New England skipper Dylan Hartley is talking to the media:

"It is a huge honour for me," he said.

"I am proud. My parents are so proud and as a dad as well I feel proud. I can't get over how proud I am to be here.

"As a team I think we have a huge challenge ahead. Scotland in two weeks I am very excited about and I'm not looking past that yet."

Stoke City

Stoke have it all do tomorrow, away from home at Anfield and chasing the game after losing the first leg 1-0.

"We are going to really push for it tomorrow - we will have a big following and we want to win the tie," says Hughes.

"You always remember cup finals and semi-finals because of the excitement and the atmosphere, and we want to make tomorrow a night to remember.

"We want to try and win a trophy moving forward. It's important I feel to compete in the latter stages of these type of competitions and to do well in the league, which we are doing."

It looks like Hughes will be able to call on star striker Marko Arnautovic for the big game.

"He trained today and was fine," said Mark Hughes. "He still has a little bit of a feeling in the hamstring, we have had checks but he is OK. We will make sure he is firing and ready for the game." 

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There's good and bad news about defender Ryan Shawcross, who limped off at Leicester after his back and hip locked up.

The bad - he won't play against Liverpool and for three to four weeks after. The good - the injury isn't as bad as first feared.

"Thankfully Ryan's injury isn't a recurrence of the problem he had last year," says Hughes.

"But unfortunately he has some muscle damage and at the moment it looks likely that he will be out for three to four weeks, which is hard for us to take. Losing him was detrimental to our performance at the weekend. We will miss him."

So are England right to appoint Dylan Hartley as Rugby Union captain for the Six Nations?

Have your say on this page. The vote closes at 16:30 GMT and we will publish the results soon after.

Stoke City

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The main man has arrived.

Mark Hughes is here to face the media and starts by admitting Saturday's defeat at Leicester "wasn't great".

"There wasn't too much in the first half to be honest. The goal before half-time impacted us, and we were caught on the break chasing the game in the second half," says the Stoke manager.

"Individual errors and collective errors were key to the outcome. It's one to put behind us and we are now looking forward to tomorrow."

Steve Brandon: What is controversial about having a natural leader, a winner and a player with passion appointed as captain? 

nathan: Hartley, the bad guy of English rugby. Not unlike one Wayne Rooney once upon a time. 

Rubyshakes: I trust EJ's judgement. No doubt Hartley's talent as a player, being captain could make him grow up into a leader.

What do you make of Dylan Hartley's appointment as England captain? Tweet #bbcsportsday., external

South Africa are on 248-5,a lead of 381.

The new England captain has been on Twitter...

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Andy Murray says the 48 hours since his father-in-law Nigel Sears collapsed at the Australian Open have been 'tough,' 'emotional,' and 'draining.'

Murray - who beat Bernard Tomic earlier to advance to the quarter-finals - twice visited his father-in-law in hospital over the weekend. Sears is now en route to London, following some encouraging test results.

"Any time someone that's close to you, something like that happens, obviously it's going to be shocking," Murray said.

"Tennis is the last thing on your mind at those moments - you are just more concerned about your family. Me and NIgel are very close. I've known him for longer than I have known Kim almost, because of what he does for a job, so it was tough."

The one and only Mark Sparky Hughes is due to give a news conference any minute to discuss Tuesday's League Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool.

Stoke don't go into the game in high spirits, hammered 3-0 at Leicester on Saturday.

It will be interesting to hear what the manager says, when he arrives that is...

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National League South side Whitehawk have abandoned plans to change their name to Brighton City following discussions with supporters. 

Chairman John Summers said it had been "impossible" to notify fans before they submitted an application to the Football Association in December. 

However, the Hawks have withdrawn their application after fans set up an online petition opposing the move and Summers spoke to supporters during Saturday's defeat at Chelmsford.

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Uncapped winger Marvin O'Connor has been drafted into France's Six Nations squad.

The Montpellier flyer replaces club colleague Benjamin Fall, who was injured playing in the European Challenge Cup against Harlequins last Friday.

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Wales international David Edwards will out for up to 12 weeks after fracturing a metatarsal in Saturday's draw at QPR.

The Molineux club have also confirmed that fellow midfielder Michal Zyro faces a six-week lay-off with a calf injury.

Winger Jordan Graham will undergo surgery on his season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear on Wednesday.

Your views on Dylan Hartley's appointment as England captain are flooding in.

Gus McLean: Given how often he does something complete brainless and gets sent off I hope we don't regret this. #bbcsportsday. 

John McEnerney: Wrong choice he's a marked man by players & refs, Haskell a better option, DH is a serial offender & will cost Eng games.

david lynch: It's a good choice think the responsibility could be the making of him he's a leader.

Tweet #bbcsportsday., external

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Track all the latest signings day by day throughout January in England, Scotland and across the world.

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Scotland women's head coach Kari Carswell steps down after five years in charge of the national female team.

Michael Payne: @DylanHartley is the perfect choice, experience and aggression going forward. Definite starter. 

Oli Wainwright: Glowing example to kids. You can act like a thug, disrespect officials and still captain your country! Joke.

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Is controversial hooker Dylan Hartley the right man to lead Eddie Jones' England revolution at the Six Nations?

Let us know via #bbcsportsday., external