Soccer

The Morning Sports Briefing

A trophy marks progress for Liverpool, the Augusta course suits McIlroy, Woods says his game has ‘come around’, McFadden and Douglas out for Leinster, mid-season GAA holiday camps and what to watch out for

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers talks to the players during a training session at Melwood Training Ground ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup match. Photo: Andrew Powell/Getty Images
Wed Apr 08 2015 - 08:38

Soccer: FA Cup

Liverpool's season is hanging by a thread with the FA Cup now their main focus and chance for success. While all of the talk is focused on a final showdown with Arsenal they have indeed yet to get over Blackburn Rovers who they face again in tonight's delayed quarter final replay.

With fourth place increasingly looking out of their reach, unless Manchester United come away with nothing against Chelsea and Manchester City in the coming weeks, manager Brendan Rodgers insists that the FA Cup remains an opportunity to mark progress from last year; “The FA Cup would mark a good step forward for us.”

Last night Aston Villa had Christian Benteke to thank for salvaging a crucial 3-3 draw with QPR. The Londoners were in a position to move out of the drop zone only for a late free-kick by the Belgian denying them the three points and wrapping up his hat-trick.

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Golf: Masters

Thanks to his Nike comrade-in-arms Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy the world number one, poster boy of the sport, and chasing a career Grand Slam is standing out of the spotlight so far ahead of this year’s Masters in Augusta.

McIlroy though is confident that the renowned course will suit his game; "If you're looking at courses, Augusta National is the one that should set up best for me just with my ball flight and being comfortable off the tee here, especially being able to turn the ball over from right-to-left and all that."

As for Woods, he says he's been working sun-up to sundown on all facets of his game to come around "and they all have".

Rugby: Pro12

Leinster are likely to be without wing Fergus McFadden for Sunday's Guinness Pro12 match against the Newport Gwent Dragons as he continues to follow the return-to-play protocols after sustaining a head injury against Bath last weekend.

Secondrow Kane Douglas continues to struggle with a back injury and won’t play against the Dragons and is a doubt for Sunday week when Leinster take on Toulon in the European Champions Cup semi final.

Rob Kearney rolled an ankle but it is not a serious concern.

Meanwhile Alan Quinlan feels that Charles Piutau and Francis Saili can be massive signings and potential game-changers for Ulster and Munster.

While he recalls the buzz in the Munster camp when Dougie Howlett was announced in 2007, and the resulting impact he had on the squad, he’s also seen the other side of overseas signings.

“I’ve wondered were they really bothered. Did defeat hurt them as much as it hurt the rest of us? Did they think about it when they went home in the evening? Was their mood bad for the rest of the weekend?”

GAA: National League

Monaghan are on a five-day training camp in Portugal this week, looking to ramp up their championship preparations ahead of next month's championship opener with Cavan.

Meanwhile Cavan are off to New York to play in the Mick Higgins memorial trophy - it used to be the GAA training holiday was suspected as being more about the holiday than the training, but not anymore.

What to watch out for:

The Ulster Under 21 final is on tonight at 8pm in Celtic Park, and for once Cavan are not involved. Looking to be the team to have broken their four year stranglehold of the competition are Tyrone and Donegal.

Liverpool and Blackburn's FA Cup Quarter-final kicks off at Ewood Park at 7.45pm.

BT Sport 1 from 7pm

The Augusta Par 3 Tournament is on tonight and that's on Sky Sports 4 from 7pm or...

Setanta from 8pm-10pm.