Blackpool manager Steve Bruce will miss Saturday’s match against Barnsley following the death of his baby grandson.

In a statement, the club said four-month-old Madison’s passing was “sudden and unexpected”.

“Everyone at the football club sends their love to Steve and his family,” Blackpool said.

“We ask that their privacy is respected.”

Millwall sent “unconditional love and support” to their former striker Matt Smith, who is Madison’s father and Bruce’s son-in-law.

Smith made 91 appearances for Millwall, and also played for Leeds United, Fulham, QPR and Salford City before retiring in August.

Bruce, 63, joined the Tangerines on a two-year deal in September after nearly two years out of football management.

The former Newcastle United and Aston Villa boss has helped the Seasiders into 10th place in League One, losing just one of his six league matches in charge.

Alex Bruce, Steve’s son, will not be in attendance for Salford’s League Two match against Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

Salford City said “our love and full support” was with their assistant manager following the death of his nephew.

DARREN ANDERTON can think of nobody who is more fitting to steal his assist record for Spurs than selfless skipper Son Heung-min.

Former England midfielder Anderton tops Tottenham’s charts in the Premier League with a whopping 68.

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But South Korean icon Son is creeping up behind on 64 and will surely surpass him at some point this term.

Son will target getting even closer to Anderton’s record at home to West Ham.

And Anderton, 52, told  SunSport in association with freebets.com: “If anyone is going to break that record, I’m very happy it’s going to be Son because he’s a team player.

“I always considered myself to be that, and always put the team first.

“I’d get as much joy at  creating opportunities and  setting up goals as I did from scoring myself.”

Assists — providing the final ball to the player who scores the goal — were not as revered in Anderton’s 1990s heyday.

But the growing influence of stats-obsessed American sports and the rise of fantasy football have seen the goal-maker take almost as much credit as the goal-taker.

Put it this way: Anderton would be hailed far more for his playmaking ability if he were playing today rather than 30 years ago.

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Many of Anderton’s assists saw him tee up old mucker Teddy Sheringham.

In fact, their epic 27-goal combinations make the pair the fifth-most prolific duo in Premier League history.

Son is top of that particular list owing to his fruitful partnership with Harry Kane.

They hit a staggering 47-goal combinations before Kane was sold to Bayern Munich two summers ago.

California-based Anderton added: “We live in America now and all the sports over here are about the assists and the stats and everything.

“So I’ve always been aware of it. My American friends always used to say that it’s scandalous no one ever speaks about assists!

“Now they do, so that’s good, and I think they should. It’s a huge part of the game and it’s what happens in the final third that wins games.

“Your team can have all the possession in the world but it’s that final ball which is so, so important.

“I’m very proud of the record. It’s something that I was always aware of.

“When I first got in at Spurs I struggled, but then things really took off for me and my relationship with Teddy in terms of assists and scoring goals.

“When Harry and Sonny had their assist-goal relationship, I saw myself and Teddy’s names up in the top five  Premier League goal-assist partnerships.

“Someone sent me something the other day about my record on social media when Son had two assists and I was like, ‘Oh, OK’.

“We were having dinner and I showed my daughter and  wife and we were having a bit of a giggle about it.”

Son has missed Spurs’  last three games due to a hamstring issue picked up  in the 3-0 home win over Qarabag in the Europa League group stages last month.

However, the South Korean expects to return to action today in the early kick-off.

The attacker, 32, is one of Spurs’ greatest modern-day players and is 21st in the all-time list of Premier League goalscorers on 122.

But he has only scored in one match this season — the 4-0 win over Everton on August 24 — and has not netted in his last five club appearances.

Anderton added: “He hasn’t played as well as he would like and against Manchester United, he wasn’t missed — that performance was incredible.

“But that’s all part of getting to that sort of age and things start to change. I left Spurs at 32, I thought I had a few more years in me, but that’s all part of the game that we all play.

“But everyone in football knows how good he is.

“He’s the perfect football player. He works his socks off, he creates opportunities, he scores goals.

“He has always produced  and has been an unbelievable player for the club.”

But if Spurs are to beat their London neighbours today, Anderton believes the performance of £40million midfielder James Maddison will be key.

The playmaker has struggled for large parts of this year as he battles back to peak fitness after damaging ankle ligaments in November 2023.

But he has been in red-hot form in recent weeks, yet was overlooked again by England this month.

Anderton felt the 27-year-old deserved a recall and believes the North Londoners are at their best when Maddison is on top of his game.

Euro 96 star Anderton, who won 30 caps for his country, added: “When he plays well, we play well.

“He has that X Factor that when teams sit deep because we do dominate, you need that bit of magic to create things.

“Christian Eriksen used to do it and James Maddison is in that mould.

“After he had that injury last season, our form was never the same. He’s that important to the team.”

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – PFL: Battle of the Giants ceremonial fighter weigh-ins take place Friday, and you can catch a live video stream of the proceedings here on MMA Junkie at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT).

The weigh-ins take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where PFL: Battle of the Giants (DAZN pay-per-view, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at The Mayadeen.

Francis Ngannou (17-3) is back in MMA for the first time since January 2022, and for the first time in the PFL, when he meets Renan Ferreira (12-3) for the heavyweight superfight title. And Cris Cyborg (27-2) and her Bellator title take on Larissa Pacheco (23-4), the reigning PFL women’s featherweight winner, for the women’s featherweight superfight title.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.

Max Verstappen will start the half-distance race on Saturday from pole position, having edged out George Russell in the sprint qualifying by just 0.012s.

His nearest title rival Lando Norris will start fourth, behind Charles Leclerc.

Four different teams managed to qualify a car on the first two rows on the grid.

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United States GP SPRINT QU
United States GP SPRINT
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What time does the Sprint race for the United States Grand Prix start?

The Sprint will run to a distance of 19 laps or roughly 100km.

• Date: Saturday, 19 October, 2024
• Start time: 18:00 GMT / 19:00 BST / 20:00 CEST / 20:00 SAT / 21:00 EAT / 14:00 ET / 13:00 CT / 11:00 PT / 05:00 AEDT (Sunday) / 03:00 JST (Sunday) / 23:30 IST

Can’t find your country or region in the list? Check the schedule page for the broadcast times in your local timezone.

2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix session timings in different timezones

How can I watch the US GP Sprint race?

Formula 1 is broadcast live in nearly every country around the world. 

Europe: 

• Austria – Servus TV / ORF
• Belgium – RTBF / Telenet / Play Sports
• Croatia – Sport Klub
• Czech Republic – AMC
• Denmark – TV3+ / TV3 Sport / Viaplay
• Estonia: Viaplay
• Finland – Viaplay 
• France – Canal+
• Germany – Sky 
• Greece – ANT1 / ANT1+
• Hungary – M4
• Italy – Sky
• Netherlands – Viaplay / Viaplay Xtra
• Norway – V sport 1 / V sport + / Viaplay
• Poland – Viaplay
• Portugal – Sport TV
• Spain – F1 DAZN
• Sweden – Viaplay / V sport motor / TV 10
• Switzerland – SRF / RSI / RTS
• UK – Sky Sports F1

Americas: 

• USA – ESPN Network
• Canada – RDS / RDS2 / TSN / Noovo
• Latin America – ESPN

Asia: 

• China – CCTV / Shanghai TV / Guangdong Television Channel / Tencent
• India – FanCode
• Japan – Fuji TV / DAZN
• Malaysia – beIN SPORTS
• Indonesia- beIN SPORTS
• Singapore – beIN SPORTS
• Thailand – beIN SPORTS
• Vietnam – K+

Oceania: 

• Australia – Fox Sports / Foxtel / Kayo / Network Ten
• New Zealand – Sky

Africa: 

Can I stream the US GP Sprint race?

Viewers from selected countries can subscribe to F1 TV to stream qualifying on a device of their choice. Some local broadcasters such as Sky TV (UK) and Movistar (Spain) also offer their own on-demand service. 

US GP Sprint – Starting grid:

Northampton: Furbank (capt); Hendy, Freeman, Hutchinson, Sleightholme; F Smith, T James; Iyogun, R Smith, Davison, Thornbury, Munga, Scott-Young, Pearson, Pollock.

Replacements: C Langdon, Haffar, Millar Mills, Hunter-Hill, Kemeny, McParland, Litchfield, Ramm.

Sale: Carpenter; Roebuck, Nayacalevu, Bedlow, Wills; R du Preez, Warr; McIntyre, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, Andrews, T Curry, B Curry (capt), D du Preez.

Replacements: Caine, Onasanya, Harper, Bamber, Dugdale, Thomas, Curtis, L James.

Sin-bin: Wills (19).

Referee: Christophe Ridley

The UFC and PFL go head-to-head on Saturday, with the PFL putting on arguably the most important event in company history with Battle of the Giants, headlined by the MMA return of Francis Ngannou as he battles fellow knockout artist Renan Ferreira. While the stakes are certainly higher in Saudi Arabia, the UFC is bringing a fascinating middleweight main event between Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira.

Ahead of Saturday’s doubleheader, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Mike Heck preview both events, discuss the burning questions surrounding Ngannou vs. Ferreira, the returning Cris Cyborg facing Larissa Pacheco, Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards 2, and A.J. McKee vs. Paul Hughes. Additionally, they’ll discuss the Hernandez vs. Pereira five-rounder at the APEX, the heavily-favored Kyler Phillips facing perennial ranked bantamweight Rob Font in the co-main event, answer your questions, and much more.

Catch the PFL: Battle of the Giants and UFC Vegas 99 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.