscape has changed in the Premier League this season," Ferguson says. "All of a sudden Spurs and City have come along and they have both got genuine title aspirations. But that's what makes the English league so great. If you look almost anywhere else around Europe – Spain, Germany, Portugal – it's a two-horse race every time. France is the only country with a league that is anything like as competitive as ours, and the fact that there are two new title challengers in England this season is what makes this league really special. There used to be a top four, and some people used to complain about it being set in stone, but it isn't any more. United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool always used to go into the Champions League, but now there are two new teams in the picture and two of the old ones could miss out."

David de Gea, who came in for criticism when United went out of the FA Cup at Liverpool last weekend and replaced by Ben Amos for the win over Stoke City, is likely to return on Sunday, with Anders Lindegaard still injured. Ben Amos deputised in midweek and enjoyed a surprisingly quiet evening against Stoke, but Ferguson feels Stamford Bridge will be an intimidating arena for a player with only a single Premier League game under his belt. "You need experience in these situations," he says.

"David has found it difficult to adapt to the English game and has made a few mistakes, but I don't think we will be talking about those in a few years from now. It is always hard being the new Manchester United goalkeeper and it is a hard task to replace someone of the stature of Peter Schmeichel or Edwin van der Sar, but David has a great talent and the reason we went for someone young is so he could develop into the role. The problem we had with corners at Liverpool was really due to the centre-backs, not him. We had sorted it out by the second half and it shouldn't happen again."

If Liverpool can secure a top-four finish they can probably rely on the Uruguayan striker's services for a while longer

South America's most misrepresented and misunderstood footballer since Carlos Tévez returns to action, and if you don't feel like joining in the party atmosphere at Anfield on Sunday you can always go on the boos at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Luis Suárez divided opinion even before coming to England. Not too many footballers have ever been suspended for cannibalistic tendencies, as happened to Suárez in Holland when he was found guilty of biting an opponent, and even those who argued that his handball on the line against Ghana in the World Cup quarter-final was the instinctive reaction of a professional were given pause when he was caught celebrating the penalty miss and laying claim to the save of the tournament.

In other, not quite so controversial news, Suárez was named player of the tournament at last year's Copa América after contributing four goals to Uruguay's successful campaign, helped Liverpool to sixth place last season after joining them when they were in the bottom half of the table, and for the past 12 months has been just about the only attacking hope Anfield could proudly point to as money well spent.

Now that Suárez's first year in England has turned into an unhappy experience as a result of the racial abuse that led Manchester United's Patrice Evra to make a complaint, the understandable fear among Liverpool supporters is that he will tire of notoriety at Premier League grounds and seek a move to a Spanish-speaking country where he can lead a quieter life, if such a thing is possible for a mischievous spirit who seems to enjoy winding up opponents. That cannot now happen until summer at the earliest, however, and whether it happens depends greatly on how the rest of this season pans out for player and club.

Kenny Dalglish has already welcomed Suárez back, adding that his ban could be a blessing if it keeps the striker fresh for the rest of the season, though it would take someone a good deal more optimistic than the Liverpool manager to imagine the player is going to get a fresh start. Even before Dalglish rather clumsily defended the booing of Evra at Anfield last Saturday, the latest missed opportunity in a list of short-sighted PR blunders, Suárez was guaranteed an unpleasant experience at Manchester United and a hostile reception everywhere else. It appears unlikely the problem will disappear on his return, especially as opponents as well as spectators could mark him out for special attention and try to play on his volatile temperament.

Yet sorry though this whole saga has been, it might not be all bad news from here on in. Suárez is undoubtedly a good footballer and in his absence Liverpool have shown themselves to be a force in the country worthy of his talents. When the question of a suspension first arose Liverpool were probably worried that losing their best player for a whole month might have dire consequences, with neither Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing or any of the other new signings looking likely to take up the slack. They need not have been. Liverpool were sixth when Suárez stopped playing, one place behind Arsenal, and they were sixth when he served his last match, one place ahead of Arsenal. There was an insipid 3-1 defeat at Bolton in mid-January, preceded by an uninspiring goalless draw at home against Stoke, but the league was far from the whole story. Within the space of a week Liverpool reached Wembley by dismissing Manchester City in the Carling Cup, then knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup in one of the season's biggest showdowns.

You could argue about the justice of those results, but only if your name is Roberto Mancini or Sir Alex Ferguson, who actually are doing. Dalglish does not give a jot, because he has his best player back, Liverpool's reputation as scourge of all things Mancunian is probably higher than it has been for years, and there are even signs that Carroll is beginning to understand what is required of him.

While the cups may have been the most conspicuous positives to offset all the negatives surrounding the Suárez-Evra affair, Liverpool's overriding priority remains a return to the Champions League elite. Suárez may be even more intent on top level European football than his manager, since a player who appeared in the Champions League with Ajax is unlikely to be any more impressed with Europa League qualification than Liverpool's ever-demanding supporters.

If Liverpool can secure a top-four finish they can probably rely on Suárez's services for a while longer. That is going to be difficult this season, with one place likely to be available for Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to fight over, but with Suárez back and Craig Bellamy in such fine form Liverpool arguably have more cleverness and pace in attack than their rivals, Arsenal's hatful on Saturday notwithstanding. Neither Suárez nor Bellamy is a prolific goalscorer or natural finisher, never mind Carroll, but the first two in tandem would be a handful for most defences, and Liverpool now have some momentum behind them. This most strained of seasons on Merseyside could still have a happy ending.

Mutiny? What mutiny? For a change, Arsène Wenger was surrounded by nothing but jovial faces as his team, and their supporters, remembered what it is like to thoroughly enjoy a game of football. No pressure. No frustration. No embarrassment. Well, not in the home camp anyway. Against opponents who could not have been more accommodating, more ragged, more downbeat, Arsenal were able to put on an exhibition of the kind of quick-witted attacking football which been so frustratingly elusive of late.

Robin van Persie collected his second hat-trick of the season, Theo Walcott enjoyed as many assists, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain crowned another sparkling display with his first strikes in the Premier League, and even Thierry Henry chipped in with another one for the nostalgics in stoppage time, his last action in his last game here provided Arsenal do not get an extension on his loan.

On a weekend when Fabio Capello has more than his fair share of headaches, Oxlade-Chamberlain's performance gives the England manager a welcome injection of positivity. He has quickly become a symbolic figure this season at Arsenal and underlined why he has such backing with his most purposeful display yet. He has started 10 games this season and has scored in three different competitions. His finishing was impressively composed, although you sense Wenger is as pleased with the maturity of his all-round game, which has taken a giant leap in recent weeks.

He is making it difficult for Wenger to consider leaving him out, which could make life interesting when Gervinho returns from the Africa Cup of Nations. Asked if he expected the teenager to be called up for England's friendly with Holland at the end of the month, Wenger replied: "Would you be surprised? In a very short time he has been an important player who can make a difference. He made a big step in that he contributes in the team play. He is a fighter as well. He has improved so much."

This was the ideal opportunity for Arsenal's offensive players to express themselves. Blackburn, having kept unsettled Chris Samba out of the picture, were easily unstitched even before Gaël Givet got himself dismissed for a two-footed lunge just before half time. The French defender connected with Van Persie's ankle, which caused a particularly anxious moment for Wenger, and Givet felt remorseful enough to apologise to the Arsenal manager as he left the pitch.

Van Persie's stride was not so easily interrupted, though. He gave his team the early advantage with a pair of replica goals, tucked in after Walcott raced into space to cut back from the byline. The first came when the game was a two minutes old. The second helped Arsenal to regain the lead after Blackburn had plundered an unexpected equaliser from Morten Gamst Pedersen's beautifully struck free-kick. Wenger picked out the quality of Van Persie's movement as the key to it all. "Something to show in every football school," he said.

For all the applause that was due to their regular scorer, an even bigger cheer was on the way, as Van Persie turned provider to give Oxlade-Chamberlain something to chase. The young striker switched on his turbo and then showed excellent composure to flick the ball around Paul Robinson before steering it into an empty net.

Arsenal duly continued to rip into Steve Kean's depleted team after the break, scoring three more in an 11-minute blitz. "To compete against them with 11 men is hard enough," the Blackburn manager said. "It is the first time this season we have been really turned over. We lost Jason Lowe to what looks like ankle ligament damage and now miss Gaël for three games.

"It was a horrible afternoon. I can shout, and throw tea cups, and keep them in the dressing room for two hours but we'll be getting back to work and looking for a reaction." They need it. Their abject efforts in the second half were easy pickings for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta drove in from a corner, before the two former Southampton prodigies combined to excellent effect. Walcott dribbled infield and delivered an inviting pass, which Oxlade-Chamberlain took with aplomb as he tricked his way past his marker to score. Next Van Persie swept in his 28th goal in 28 starts this campaign. Henry finished it all off in stoppage time, the old favourite clipping in with the aid of a deflection.

It was particularly pleasing for Wenger to see the goals shared out. "That has been the problem all season. If Robin doesn't score, who does? The wingers showed they can score and we need more from midfield," he said.

Defeat at Ewood Park in September had been arguably the lowest of Arsenal's low points this season. This meeting brought some much needed catharsis. With their biggest league win at the Emirates, it could not have been more emphatic but Wenger was not especially swayed by the scoreline. The most significant thing was the combination of result and performance – something he is desperate to build on next weekend at Sunderland. "If we win that 1-0 it will be fantastic," he said.

The days when Chelsea's £50m striker laid waste to Premier League defences look to be behind him

It is never easy watching a top footballer stray dangerously close to the point when his audience has to accept, however much we might wish to be more generous, there is a real possibility that we might be permanently talking about his gifts in the past tense.

When that player is Fernando Torres and the memories are still so vivid of a man who made a case to be recognised as the outstanding striker on the planet, the question it raises is almost unnerving. When does a chronic loss of form and self-belief, now it has transcended so far beyond an innocent blip, have to be considered as something far more serious, and when do we reach the point when we have to acknowledge there might not be any form of antidote?

The question is not asked lightly when Torres, at 27, is still short of the years when decline ordinarily sets in. It doesn't take too much effort to recall those days when he could torment the most accomplished defences and, on one particularly devastating afternoon at Old Trafford, chase down a long kick and destroy Nemanja Vidic in a way that has never happened before or since.

Torres is withholding such divine talent that there is still hope that his next goal can have therapeutic qualities, but it is also undeniably the case that the Liverpool striker who dispatched Vidic's candidacy for footballer of the year into the nearest shredding machine is very different compared to the listless figure we see at Chelsea, scratching around for something vaguely resembling his old form and threatening to be remembered as £50m worth of iron pyrite. Watching Torres used to be a joy. Now we are at the stage when his misses feel like the norm, rather than the exception. It is football's equivalent of rubbernecking.

When the question was put to André Villas-Boas week the Chelsea manager went into autopilot and tried to make an argument that the Torres slump was not as alarming as it clearly is, just as he has with almost weekly regularity. "The only thing we can do is try to work on his movement in training," he said. "Will a goal trigger it all? We will have to wait and see."

Sir Alex Ferguson talked of the new regime at Stamford Bridge and the most expensive player in the league didn't even warrant a mention. "You can see the new manager is trying to introduce a different style. Didier Drogba is getting a bit older and they have let Nicolas Anelka go, but players like Ramires and Juan Mata have been brought in and Daniel Sturridge is a real threat." Chelsea versus Manchester United is one of the great Premier League fixtures – and Torres felt like nothing more than an afterthought.

Whether it was deliberate on Ferguson's part, it is difficult to be sure. But this is what happens when you go without a league goal for four and a half months. Torres has not scored since a 5-0 defeat of Genk on 19 October. In his 12 matches since, he has been on the pitch nearly 18 hours. This is his least distinguished scoring sequence in his four and a half years in England, the previous worst also being with Chelsea. Torres scored 81 times in 142 matches for Liverpool. At Chelsea, there have been 44 appearances, five goals, six bookings and one sending-off. Seven other Chelsea players have a better goals-per-game ratio. Their last player to go 1,000 minutes without scoring was Petr Cech, the goalkeeper. Whichever way you cut it, the numbers look terrible.

Every so often there are flashes of the old Torres, even going back to that game at Old Trafford in September when the lasting memory was of the most bewildering miss of his career. It was the kind of chance he would have once scored blindfolded, but Rafael Benítez talked afterwards of it being almost insignificant compared with the moment his former player made a pass and sprinted 30 metres to be in the right position to receive it.

"Sometimes when you are not mentally ready you say, 'Oh, I passed the ball, that's it.' You could see he wanted to be involved and take the responsibility." Benítez, who scrutinises Torres as closely as anyone, was convinced these were the moments that heralded the first signs of recovery.

He was wrong. There have been plenty of these occasions and, every time, it amounts to nothing. Benítez did not want to renew the Torres conversation week, quite possibly because he had run out of positive things to say. Ferguson spoke with a cutting form of indifference and, if Villas-Boas seemed fairly relaxed, the main reason might be that it gave him the chance to move the subject away from John Terry.

The problem for Villas-Boas is he is beginning to sound like a looped tape. Yes, a goal or two against Manchester United could do wonders for the player's state of mind, but how many times have we said that over the past year? Torres has not managed a single winner for Chelsea. His body language seems sapped of confidence and, as times passes, it is no longer good enough just to assume he will snap out of it because of what we remember.

Terry scandal could cost Ferdinand too

"Ha, ha, yes," was the text message from a footballer known to John Terry after the news broke that he was now to be known as England's ex-captain. Soon afterwards the stories started to emerge of Terry being cold-shouldered by some of his international team-mates when Fabio Capello's players were last together. Terry picked up on the frostiness and further inquiries revealed that, yes, he was not imagining it.

This is one of the most alarming revelations of the week, especially as Rio Ferdinand could be available for the game against Holland on 29 February and was apparently planning to blank Terry, now injured, in the fair play handshake before Manchester United play Chelsea on Sunday.

Capello needs to remember what happened to the Dutch squad because of the number of cliques and fall-outs behind the scenes in Euro 1996. From an England context, it cannot be allowed to fester. So what does he do next? It isn't fair - it's wrong in the extreme - but it wouldn't be a total shock if Ferdinand were strategically left out.

Captain of team and his brother say violence in which more 70 fans died had been planned

Twin brothers who play for the football team Al-Masry, whose match against a rival team in Egypt ended in a massacre, claim the violence was encouraged by the police with the backing of the army.

Captain Karim Zekri and his brother, Mohamed, told the website CommentMidEast.com that there was strong evidence the bloodshed was planned. More than 70 people were killed and at least 1,000 injured in the violence at the Port Said stadium following the home side Al-Masry's victory over Cairo-based Al-Ahly.

After the match finished, hundreds of Al-Masry supporters were seen to surge across the pitch to the visitors' end as panicked Ahly fans made for the exit. But it has emerged the steel doors were bolted shut, resulting in dozens being crushed to death.

"I have many friends who were in the stadium, and they swear to me that the police were saying to them 'Go and beat the shit out of them [Ahly fans] – they're saying you're not men'," said Mohamed, who was not playing and watched the game in a cafe near the stadium.

"During the second half, I saw about 10 armed thugs gathering outside the stadium, right in front of the police; there were about 50 policemen, but not a single one of them moved. The thugs had swords and were probably hiding other weapons. But I found the response of the police really odd. Other thugs arrived in cars and some went straight round to the away stand."

The 26-year-old brothers are symbols of Port Said football. Karim is a household name in Egypt, while his brother was considered the golden boy of Egyptian football earlier in his career.

Karim told the Egyptian football commentator Islam Issa that both teams had been ordered to their changing rooms after the match finished and the violence had broken out. It was only later that he realised what had happened. "We'd left our changing rooms and gone to the Ahly players' changing rooms to make sure they were OK, and there, we saw the disaster," Karim said. "I found corpses on the floor, and most of the deaths were from suffocation. People were squashed together and ended up dying that way. I went out of the changing rooms to help the Ahly fans get out."

He said the stadium's floodlights had been switched off. "We found out later that this happened as soon as we'd gone in – and this was one of the main causes of the disaster because people stamped on each other. I found people on the floor and I kept taking as many out of the stadium as I could and returning. The strange thing is that there were no police in the stands or in the player's tunnel where I was taking them out from."

The twins' claims are likely to reinforce the belief that the violence was orchestrated by the army against the "Ultras", the Al-Ahly fans whose experience confronting police at football matches was deployed with devastating effect against Egypt's security forces during the Arab spring.

Mohamed said he had felt something was wrong before kick-off. "Firstly, there was no real searching of fans as they entered the stadium, which is really unusual," he said. "Tickets weren't being checked, and there was no searching at all. And for the first time in the history of our town, the governor and chief of police did not attend this game."

Karim said he had heard that a man arrested on Friday had confessed to helping orchestrate the violence. "He said that there were more than 600 people hired from outside Port Said who entered the game. They'd taken money from one of the sacked National Democratic party members … He told them to kill and cause havoc in the stadium, and now everyone is searching for him."

The brothers said they believed they were risking their lives by speaking out. "We are both ready to die like those who already have, if that's what it takes for the truth to emerge, and God willing, everyone will know the truth soon," Mohamed declared.

Peter Houston's men are over their autumn blip and targeting a repeat of their 2010 Scottish Cup triumph

Beware the wounded animal. Peter Houston need look no further than that cliche when preparing the Dundee United players for Sunday's Scottish Cup trip to Ibrox. Rangers' latest turbulent week has been played down by their manager, Ally McCoist, who has issued a typical rallying cry towards supporters. Yet those in the stands, at any club, are not known for patience: if Rangers are bundled out of their last remaining knockout hope by United then pressure will only intensify.

Houston needs no lesson in what it is like to feel the heat. The events of October came as a surprise to those onlookers who had watched Houston impressively retain United's standing – boosting it, even, by claiming the Scottish Cup two years ago – since he succeeded Craig Levein.

Yet a fixture at Dunfermline, which United won 4-1, was reported as make-or-break for the manager's Tannadice tenure. In truth, Houston's work in continuing the work started by Levein, now the Scotland manager, is worthy of praise. "It seems a long time ago and it seems like a storm in a teacup," Houston recalls of the time when his job was apparently under serious threat.

"I don't like to look back. The way the players have responded since then has been great. Aberdeen are the only side to beat us since that day at Dunfermline, outside of the Old Firm.

"I know that every manager in the SPL will be scrutinised. If results are not great, I fully understand that. But if you look at my record since taking over we have finished third, fourth and won the Scottish Cup. In October, we had people pushing panic buttons in a year of transition."

That sentiment is fully backed up by evidence. Amid tight financial constraints, which put those at Rangers into context, United lost arguably the core of their team last summer. David Goodwillie, who joined Blackburn Rovers, was their principal goal threat. Recent United teams have included just three players – Dusan Pernis, Sean Dillon and Jon Daly – who started the Cup final success against Ross County in 2010. "Listen, the most important thing is that we need the club to survive for future generations," says Houston.

"We have had a massive changeover at the club, sold our best player in Goodwillie but we are fortunate to have realistic fans who understand where we are. People realise we have a small squad, we are in transition; then we get injuries to Scott Severin and Danny Swanson which keep them out of the team for a considerable length of time.

"Again, when you look back to that Dunfermline game we had a bigger support than usual there and they were chanting my name before kick-off. I found that very heartening."

Houston's aspiration is to guide United to a top six league placing before the end of this campaign. Such a scenario is far from ridiculous, given the club retains a batch of promising young talent.

An extended cup run, though, would at least boost the coffers. Houston is keen to dismiss any suggestion Rangers will be seriously blunted by the deadline-day sale of Nikica Jelavic to Everton. United's manager can take heart, however, from their recent performances in Glasgow against either half of the Old Firm.

"I think the Rangers situation basically shows them edging back towards reality," Houston explains. "They need to have a smaller squad, they are looking to cut costs and downsize.

"But look at their team. Steven Davis has found top form again, David Healy is having a run in the team and is scoring goals, Sone Aluko is settled in and is playing out of his skin.

"Don't tell me this is a weak Rangers team. It is still almost full of internationals. And scenarios like they have can reinvigorate teams, bring them together and make them more aggressive. If anything, that makes it even harder for us."

Barcelona responded to Real Madrid's earlier victory with a closer-than-comfortable 2-1 win of their own over Real Sociedad to stay undefeated at Camp Nou stadium this season.

Lionel Messi set up youth player Cristian Tello for a ninth-minute opener before the Argentina player fired home his 23rd league goal of the season in the 72nd minute to make it 2-0.

Sociedad pulled back a goal immediately through Carlos Vela following a defensive mistake to set up a nervy finale for Barcelona but Pep Guardiola's men held on for the points. The Barcelona coach had rested some starters for Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final.

"I'm happy for the goal and because the coach had faith in me but also for the win because the team needed it," Tello said.

"The league is very long and there are a lot of points left, so we have to be there when Madrid stumble."

Michael Gove wrote to Premier League football clubs urging them to back his plans for free schools and academies

Tottenham Hotspur football club is in talks to host a free school at its stadium after Michael Gove, the education secretary, wrote to every Premier League club urging them to back his reforms.

Following the letter from Gove, the club, whose manager Harry Redknapp is on trial for tax evasion, is planning to build a new stadium close to its current ground, White Hart Lane, with space set aside for "educational use".

The club said it had held talks with a number of groups interested in establishing a free school at the stadium but had yet to decide who would take the space in the 56,000-capacity arena.

The development, which was uncovered by the BBC'S Sunday Politics London show, adds a new twist to the controversial free schools programme.

Gove wrote that he hoped football clubs might meet him to discuss sponsoring an academy or setting up a free school. He said: "It would be possible to ensure that training is incorporated effectively into the school day without disrupting pupils' academic studies."

He added: "Football clubs… are pillars of their communities and invest time, money and energy into young people. The work you are doing is having a positive impact on young people's lives. Your experience and drive would be hugely beneficial to children in your local area, who would be inspired by going to a school that their local football club is involved with."