BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Stoke City defender Danny Batth says players will be playing for their futures in the final eight games of the season.

They resume their Championship campaign 10 points off the play-off places, following the international break and he said they had to "use these games positively and try and get as many points on the board as possible".

Image source, Getty Images

Batth joined for £3m from Wolves in January and said the players were trying to "stake a claim" for next season.

BBC Politics

MPs have rejected Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement on the day the UK was due to leave the EU.

A number of Conservative MPs said they would switch sides to back the government this time, but in the end the deal was defeated by 344 votes to 286, a majority of 58.

Find out how your MP voted here.

More than 100 people have signed up to take part in a charity run in Hereford on Sunday.

The city is hosting its first ever March for Men on Sunday, in aid of Prostate Cancer UK.

Image source, Getty Images

People of any age or gender can complete up to four laps of the race course with the aim of improving testing and treatments.

The four-year-old is in a serious condition in hospital after being rescued from the Wye.

AFC Telford United have revealed their team strip for next season and still have ambitions of wearing it in the National League.

They host Blyth at the Bucks Head tomorrow and with seven games remaining are four points clear of the team just outside the play-off places, Kidderminster Harriers.

Image source, AFC Telford United

Manager Gavin Cowan says full back Steph Morley is close to a return from his calf strain after limping off in the first leg of the FA Trophy match against Leyton Orient.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Police have confirmed a four-year-old boy who had to be rescued from a river had been reported missing beforehand.

Image source, Google

Emergency services were called to the River Wye in Hereford yesterday morning to reports of someone in the water.

The boy was airlifted to Hereford Hospital where West Mercia Police says he remains in a critical but stable condition.

The force adds that it is not treating this as a criminal investigation "at this time".

Allen Cook
BBC News

The mother of a boy with leukaemia says he will be able to have a transplant "very soon" as three donors have been matched for a stem cell transplant.

Image source, Family Handout

Five-year-old Oscar Saxelby-Lee, from Worcester, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia over Christmas.

Thousands joined a register to try and find him a match for the transplant, which his family's been told he needs within three months of chemotherapy otherwise his chances of survival will "severely diminish".

Last week, his mother Olivia said he had responded well to treatment and was free of leukaemia blast cells.

Today, she posted on Facebook, external that he had been matched with three donors, adding she was "over the moon" to move to the next step in treatment.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Footage of a 140-tonne footbridge over the M6 being demolished has been released by Highways England.

Burton Bank, between junctions 13 and 14 in Staffordshire, was dismantled last weekend.

Highways England said it was nearly 200ft in length and contained enough concrete to fill some 20 tipper trucks.

It was brought down as its curved shape meant there would not have been enough headroom for HGVs to travel underneath when the hard shoulder becomes a new lane, Highways England said.

BBC News Travel

The M5 northbound is blocked this afternoon after several vehicles have been involved in a crash.

Highways England says it's happened between J7 and J6, external near Worcester while the ambulance service says the air ambulance has been called., external

Shropshire Star

Here are three stories from the Shrpshire Star today:

• 10,000 more visit A&E at Telford Hospital, external
• Paterson still opposed to proposed EU motion, external
• Second man arrested over Shrewsbury stabbing, external

Emily Crilly, 21 from Coventry won five medals in all at the games in Abu Dhabi.

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

The current Brexit situation's been called "a total farce" at Birmingham Indoor Markets today.

I've been back to the venue, as I reported here after the 2016 referendum.

Greg Pearce runs a shellfish stall and said "we should get out".

"We should have followed the best deal there was possible and stopped all this party political fighting and just get out of it.”

Will Brexit happen? “I hope so.”

Kathy Harding runs a health food shop: “I think it’s a total farce, but we’ve landed ourselves in a situation where we voted to come out, and nobody seems to know what they’re doing to get us out of there.

“I think Theresa May is doing a fantastic job… the stamina of the woman is amazing, but she can’t seem to pull everybody together and get them to agree on… something.”

This dog was found wandering around Selly Oak station by West Midlands Railway staff, and they're starting a search for its owner.

They said the dog was keeping the ticket office team company and was asking anyone with information to get in touch.

Image source, West Midlands Railway

Coventry Blaze and Telford Tigers face a make-or-break weekend, knowing their season will be over if they lose their upcoming games.

Just one point separates Coventry and Manchester Storm in the fight for the final Elite League play-off place and the two sides meet in Manchester tomorrow, before the visit of league-leaders Cardiff Devils to the Coventry Skydome in Sunday.

Telford Tigers have a play-off double-header against Sheffield Steeldogs, with the winner advancing to a final against either Whitley Warriors or Hull Pirates.

Image source, Scott Wiggins/Steve Brodie

The match between Cardiff and Coventry could be important for both sides, with their Welsh opponents still needing points to wrap up the league title.

Blaze head coach Danny Stewart said he expected it to go right down to the final day and that it "has been unlike any other season I've seen".

Sixteen horses at the equestrian centre have been affected by the virus.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A number of NHS staff in Shropshire turned down the chance of the flu jab last winter because of concerns about its effectiveness or over possible side effects.

The Shropshire Community Health Trust met its target of 75% in the winter just gone, but 281 front-line workers refused the vaccination, a fall of 3%.

Image source, Getty Images

A report to the trust, external, which is responsible for community hospitals and health centres in the county outlined the reasons given by many of those NHS staff who refused a vaccine.

Of the 83 who responded, 31% said they were "concerned about the possible side effects", while 29% said they “do not believe the evidence that being vaccinated is beneficial”.

That's despite the NHS's own guidance, external that suggests vaccines are "among the safest" medicines and that "the benefits of vaccinations far outweigh the risk of side effects".

Public Heath England spends considerable time and effort every year trying to persuade normal members of the public to take up the vaccine and busting some of the myths that surround it.

Shropshire senior occupational health advisor Susan Upton said only six employees had a genuine medical reason for refusing the inoculation and added the occupational health team would aim to run a “more informative and better-targeted publicity programme” next winter.

Paramedics had been dealing with a patient with breathing difficulties when the ambulance was attacked.

BBC Weather Watchers

We have a waterways theme today from our local BBC Weather Watchers, who've been out in the spring sunshine.

These three are from users NightNurse in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, Ken M in Lydbury North, Shropshire and KayakJennie in Colwich, Staffordshire:

Image source, NightNurse

Image source, KEN M

Image source, KayakJennie

Staffordshire Live

A few of the stories making the headlines on the Staffordshire Live website:

• Fatal crash sparks concerns about 'smart motorway' technology, external
• Man remanded into custody following Festival Way incident, external
• Tools worth £10,000 stolen from Staffordshire park, external

All three people arrested after a man was stabbed in Tunstall have now been released, and face no further action.

Two teenagers and a man were detained after a 27-year-old was found seriously injured on Madison Street on Tuesday afternoon.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Police say the victim is still in hospital, in a stable condition.