Man Utd midfielder Jack Moorhouse was around the first team last season and is set to feature in pre-season.

Manchester United youngster Jack Moorhouse is in contention to feature for the first team in pre-season this summer. Moorhouse was recalled from his Leyton Orient loan in January and has occasionally trained with the senior team since his return.

Moorhouse signed for Orient on a season-long loan in August, but it was announced late on deadline day in the winter window that his time at Brisbane Road had been cut short.

With Leyton Orient fighting relegation, manager Richie Wellens believed that Moorhouse’s game time could become limited. An agreement was reached with United to send Moorhouse back to his parent club earlier than expected, which has made him available for Under-21 fixtures again.

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Moorhouse showed glimmers of quality in the first half of the season, making 24 appearances. Leyton Orient were happy with him, but they felt a recall was the best choice for his development.

Ruben Amorim named Moorhouse in a handful of first-team squads last season and Michael Carrick named him on the bench in recent Premier League games against Everton and Crystal Palace.

U21 interim manager Adam Lawrence was recently asked about what will happen next with Moorhouse. “I think for someone like Jack again, it would be his progress between now and the end of the season to then look at what his next step is or the next senior opportunity that he gets,” he said.

Moorhouse is expected to feature on tour this summer with many senior players representing their nations at the World Cup, but he is slightly behind a few of his academy teammates.

“He’s not been as consistent as Shea Lacey [who trains with the first team each day], to be honest,” Lawrence said. “It’s fairly often that the players will go across with the first team anyway. He’s not a staple, like a Jack Fletcher, Shea Lacy, but he’s over there often enough.

“I think between his level of performances in U21s games up until then [the summer], again, there’s always got to be a bit of room to say to the player, go and perform there. Get your loan, get you in the first team.

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“The club’s part is to create the pathway. The player’s job is to force the pathway and make that final part. And that’s where Jack sits at the moment. Again, there’s no bigger fan of Jack than me in terms of his qualities. He’s a lovely player. He receives the ball on the back foot, the way that he can travel and glide with the ball.

“What we’re looking for him to do is now, between now and the end of the season, in those U21s games, like a Madrid, U21s playoffs, can you perform at the elite level and make the difference? Because we feel that he can. And that’s the bit of pressure that we would put on those types of players in those games as well.”

Lawrence continued: “I think in our system, he would be an 8 or a 10, so he’s more comfortable centrally. But as you’ve alluded to, we’ve got a lot of midfield players in the squad at the moment.

“And what Jack is, he can be quite versatile and he can play off the sides in terms of he can start in a wide position and drift into the middle as opposed to start in the middle.

“We’ve been quite flexible around how we try to use him. But longer term, obviously, it’s just my thoughts. I would say like an 8 or a 10 would be his longer-term position.”

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Teenage rookie Cooper Flagg continued his superb run of form by scoring 45 points as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 134-128 on Sunday.

The 19-year-old had made history on Saturday when he became the first teenager to score 50 points in an NBA game – finishing with 51 points, including 24 in the fourth quarter, in a defeat by the Orlando Magic.

He followed up with a 45-point haul in the win over the injury-hit Lakers, adding nine assists and eight rebounds.

Flagg is the first rookie with back-to-back 40-point games since Allen Iverson in 1997, and is among the favourites to be named this season’s rookie of the year.

The Mavericks started quickly against the Lakers, who were missing both the NBA’s leading scorer Luka Doncic and rising star Austin Reaves, and were 41-30 up at the end of the first quarter.

LeBron James, 41, led the Lakers with 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds, while Luke Kennard had 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

PJ Washington scored 15 points for the Mavericks, Naji Marshall and Brandon Williams added 13 points, and Klay Thompson scored three three-pointers in his 11-point haul.

Lakers coach JJ Redick it was a “just a poor defensive night” for his side, adding: “We didn’t start the game the right way and just played catch-up the rest of the game.”

The Lakers are third in the Western Conference, with the 12th-placed Mavericks already out of play-off contention.

The Toronto Blue Jays have been troubled by injuries to several key players at the start of the 2026 season. The list of injuries grew on Sunday night after outfielder Addison Barger’s exit from the series finale against the Chicago White Sox.

During the third inning of the game, Barger landed awkwardly as he ran through the first base for a close play. Barger stayed in the game for another at-bat in the sixth inning but was replaced in right field by Jesús Sánchez after the inning.

Fans reacted to the Blue Jays facing another injury concern.

“Jeez this season is up in flames already.”

“Are we cursed?”

“Uncomfortable because he’s playing on a terrible team with a ridiculous payroll.”

“Right now the way they’re playing they should remove everyone from the field. 🤨”

“I think the whole team has discomfort.”

Barger left the game due to discomfort in both ankles. He went 0-for-3 at the plate before his exit and the Blue Jays suffered a 3-0 defeat leading to a sweep by Chicago.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider updated on the outfielder’s injury after the series finale.

“He stepped a bit weird with both of them, one on the bag and one before,” Schneider said. “We taped him up and he tried to go. We’ll see how he is tomorrow. He’s about as tough as they come. Hopefully, he’s all right and it’s just a day or two, or maybe not even a day.”

Bargers is just 1-for-19 (.053) this season despite a strong showing in Spring Training last month. He hit 21 homers with a .756 OPS in 135 games last season.

Blue Jays manager fired warning shot ahead of Dodgers showdown

The Blue Jays have lost four consecutive games and are 4-5 for the season. They face the Los Angeles Dodgers next in a rematch of last year’s World Series. Blue Jays manager John Schneider warned his players ahead of the series opener against the defending champions.

“We’ve got to get back to playing our baseball,” Schneider said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, where you’re playing or what time you’re playing them, if you don’t play your baseball, good things don’t happen.”

The Dodgers have made a strong start to the season and are headed into the series after sweeping the Washington Nationals.