Image source, Getty Images

We leave you with this fitting tribute to Ugo Ehiogu from England manager Gareth Southgate, who was his long-time defensive partner at both Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.

“I'm stunned and deeply saddened by Ugo's passing and clearly my initial thoughts are with his wife Gemma, his children and his family.

"I know that football will be grieving because he was so highly respected by everybody he worked with and losing him at such a young age is difficult to come to terms with.

"Most importantly, he was a gentleman and he is one of those characters that people would find it difficult to have anything bad to say about him.

"I probably played more games with Ugo than anybody else in my career and while in many ways he was a gentle giant away from football, he was a colossus on the pitch. It felt like a true partnership with Ugo because we were prepared to put our bodies on the line for each other.

"We shared highs, lows and won a couple of trophies together with Villa and Boro and it's those memories that I will always cherish when I think of Ugo.

"He was one of the most professional people I played with in terms of how he applied himself to his job and it was great to see him progressing through the coaching pathway with that thirst for learning.

"I've spoken to several of our former team-mates today and there's just a sense of disbelief that we're having these conversations.

"Ugo was a credit to football, a credit to his family and he will be missed by everybody who was lucky enough to know him." 

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United States' Serena Williams - winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles - intends to return to tennis after her announcement that she is pregnant, says her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. 

"Saying exactly when she will come back (next year) is not something she cares about right now, but she does not want to stop there," he told AFP.

"She won the last Australian Open [in January when she would have been eight weeks pregnant] and will probably become world number one next week. She feels she can still dominate tennis." 

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Former world number one Novak Djokovic is having a testing time of it against Belgian David Goffin in the last eight of the Monte Carlo Masters. The world number two lost the first set 6-2.

Serb Djokovic has not reached the last four of an event since he beat Andy Murray to win the Qatar title in January - that's four events ago!

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Wigan forward Tony Clubb is to have a kidney removed but says he will be back playing before the end of the season.

The former London Broncos player says he has been struggling all season with back pain which has been diagnosed as a kidney ailment and he will now undergo surgery.

The 29-year-old said on the club website: "I woke up one night and couldn't walk I was in that much pain.

"I rang our doctor Chris Brookes and our physio Jo Seddon at four in the morning and said 'this isn't backache guys it's more than that'.

"They sent me for a scan and I saw a urologist who took a scan of my kidney and basically found out I had a kink in the tube leading into my kidney which had actually killed it off." 

Postpublished at 15:55 British Summer Time 21 April 2017

15:55 BST 21 April 2017

Gymnastics

Earlier Britain's James Hall won an all-around bronze medal at his first major senior competition - the European Championships in Cluj. 

Let's hear some more of your stories of times you have been lucky enough to meet Ugo Ehiogu. 

Image source, .

Those were the words of Denise Arthey to doctors after she and her husband Chris were involved in a road accident while on holiday.

Chris and Denise are just some of the thousands of inspiring runners who will be taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday. 

Read more about there story here and follow the live text commentary on this website from 08:25-16:00 BST on the day.

If you're taking part in the race - or know someone who is - let us know by using the #GetInspired on social media and we could feature your message!

Manchester United

Manager Jose Mourinho says Manchester United are "in trouble" after Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo suffered what appeared to be bad injuries in Thursday's Europa League win over Anderlecht.

Thursday's progress to the Europa League semi-finals came at a cost as the duo were forced off during the 2-1 extra-time win over Anderlecht.

Rojo was taken off on a stretcher after seemingly sustaining a knee injury and Ibrahimovic landed awkwardly just before the quarter-final second leg went to extra-time.

"We are in trouble," Mourinho said. "We are in trouble.

"In this moment, Eric Bailly played six matches in a row, and we lost Marcos Rojo, we don't have Jones or Smalling, we are in trouble and now we lose Zlatan too."

United are four points behind fourth-place Manchester City, but could also qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League.

Jose is up next......

Conte appears to be very conscious of said impending title race...  

"Tottenham now is a really great power in English football" he said.

"There is a moment you have to finish considering yourself an underdog. I think this is the right moment."

Premier League leaders Chelsea face their closest rivals in the FA Cup semi final tomorrow in what could be seen as a bit of a psychological battle in the increasingly exciting race to be league champions. 

Therefore, the fitness of the top players is key. Conte says Gary Cahill may find it hard to play after an illness that hospitalised him earlier this week. 

"It's not a serious problem" he says but is yet to decide on the best line-up for his defence tomorrow.