Attempted murder arrest after man stabbed in street
Following an "altercation" involving three men one of them, aged in his 30s, was stabbed, police say.
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Toure to fly Canaries' nest? - Tuesday's EFL gossip
Manchester City will need to pay more than £120m for Enzo Fernandez, Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has no shortage of suitors, Bruno Fernandes is offered a huge salary increase, plus more.
Preston and Stoke are set to be disappointed in their pursuit of Hull City defender Cody Drameh who reportedly wants to remain with the Premier League club. The two Championship clubs are reported to have offered £1m for the right-back. (Sky Sports), external
Find more of Tuesday's EFL gossip here.
Natalie Bromley
Fan writer
Image source, ShutterstockI jumped from my seat. Punched the air. And screamed until my throat felt hoarse.
Burnley had scored a late, late equaliser in a pulsating game, with no VAR to destroy the joy, and the Turf Moor faithful had nothing to do but glance briefly at the flag and raise the roof.
It has been such a very long time since I experienced that level of joy at a club football match.
So much has already been written about the misery of the past three seasons and how the football was becoming almost too unbearable to watch.
It felt like a collective relief and hope was in the east Lancashire air, with a new cohort of players connecting with its loyal fans and fighting until the final whistle was blown.
And the spearhead for this new era? New manager Nicky Hayen, who just seems to 'get us'.
He spent the week leading up the game meeting with the fan advisory board and getting to know what we want, while also articulating his expectations (booing = a no).
A meeting of minds and philosophies all came to a head on Sunday afternoon, as players greeted fans on arrival, warmed up in front of the busiest home stands, whipped up the support during the game and then enjoyed a lap of honour when every player applauded every supporter and thanked them for being there. With eye contact!
New signings Max Alleyne and Ugo Raghouber looked sprightly and promising, with moments of composure well beyond their years.
Old guards Zeki Amdouni and Armando Broja did exactly what you want substitutes to do - change the game. And Zian Flemming did what Zian Flemming does best. Scores goals.
The focus before the game was all about West Ham. How they will walk the league with record points.
Maybe they will, but Burnley FC are masters of the Championship and have found themselves a very promising manager, who is reconnecting the club from top to bottom.
We can, and should, push them all the way for that title.
There is one piece of the puzzle left. Burnley fans asked for Parker to be sacked. Now it's our turn to show up and uphold our end of the bargain.
We got what we wanted, now we need to back this new team and this new manager and march on to the Championship title together. Again.
Find more from Natalie Bromley at No Nay Never podcast, external
Image source, ShutterstockAccrington's Isaac Sinclair needs knee surgery
Midfielder Isaac Sinclair faces several months out of action after Accrington Stanley revealed he needs an operation on an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.
The 25-year-old, who has yet to play for Accrington this season, damaged his knee during a training session.
Sinclair, who joined the club from non-league Curzon Ashton in 2025, will have surgery and then face a prolonged spell of rehab.
The club said in a statement on X: "Everyone at #asfc wishes Isaac Sinclair a speedy and healthy recovery."
Jack Bridge
Preston North End fan writer
Image source, Getty ImagesThere is a danger after any opening-day defeat of reading too much into 90 minutes.
For Preston North End though, Saturday's 2-1 loss at Bolton Wanderers feels less like the beginning of a new problem and more like the continuation of an old one.
North End ended last season with a whimper. After 34 Championship games they had 49 points and were sitting eighth, having spent much of the campaign in and around the play-off places.
They took just 11 points from their final 12 matches to eventually finish 14th.
The concern for Preston supporters was not simply the team had fallen away from the play-off picture, it was the manner of the decline.
There were heavy reverses at Coventry and Norwich, three-goal defeats by Oxford and Southampton, and losses to West Brom and Birmingham City.
The defence, in particular, became increasingly difficult to trust.
That made the summer an important one for Paul Heckingbottom and the club's recruitment team.
Preston have not been inactive. Lee Nicholls, Leo Leroy and Harry Clarke have arrived, while Alfie Devine has returned permanently after his loan spell and Jusef Erabi and Delano Burgzorg have joined on loan.
But recruitment is not simply about counting arrivals - it is about whether the squad is better and that is where questions remain.
Lewis Dobbin, Daniel Jebbison and Milos Lukovic returned to their parent clubs then Robbie Brady, Will Keane and Jamal Lewis also departed the club.
Most significantly, captain Ben Whiteman has now left for Wrexham.
Whiteman had made 224 appearances for Preston since joining in 2021 and had become one of the most recognisable figures of the modern North End side. In the end, this departure on the face of it, looks like a good solution for all parties - we wish him all the best in the other 44 games for Wrexham this season.
However, there is a much bigger question around the defence.
Andrew Hughes and Jordan Storey have both been at Deepdale since 2018. Liam Lindsay has been there since 2021.
That is a remarkable amount of continuity for a Championship defence. Especially when North End conceded 62 league goals last season and at Bolton the warning signs appeared again.
Sam Dalby put the hosts ahead after 14 minutes before Thierry Gale doubled the advantage. Preston eventually responded through Erabi in the closing stages, but by then they had given themselves too much to do.
There will understandably be calls for patience. It is the first weekend of August. New players need time to settle. Heckingbottom deserves the opportunity to work with the squad he has been given. But patience should not mean ignoring a pattern.
Preston's final quarter of last season was poor. Their summer recruitment has left questions about whether the squad has genuinely moved forward and their opening-day performance suggested some of the weaknesses from last season remain.
That is why Saturday's defeat feels significant, not because one game should define a season but because it has reopened questions Preston supporters have been asking for months.
The challenge now is not simply to recover from one defeat to Bolton. It is to prove that this is a different Preston North End to the one that limped over the line in May, there's still time to make the improvements needed for a successful Championship season.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your reactions to Bolton's 2-1 win over Lancashire rivals Preston on Saturday.
Here are some of your comments:
Bolton fans
Paul B: Superb collective performance and it could have been more. All of the new squad members fitted in well and will undoubtedly add more as they adjust. Great start to the new season.
Raymond G: Excellent start in this league against a so called decent side. Need another striker though. Well played Gale and Erhahon. Hopefully we will get fitter and make it less nervous in the last 15 minutes.
Richard: Was very worried after the game against Sheffield Wednesday but thought the team played well as a unit. Gale had the game of his life in the first half and glad both he and Dalby got on the scoresheet. Thought McAtee was as the unsung hero for Bolton though.
Stuart: Comfortable win against a poor Preston. Not sure why Bolton needed to make four subs in the last 15 mins which unbalanced the defence and midfield and nearly cost two points.
Mike: Dominated the game for 86 mins, then subs upset the balance and cohesion of the team leading to a goal back for the visitors, who grew in confidence and probably should have equalised in the dying minutes. But on the balance of the game Bolton earned their victory.
Image source, Getty ImagesPreston fans
James: It feels like Preston have started the season a bit undercooked and lacking some firepower. Devine is a quality signing but still think we are missing some pace to support his precision.
Mike: Very poor performance from PNE. We've spent a lot of money by our standards, but after watching the game it's the defence which is in need of strengthening.
Ryan: Every aspect poor. Goalscorer only bright spark alongside Leroy. Subs too late after giving the starters time to do better, as they couldn't be worse. They were. Subs were ok. Good luck Trotters but you'll face tougher opposition!
Pete: A very lethargic first game for PNE. Bolton looked brighter all round the pitch and all the match apart from last 10 minutes.
Bill: Not up for it during the first 30 minutes. Can't miss 3 easy chances! Hecky sort it out or they will be the end of you!
Noel: Pathetic. Heckingbottom is so negative. Time for a change.
Image source, Getty ImagesBurnley fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with West Ham United on their return to the Championship on Sunday.
Zian Flemming scored two late goals - including a 92nd-minute equaliser to earn the Clarets a point.
Burnley fans have been having their say on the result and here is a selection of their thoughts:
Pete - A really encouraging start albeit the defensive frailties of last season are still evident. Otherwise, forward passing and movement much, much better already. It will only get better as the players get used to Hayen's system. It does depend who is left and who arrives by 1 September but the signs are good - UTC!
Gav - We need to sort our defence out, cheap goals again but we looked a lot more fluent going forward. Better than the sideways and backwards approach of last season.
Thomas - My hopes were high starting the season. After this exciting match against West Ham they are sky high.
Ian - Far better spirit and determination from the midfield and forwards. Some players were obviously fired up by the manager at half time, which was good to see. Still lacking a 'get to the ball at all costs' defender. A tall centre back would give us presence in both boxes.
Dickie - It takes a lot to fight back from 2-0 down particularly in this division. Encouraging signs from the Clarets.
Image source, Getty ImagesShaun - I thought overall it was a decent performance, the fact we didn't lose is massive in the grand scheme of things. Even this early a loss and our fans would have been baying for blood again but that recovery is massive.
Shayne - First game and we've come out of it with a draw against the favourites. We have lots of areas to improve, excited for Hayden and the squad for the season.
Tim - Better than a lot of performances last year and with more luck we could have won it. Defence is still weak but hopefully will improve.
Joe - Thought Burnley were on top throughout, especially in the second half. Clarets seem to have been underestimated by many so far.
Richard - We played with greater intensity and belief than at any time under Scott Parker. Although it's early days with our new manager, the performance was very encouraging. Need to hang on to Walker and Flemming though.
Preston North End are close to signing Liverpool's English academy midfielder James McConnell, 21, on loan for the season. (Liverpool Echo), external
For more EFL transfer news, read Monday's full gossip column here.
Burnley are trying to sign 19-year-old winger Marcel Regula from Polish top-flight club Zaglebie Lubin in a deal worth up to £7m. (Meczkyi), external
For more EFL transfer news, read Monday's full gossip column here.
Burnley manager Nicky Hayen was delighted with his side's character as they fought back to draw 2-2 with Championship favourites West Ham United.
Hayen spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire after the draw with the Hammers at Turf Moor and for a written selection of quotes his click here.
Hayen: 'This is something we can build on'
Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire's Sport Editor
Image source, Getty ImagesNot the start that Paul Heckingbottom would have wanted or the terrific following down the M61 from the Preston faithful.
The damage was done long before the final whistle. Two goals conceded, three yellow cards collected, countless offside decisions and barely a meaningful save required from Bolton goalkeeper Jack Bonham painted a picture of a side completely out of sync.
A switch to a back four was perhaps forecast during the week, when Heckingbottom suggested that he wants this season's squad to have more flexibility. It's fair to say that a groundswell of fan opinion has been calling for it quite regularly in recent years.
But, on the evidence of the first half, the defensive unit looked uncertain, disconnected and vulnerable whenever Bolton turned possession over and drove forward.
Heckingbottom found the first-half display a difficult one to explain. He told me: "We gave ourselves a real mountain to climb. I felt it was just something as simple as their enthusiasm, their energy about being in this league and the crowd. It seemed to catch us cold."
You can pick the bones out of both first-half goals. From a shot outside the box, the ever-reliable Daniel Iversen palmed the ball straight into the path of Sam Dalby, who finished, with Liam Lindsay caught napping.
The second goal came within two passes of a North End attack. McAtee found Gale, who isolated Pol Valentin, cut inside and smashed it home.
I fully expected changes at the break, but they came a little later.
All five substitutes made positive impacts. Jusef Erabi is already making himself a fans' favourite. As well as contributing on the pitch, he was orchestrating the noise levels from the supporters behind the goal. It's just a shame that it took so long to get what was, in the end, merely a consolation.
One substitute crossed for another as Vukcevic found Erabi, who beat his team-mate Small and the Bolton defence before heading in off the bar.
Lindsay should have levelled it in the dying seconds with a header and, before the goal, the most gilt-edged of chances had been missed.
Osmajic, who struggled to stay onside throughout, finally got a decision from the assistant referee and, one-on-one with Bonham, elected to try to square the ball to Erabi. The execution wasn't there with the pass and he may actually have played Erabi offside in the process.
Perhaps the most significant positive came in midfield.
Leo Leroy's debut was highly encouraging. When a technician of Paul Gallagher's calibre speaks highly of a player, people tend to listen.
From the moment he stepped onto the pitch, Leroy looked comfortable in possession, eager to receive the ball and capable of moving it intelligently. It was a cameo rather than a definitive statement, but it suggested Preston North End may have acquired a player capable of raising the technical standard of the team.
It's not like Preston to spend figures such as the £12m they have this summer, and there is more to come. Potentially, a takeover could follow further down the line too. It promises to be an eventful season at Deepdale.
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Heckingbottom: 'We didn't take our chances'
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire following his side's 2-1 defeat by Bolton:
"I said at half-time to the players I thought we could win the game. We were poor first-half in terms of the goals that we gave away," he said.
"Whether it was the first game or not but they were certainly not the goals that we want to give away.
"We gave ourselves a real mountain to climb and it was as simple as their enthusiasm, their energy about being in this league and the crowd - it seemed to catch us cold.
"One or two [players] won't play like that again. We need to be better but there were also some good moments and I'm pleased with some of the new boys."
