Image source, Empics

Antti Niemi has left his post as goalkeeping coach at Brighton to return to Finland for personal reasons.

The ex-Southampton and Fulham stopper, 42, joined the Seagulls last summer when former Finland international team-mate Sami Hyypia was boss.

"It was a hard decision because I loved my time at Brighton," Niemi said. "But it was difficult spending so much time away from my family. We came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult to carry on."

Warwickshire 264 & 321-8 dec beat Worcestershire 149 & 255 by 181 runs (Match report) (Scorecard)

Jeetan Patel took 4-69 and reached 500 first-class wickets as Warwickshire beat Worcestershire at Edgbaston.

The New Zealand-born spinner, 35, trapped Alex Gidman lbw for 12 to reach his personal milestone at Edgbaston.

Resuming on 88-2 and chasing 437 for victory, Worcestershire lost captain Daryl Mitchell (38) and Tom Fell (33) in the space of three balls just before lunch.

Warwickshire wrapped up the tail to secure their first Championship win of the season.

Gloucestershire 388 & 64-2, Lancashire 364 (Scorecard)

Lancashire paceman Peter Siddle has taken both Gloucestershire wickets to fall in the afternoon session at Old Trafford.

Siddle, who is appearing for Lancashire early in their Championship campaign before linking up with Australia for this summer's Ashes series, has dismissed Chris Dent and Gareth Roderick to leave the visitors 64-2 at tea on day three, leading by 88 runs.

Leicestershire 292 & 208-3, Surrey 557 (Scorecard)

Leicestershire have fought back well after watching Kevin Pietersen score 355 not out against them for Surrey at The Oval.

The star of their second innings has been Ned Eckersley, who brought up his century off 132 balls in the afternoon session on day three.

Eckersley eventually fell to Zafar Ansari for 118, and at tea Leicestershire are 208-3, still trailing by 57 runs.

Henry: KP slamed the door shut on the ECB after THOSE messages and now everyone expects Strauss to pick him! Madness!

Neil Foot: Can only assume Michael Vaughan was told "no KP" thus not going for the job himself? Hands tied and wouldn't be a yes man.

Harry G Henderson: Seems like England cricket is taking a leaf out of Newcastle FCs management book. Mismanagement everywhere!

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Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez has signed a new deal with the club, keeping him at St Mary's until 2019. The 25-year-old, who has missed most of the season with a knee injury, has told the club: "I'm delighted. It's a great club and we've done amazingly this year.

"It's been a tough year for myself, but I'm really delighted to sign. It's now about looking forward to the future. This is great news. I just want to carry on improving now and to try to get some game-time."

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Barcelona's attempts to rest players ahead of the semi-final second leg in Munich went more smoothly, with five players, including Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, sitting out as Barca beat Real Sociedad 2-0 to boost their title hopes.

"You can't be too confident as you have to respect your opponent, so we will need to keep our players calm," said Barca boss Luis Enrique. "We know how big Bayern are so we will try our best not to allow them too many chances. They will have their fans behind them, so we will try to keep possession and create as much as possible up front."

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In an attempt to have some key players fresh for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final with Barcelona, Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola rested four first-choice players on Saturday against Augsburg, keeper Manuel Neuer, midfielders Xabi Alonso and defenders Mehdi Benatia and Rafinha.

However, it did backfire a bit, not only because they lost 1-0 but Neuer played most of the game following Pepe Reina's early red card.

Fenners: Never mind @kp24 being told he can play, then being dumped ... what coach would want to work for this current ECB set-up?

And now two very different points of view...

Steven Fletcher: Great leadership by Strauss, just what England need ahead of a huge summer. KP had his chance and blew it - twice.

Steven Crouch: Barely an hour into his tenure as Director of Cricket and it's already clear that Strauss isn't up to the job.

Defender Per Mertesacker sees no reason why Arsenal should not head to Old Trafford confident of securing automatic Champions League qualification, despite the frustration of a 1-0 home defeat by Swansea.

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Arsenal remain in third place, three points behind Manchester City, but with a game in hand - albeit with a far inferior goal difference.

Mertesacker said: "You could feel the disappointment in the dressing room after the Swansea game, because we gave so much. But we are still positive."

Breaking news from Southampton, who have just tweeted this news...

Image source, Southampton

Image source, Getty Images

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola says his side will "battle to the end" as they bid to overhaul a 3-0 first-leg deficit in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final with Barcelona.

"The only way we can make the final is by playing better than Barcelona and doing what we did in the second half [of the first leg]," said former Barca boss Guardiola. "Our only desire is try until the end."

History gives Bayern some hope. Two years ago they beat Barca 4-0 in Munich in the last-four stage and have also scored 13 goals in their last two home games - beating FC Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in the round of 16 and FC Porto 6-1 in the quarter-finals.

Championship side Leeds United have had their transfer embargo lifted after six months.

BBC Radio Leeds reports that chairman Massimo Cellino has told the station it was lifted last week.

In December they were placed under embargo until the season's end after breaching Financial Fair Play rules. For the embargo to be lifted, the Championship side will have needed to stay within an operating loss of no more than £3m, with a maximum of £3m of shareholder investment this season.

Mark Espin, Manchester: So Andrew Strauss says its an issue of trust...does he mean....we'll tell u to stop playing IPL, stop earning your money, go to Surrey and score runs then we'll drop u anyway...I think trust is a 2 way street and the ECB and Strauss have once again made themselves look foolish! KP should be back in an England shirt.

Adrian Garner: It is a sad day for English cricket. It seems the paying public will be expected to pay ridiculous ticket prices at the gate to watch the 2nd team. What England need is a spark - KP could do that - instead we have to follow what Andrew Strauss wants - if it is 7-0 to the tourists this summer where will his trust be then? Shattered! English cricket management is a joke!

Steve Crook: Amazing the number of people who justify bringing the KP ego back into the team by saying pick the best team. The operative word here guys is "TEAM"!

Nathaniel Clyne's deadline to give Southampton a decision on his future has passed - but contract negotiations have reopened to keep him at St Mary's.

Image source, Getty Images

Speculation about the right-back has ramped up in recent months, with Manchester United strongly linked with a summer move for England international.

Clyne, out of contract next summer, has been at Southampton since 2012 and has become a senior England international since making the move from Crystal Palace.

Real Madrid's James Rodriguez and Manchester United's Radamel Falcao have been named in Colombia coach Jose Pekerman's preliminary 30-man squad for the Copa America in Chile.

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The squad will be cut the squad to 23 on 1 June, ahead of the tournament from June 11 to July 4.

Colombia, fourth in the FIFA rankings behind Germany, Argentina and Belgium, won the tournament in 2001.

It has almost been lost amid the deluge of Kevin Pietersen news, but there is rather a big football game taking place tonight.

Bayern Munich will attempt the seemingly impossible task of overhauling Barcelona's three-goal advantage in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final (19:45 BST).

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The German champions lost the first leg of their quarter-final 3-1 in Porto but won the home leg 6-1.

They'll be hoping for the something similar, though given the likes of Messi, Neymar and Suarez are in the opposition ranks, it might be a tad tricky.

We'll be looking ahead to the match throughout the remainder of the afternoon.

Ralph Pedersen: As much as I loved KP's autobiography, it really did close the door on his chances getting back in the England team.

Tim Nightingale: If @KP24 was a Man Utd footballer of equivalent talent and importance, Sir Alex Ferguson would have managed him better. Cantona kicked a fan!

Matt Wood: Would Real Madrid sack Ronaldo? No. But @ECB_cricket STILL won't pick @KP24. Insanity. Don't they want to compete in The Ashes?

Mike Clinch: Strauss and ECBtaking England cricket to a new low. Pick the best team

One final Andy Murray snippet - he will decide this evening, after consulting with his entire team, whether to play in the Italian Open in Rome:

"I would like to play. Obviously I feel good just now in terms of my game, and confident," he said.

"I said it would be good for me to play matches at sea level after playing at altitude the last couple of weeks but I also need to look a little bit further ahead with such big events just around the corner - Roland Garros and Wimbledon - and try and make the best decision."

A bit more meat on the bone about the Andy Murray-Jonas Bjorkman news.

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller has interviewed the world number three, where he asked him about his coaching situation.

Image source, Getty Images

Murray confirmed for the first time that he will be working exclusively with Bjorkman from Wimbledon until potentially the end of the year.

"He's going to be with me after Wimbledon, just me and him through potentially right until the end of the year," said the Scot. "I think both of us are quite motivated to do that. I haven't got to spend too much time with Jonas so far but it's been a good start and I'll try to keep it up."

Amelie Mauresmo hopes to be at Wimbledon, but is expecting her first child in August.