In Brief: Newcastle trio set to return after Africa Cup abandonment

Newcastle officials are expecting Cheick Tioté, Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé to return to the North-east early this week to prepare for Sunday's derby with Sunderland, despite their African Cup of Nations qualifying game on Saturday night being abandoned.

Ivory Coast were leading Senegal 2-0 on the night (6-2 on aggregate) after two Didier Drogba goals, but following the second from a penalty in the 70th minute, the players had to be taken from the field for their own safety as bottles were thrown and fires started in the stands.

The result is likely to stand, allowing the Ivory Coast to progress to next year's finals in South Africa, although they were last night still waiting for official confirmation. Arsenal's Gervinho, West Ham's Mohamed Diame and Manchester City's Yaya and Kolo Touré also played in the game.

Oldham racism probe

Police are investigating an allegation that an Oldham player racially abused a ball boy during a game.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed it was looking into the claim during the League One club's 1-1 draw against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

Another League One club, Brentford, announced last night that they were looking into a racially abusive comment posted about their striker Clayton Donaldson on Twitter.