Wayne Rooney should he take part on Wednesday night (1st April), and he’s almost 100% guaranteed to being in the starting 11 unless he has some freak accident before then, will become the youngest England player to make 50 appearances for his country, breaking a record set by Michael Owen back in 2003.

Rooney, who was recently named as the England fans player of the year, will be 23 years and 159 days when he plays against the Ukraine tomorrow night, whereas Michael Owen was 23 years and 179 days when he made his 50th appearance against Slovakia in 2003.

Rooney is the 51st person to make 50 or more appearances for England, John Terry was the 50th when he captained the side on Saturday against Slovakia. David James will make his 48th appearance for his country if he is selected on Wednesday.

If England beat Ukraine at Wembley this Wednesday, 1st April, they will set a new record for home matches won on the trot in World Cup qualification. They are currently equal with their record between 1949 to 1973 of six matches.

Only Frank Lampard has started each of the six games in the run.

The last time England failed to win at home during qualification was a 2-2 draw with Greece back in October 2001.

Should David Beckham be chosen in the starting line-up for tomorrow’s (Saturday 28th March) England international against Slovakia at Wembley it will be the former captain’s 100th start in his England career.

With Arsenal winger Theo Walcott out injured and Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips struggling with an ankle problem Beckham stands a good chance of playing in the friendly at Wembley as England prepare for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier with Ukraine.

Beckham’s career has been transformed by a loan move from Los Angeles Galaxy to AC Milan and if he stays fit throughout England’s World Cup qualification campaign and the tournament itself in South Africa in 2010, if England qualify, he is in line to break Peter Shilton’s all-time England record of 125 caps.

KT

Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel is still on track to become the first player to appear in 200 consecutive Premier League matches after he had a red card rescinded.

The former United States international’s record streak of 182 straight games looked set to end after he was sent off for conceding a penalty kick for bringing down Fernando Torres in Sunday’s 5-0 Premier League loss at former club Liverpool.

But he avoided a ban after Tuesday’s successful appeal to the Football Association against the ban.

Friedel, who started his record run at Blackburn and this season beat fellow goalkeeper David James’ record of 166 straight games, is available for Villa’s next match, at Manchester United on April 5.

Manchester City made it through to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup, with a win on penalties against Danish side Aalborg.

City looked to be cruising into the hat with ten minutes remaining, only to collapse after goals from Luton Shelton and a Michael Jakobsen penalty sent the tie into extra time.

However, Shay Given was the hero, saving the decisive penalty from Shelton, to send the travelling supporters into raptures. The other scores from the evening’s UEFA Cup ties are as follows:

Braga 0-1 PSG (PSG win 1-0 on agg)

FC Metalist Kharkiv 3-2 Dynamo Kiev (3-3 on agg, Kiev go through on away goals)

Galatasary 2-3 Hamburg (Hamburg win 4-3 on agg)

Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 CSKA Moscow (Shakhtar win 2-0 on agg)

Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 Udinese (Udinese win 2-1 on agg)

By Alex Zielski

Cardiff City took advantage of this game in hand over their rivals, with victory over Watford at Ninian Park - thanks to a last gasp penalty.

The Bluebirds, now sit fifth in the Championship, and still have two spare games over the teams sitting first and second. However, they needed Ross McCormack to convert a penalty in the dying moments of stoppage time after Ross Jenkins was adjudged to have handled on the line, to make this game count.

Watford went one in front via a spot-kick of their own, when Jobi McAnuff was tripped by Stephen McPhail - Tommy Smith converting on 10 minutes.

Jay Bothroyd levelled it up shortly after, his powerful left footed drive making it 1-1 on 14 minutes, before McCormack grabbed the dramatic late winner.

By Alex Zielski

Steve Coppell took charge of his 1000th game in tonight’s important victory at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Reading took three vital points against in-form Doncaster Rovers, in their bid for automatic promotion to the Premier League, and manager Coppell became only the 17th boss in English football to reach the thousand games mark.

Coppell, who started his managerial career with Crystal Palace back in 1984 at the age of just 28, said that the highlight of his career so far, was probably the least painstaking: “The year we got promoted was perceived to be my best year in management, but I probably did the least amount of work of any year I’ve been in management that season.”

The season in question was Reading’s promotion to the Premier League for the first ever time in the 2005-06 season, where they managed to total 106 points - a record for the division.

Coppell may have ambitions, but they may only be as far as the weekend: “I’ve always said I have no ambition in management other than to win the next game.”

By Alex Zielski

Peter Walton will become the oldest referee in Premier League history next season, after being granted a reprieve from retirement by the F.A.

Walton will reach his 50th birthday next campaign, doing so in October. Stuart Attwell became the youngest man in the middle in the Premier League, at 26, when he was appointed at the start of the season.

By Alex Zielski

Oldham Athletic have gone their separate way with John Sheridan following yesterday’s 6-2 defeat to promotion rivals MK Dons.

There had been recent reports of unrest at the club, with players reportedly involved in a fight at Belle Vue greyhound track on a team bonding session. Managing director Simon Corney feels that individual players may have to take some of the responsibility for the decision: “If I am honest, one or two players have let him down recently and they need to look at themselves because to a degree they have cost the manager his job.”

Celtic Triumph Against Old Firm Rivals

Celtic beat bitter rivals Rangers in the Co-operative Insurance Cup - the first time they have won an Old Firm final in 20 years.

It took 120 minutes to complete the task, Darren O’Dea with a header, and Aiden McGeady scored from the spot to make sure of victory.

By Alex Zielski

Liverpool made sure that Manchester United won’t be strolling to the title in a pulsating victory at Old Trafford.

The visitors who made the journey from Merseyside looked to be following a familiar pattern in recent games between the two sides, when Pepe Reina made minimum contact with Ji Sung Park to concede a penalty on 23 minutes, which Cristiano Ronaldo duly dispatched.

However, the early omens were turned on their head with Liverpool’s remarkable comeback. Firstly, Fernando Torres capitalised on Nemanja Vidic’s sloppy defending, calmly lifting the ball over the onrushing Edwin Van Der Sar. Patrica Evra was then the guilty party, as he upended Steven Gerrard in the box, who picked himself up to smash the visitors into the lead on the stroke of half time.

Any change United had of restoring parity was dashed in two second half minutes. Steven Gerrard was again felled, this time by Nemanja Vidic on the edge of the area, who was adjudged to be the last man by referee Alan Wiley, who produced a straight red. From the resulting free kick Fabio Aurelio delightfully curled home a left footed scorcher to send the travelling fans into ecstasy.

There was time for Liverpool to add a humiliating fourth when Andrea Dossena found himself through on goal, and flicked an exquisite chip over Van Der Sar. The result narrows the gap at the top, with the challengers now only four points behind Manchester United who have a game in hand.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal hit four past Blackburn Rovers with no reply, Andrey Arshavin scoring his first goal in English football. Everton kept up the pace with a 3-1 win over Stoke City, while Fulham got their first league away win of the season by the same score-line at Bolton Wanderers. Hull City and Newcastle United finished one apiece, along with relegation rivals Middlesbrough and Portsmouth, while Wigan Athletic grabbed a valuable win at strugglers Sunderland, 2-1 it finished.

In the Championship, leaders Wolves beat bottom club Charlton Athletic 2-1 while Birmingham City won away at inform Doncaster Rovers by two goals to nil. Reading couldn’t continue the trend however, as they slumped at home to Ipswich Town, 1-0.

Leicester City managed an impressive win at Millwall by a goal to nil, and MK Dons kept up the pressure with a 6-2 stuffing of rivals Oldham Athletic.

In the Blue Square Premier League, Burton Albion slipped again, this time at home to Sailsbury 2-1. Cambridge United closed the gap to five points with a 4-1 victory against Northwich Victoria.

By Alex Zielski