Phil Goodlad
BBC Scotland

Scotland's Greig Laidlaw has consulted a sports psychologist in a bid to take some of the emotion out of his game.

Image source, SNS

The scrum-half will captain the Scots at the World Cup and feels consulting professionals about his mindset on the pitch can improve his performances.

Police have urged drivers to be patient as this weekend sees the final closure of the Dumfries bypass in the current phase of resurfacing works.

The road between the A701 Edinburgh Road and the A76 Glasgow Road will be closed from 7pm tonight until 6am on Monday morning.

"Please consider how this might affect your journey," said a police statement. "Dumfries will see an increase in traffic over this period as diverted traffic is routed through the town."

Queen of the South are looking to get their Championship campaign back on track this weekend with a home tie with Morton.

Image source, SNS

The Doonhamers won their first three league games in a row but have since lost three consecutive league matches.

Traffic Scotland
Latest

tweets:, external *CLEARED* #M74 N/B just before Gretna Services off slip - Broken down horse box has been moved onto the hard shoulder. Thanks to police!

BBC News website readers have sent in a string of striking images for our gallery this week.

Image source, Derek Hextall

Among them is this one from Derek Hextall's visit to Hoddom Castle.

Melrose look to make it four wins out of four to stay top of the Premiership table as they host Boroughmuir at the Greenyards tomorrow.

Image source, Mike Pennington

Also at home will be Gala, as they hope to bounce back from defeat at Glasgow Hawks last weekend with a tough match against Ayr. Selkirk are on the road at Currie while Hawick would back up last Saturday's win against Stirling with an away victory at Champions Heriot's.

In National League 1, Kelso are at home to Marr, Jedforest visit Edinburgh Accies while Peebles try for a first win this season as they welcome Dundee.

BBC Scotland Weather
Latest

A cloudy start to the afternoon with further showers in the Borders but the showers will gradually die away and it will slowly brighten up with some sunshine to end the day on.

A fine afternoon with spells of sunshine in Dumfries and Galloway.

A dry evening and night with clear spells. Some mist of fog will form by tomorrow morning. Chilly with lows of 3 or 4 celsius.

Traffic Scotland
Latest

tweets:, external *NEW* #M74 N/B just before Gretna Services off slip - Broken down horse box encroaching onto lane 1. Police en-route but take extra care!

Remember our local radio bulletins for the south of Scotland are at 12:00 not 12:30 today.

Make sure you tune in for a mix of international, national and local news from our Dumfries and Selkirk studios.

There is a south of Scotland derby in League Two this weekend as Berwick Rangers host Annan Athletic.

Both teams sit two points off the top but will be looking to bounce back after heavy defeats last weekend.

The Borders Book Festival tweets:, external What a night! Gala was definitely the place to be yesterday! Thanks to @RichardDawkins, @NEIL_OLIVER_ & all of you!

Image source, Borders Book Festival

The back page of today's Dumfries and Galloway Standard covers the learning experience of Queen of the South manager James Fowler.

Image source, Dumfries and Galloway Standard

Part of the Dumfries bypass will be closed this weekend as a £6m upgrade is expected to be completed.

The first phase of the project caused major traffic disruption when a section of the A75 was closed.

Scotland Transerv made traffic changes ahead of a second spell of work but a "mechanical failure" meant the road was closed for an additional night.

Colin Colthart
BBC Radio Scotland, Dumfries

A revised application to develop a wind farm in Upper Nithsdale is again being earmarked for refusal.

Community Windpower Limited wants to construct 14 wind turbines on rough grazing land at Spango, north of Sanquhar.

The two local community councils in the area support the proposed development.

However, other organisations including Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB, have objected.

Planning officials are also opposed. They say the scheme would have an unacceptable impact on the local landscape and are recommending that it is rejected when it goes before the council's planning committee next week.

A sperm whale has been spotted off the coast of Dumfries and Galloway.

The 10m (32ft) long mammal was seen milling on the surface of the sea, just north of Portpatrick on Wednesday.

Experts from the Sea Watch Foundation claim this may be one of the most southerly sightings of a sperm whale on the west coast of the UK.

Scotland have booked their place in the elite round of this season's European Women's Under-19 Championship after their 4-2 victory over Albania in Austria.

The team - which includes Kirsty Howat from Dumfries - will meet the Austrians on Sunday to decide who wins the group.

But both sides, with two wins out of two so far, will be in the elite round when it takes place next spring.

Newton Stewart FC tweets:, external Tomorrow sees @The_Creesiders travel to galabank to face high flying @EdusportAcademy 3pm kickoff #hugegame

BBC News website reader Stewart Donaldson from Hawick has sent in these stunning views of the Borders.

Image source, Stewart Donaldson

Share your images of our region with us via dumfries@bbc.co.uk or selkirk.news@bbc.co.uk.

Scotland are through to a quarter-final qualifying match at the World Mixed Curling Championship.

The team - which includes Stranraer's Bobby Lammie - finished as runners-up in Group D at the round-robin stage.

The plight of a baby who needed an operation just days after birth makes the front page of today's Dumfries and Galloway Standard.

Image source, Dumfries and Galloway Standard