• England manager to assess striker for Switzerland qualifier
• Rooney dismayed by allegations about his private life

Wayne Rooney must prove to Fabio Capello that he remains fully focused on leading the line for England in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday amid concerns that the striker may not be in the right frame of mind to start the game in Basle.

The Italian and his coaching staff will assess the forward over the next 24 hours after allegations about his private life were printed in two Sunday newspapers. Only then will a decision be made over whether the talismanic forward, so impressive in the 4-0 victory over Bulgaria on Friday, is to feature in what is arguably England's most daunting test in Group G.

Rooney is expected to travel with the squad tomorrow after playing a full part in training at London Colney today morning and remaining with his team-mates tonight and a spokesman for the Football Association maintained it was "business as usual" after suggestions that the 24-year-old might be released. The striker had played golf yesterday afternoon at the team's Hertfordshire hotel base before being made aware the story was to be published and, while he reacted with dismay, he has since flung himself into training as normal.

Capello is understood to have spoken privately to Rooney and, while the manager's instinct will be to select the striker against the Swiss, there are concerns over the forward's state of mind. The Italian will need to be convinced his focus has not been blurred by the allegations that came to light today.

Rooney is believed to have spoken with his wife, Coleen, today and to have been in a better frame of mind than he was 24 hours previously.

Rooney was asked in March about his position as a role model and had answered candidly. "People look up to you," he had said. "You are role models whether you like it or not. When I first joined United I used to go out to nightclubs but it is very rare I would go out to a nightclub now. It changes with age.

"I made that decision myself. I got into a few things that I shouldn't have and I tried to change that. I am settled at home now. It's good. I am enjoying my life with my family."

The forward himself has made no public comment on today's allegations and Triple S Sports and Entertainment Group Ltd, who represent Rooney, referred all queries to their PR adviser, Ian Monk. He, too, declined to comment tonight.

England's players remain supportive of the striker and fully expect him to feature at the St Jakob Stadium, though James Milner did admit some players might eventually grow disillusioned at the amount of focus placed on off-the-field behaviour these days.

"Every individual is different," Milner said. "Some people might turn round and say: 'I have had enough, I don't need this. I just want to play football.' But that's the way the game is now.

"We are very privileged to be representing this country playing in front of thousands of people week in, week out. We are very lucky, and whatever job you do there will be things you like and things you don't. That comes with the territory. I'm an England player but I'm a fan as well and, whatever the game, I want the best possible team out there. You want your best players on the field. You saw on Friday what a player Wayne is, and hopefully he can go out and get a hat-trick on Tuesday night.

It would help if your life wasn't scrutinised with what you're doing in your personal life but that's football, you're in a privileged position to be doing what you're doing, so there are highs and lows. But Wayne did the full session today and we're back to football – what we are here to do. You want your best players out on the field, and he's one of those. He's a top, top player and we want the strongest team possible."

Capello's own approach has arguably been placed under greater scrutiny by the stance he took in stripping John Terry of the England captaincy earlier this year in the wake of revelations published about the defender's own private life. The implications of those allegations were different, however, given that they had a direct effect on his former club-mate Wayne Bridge's participation with the national side.

England expect their squad of 22 to travel to Basle tomorrow with Jermain Defoe, scorer of a hat-trick against Bulgaria, recovered from the kick to his ankle that forced him from the field three minutes from time. No replacement has been called up for the injured Michael Dawson.

• Former Liverpool manager may work with MacDonald
• Owner Randy Lerner keen to appoint O'Neill's successor

Aston Villa hope to appoint Gérard Houllier as the successor to Martin O'Neill in the next 48 hours. The former Liverpool manager is spending the weekend deciding whether to return to the Premier League after a six-year absence.

Villa's American owner, Randy Lerner, is keen to make an appointment sooner rather than later. Houllier was interviewed last week – along with the caretaker manager, the reserve team coach Kevin MacDonald, and the former West Ham United manager Alan Curbishley.

The indications are that Houllier would not be against joining Villa in a traditional managerial role. However, MacDonald's coaching skills are highly rated by Lerner and the Villa players and he could be given a role with the first team.

Houllier gave little away on his future after attending the Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher's testimonial at Anfield yesterday. He is currently France's technical director but he has come under fire after a disappointing World Cup.

Questions have been raised over Houllier's health, given the heart problems from which he suffered at Liverpool. He has apparently assured Villa they would have no cause for concern.

Houllier, who turned 63 last week, left Anfield in 2004 and has been his country's technical director since leaving Lyon in 2007. He led Liverpool to a Uefa Cup, FA Cup and League Cup treble in 2001.

• Manager feels he has taken the side as far as he can
• Team have lost six of their last nine matches

John Toshack is set to resign as Wales manager and is considering announcing his departure within the next 48 hours. The 61-year-old could, though, continue temporarily in the role to give the Football Association of Wales time to identify and appoint a replacement.

That raises the prospect of Toshack remaining in charge for next month's 2012 European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland. Wales, who do not play this week, are then without a competitive game until March.

Toshack was despondent after Friday's defeat in Montenegro, in their opening Group G fixture, and he feels that he has taken the side as far as he can. Toshack has no desire to oversee another qualification campaign where Wales are effectively going through the motions with little chance of progressing and is preparing to bring his six-year reign in his second spell as manager to an end.

FAW officials last night said Toshack had not yet quit, although they are aware of just how low the manager felt in the wake of the chastening 1-0 defeat by Montenegro. It was Wales's sixth defeat in their last nine matches and Toshack cut a dejected figure after a poor display that drew criticism from the 500 travelling supporters.

There had been suggestions that Toshack might wait to see how Wales performed in the Bulgaria and Switzerland matches before reaching a decision over his future but it now appears he will clarify his position early this week.

Toshack, whose contract expires in 2012, had felt upbeat about Wales's prospects when Scotland were defeated 3-0 in November but he has taken few positives from performances since. He had hoped what is a reasonable draw for the European Championship would give Wales a genuine chance of finishing second in their group, behind England, but the 1-0 defeat in Podgorica on Friday means they already face an uphill task, with Toshack describing the Bulgaria game in Cardiff next month as "must-win".

The list of potential candidates to succeed Toshack is likely to include Chris Coleman, who is out of work, Dean Saunders, the Wrexham manager who is also Toshack's assistant, and Brian Flynn, who has done an impressive job in his role as the Wales Under-21 coach. Gary Speed would have been near the top of the list but his recent appointment as Sheffield United manager has taken him out of the reckoning.

Toshack is expected to push Ryan Giggs's name forward as his replacement, although it seems unlikely that the 36-year-old will take the position when he remains a key part of Sir Alex Ferguson's plans at Manchester United. Giggs would, however, be the most popular choice among the public and give Welsh football a much needed boost at a time when supporters have become increasingly disillusioned with the national team's results and their failure to mount a serious challenge to reach a major finals for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.

The job of managing Wales is certainly a challenging one, as Toshack discovered from the moment he replaced Mark Hughes. Although Wales have a sprinkling of talented individuals, there is a small pool of players to pick from and injuries and premature international retirements have made things more difficult still. The Wales manager had hoped a crop of promising youngsters would flourish but, while Chris Gunter and Gareth Bale have caught the eye, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Collison have picked up serious injuries and many others have stood still or regressed.

Toshack knows, however, he must take responsibility for the results, which have generally been disappointing and prompted calls from supporters as well as former players for a change of manager.

• Republic of Ireland scorer almost gave up the game
• Midfielder hopes to start against Andorra tomorrow

If Keith Fahey's hero status had not sunk in when his two mobile phones went into meltdown last Friday night, in the wake of his dramatic winning goal for the Republic of Ireland against Armenia in Yerevan, it certainly began to after his return to Dublin.

The manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, gave the players a couple of hours off after training on Saturday and Fahey was able to drop in on his cousin Monique's wedding. When the Birmingham City midfielder did what blokes often do before a big bash, it might have brought a smile to his lips. Wallet: check. Tie: check. Vital goal for country eight minutes into competitive debut as a substitute: check.

"I was only at the wedding for half an hour and I didn't want to be turning up when they had just started their dinner, so we rigged it so I just nipped in between courses," Fahey said. "I got a great round of applause. The goal was a very emotional moment and it's just a great feeling for me and my family. When I went to the wedding, my dad's brothers were delighted."

It is not difficult to imagine what Fahey's uncles said to him. The 27-year-old lost his father, Declan, to cancer a little over a year ago and he has said everything he achieved in his career would be dedicated to him. Fahey's father raised him and his older brother Marc from young ages after their mother had left the family home.

"I'm sure he's with me now," Fahey said. "I had a chat with him before I came over [for the international break] and I talk to him regularly."

Fahey is making the most of his second shot at the big time, after admitting he came close to quitting the game. The Dubliner was a trainee at Arsenal before he signed for Aston Villa as a 17-year-old for £250,000. But it was too much, too soon; he did not enjoy the seriousness of being a young professional and he suffered from homesickness.

He returned to Ireland in 2003 and played for St Patrick's twice and Drogheda United, from where he was sacked for disciplinary reasons. In his second spell at Pat's he found himself at the crossroads.

"A couple of my close friends were telling me to look at something else, apart from football," he said. "I thought, 'One more year and that's it,' although I didn't know what I would have done. I gave it one more bash in my last season at Pat's and, luckily enough, I got another shout."

Fahey joined Birmingham in January last year and helped the club win promotion from the Championship. Last season he featured in 34 of the club's Premier League matches, 18 of them as a starter. One of his father's final memories was watching him on television in the season opener at Manchester United.

"When I was younger I didn't see the bigger picture and I didn't enjoy being away from home," Fahey said. "But this time around I'm more determined to keep going. I'd also say that over the last year I've got a lot stronger, mentally."

Fahey believes he has made his case for inclusion from the start against Andorra in Dublin tomorrow night, in Ireland's second Euro 2012 qualifier, although Trapattoni is expected to use him again as a substitute. His impact on the campaign, however, is indelible. "You realise the impact that scoring such a goal can have. People that I haven't spoken to in a couple of years have been texting. I must have got about a hundred texts. It's been brilliant."

• Win against Liechtenstein vital to boost Euro 2012 campaign
• Weir says Craig Levein's side has plenty of attacking options

David Weir is hoping for a leisurely evening on Tuesday when Scotland will play with a greater sense of adventure against Liechtenstein at Hampden. And with good reason: it was not so long ago that Scotland's visitors were mauled 7-1 by Malta. Spain adopted a more humanitarian approach on Friday by winning only 4-0 in Vaduz.

"I don't know if they will come to Glasgow with damage limitation in mind," said Weir, the veteran central defender. "I imagine they will try to keep it tight for as long as they can, and the longer it stays 0-0 the better they will feel. We have to be patient and we also have to open them up. It will be difficult but we have done it in the past. We've played against teams like that and we have managed to break them down. We just have to be patient and we need the fans to be patient with us as well.

"I think we need all our options. They will sit in and make things difficult for us. Obviously, it's a game we have to win and we have to do whatever it takes to do that."

Craig Levein, Scotland's manager, is still mulling over whether to deploy James McFadden or Kris Boyd or both on Tuesday. The attacking duo sat out Friday's scoreless draw in Lithuania but the 40-year-old Weir again performed with distinction and so will retain his place.

Weir is adamant that, despite Friday's punchless showing, there are scoring threats within Levein's squad. "There's no doubt there is. Obviously, on Friday we set up a wee bit tighter and a wee bit more solid. I'm sure as the need arises we will loosen up and there are definitely goalscorers in our squad.Look at the bench: Boyd, McFadden, Garry O'Connor. There are lots of goals there and lots of options and I'm sure they will come into the reckoning."

The problem for Scotland is that irreparable damage may have been done to qualification hopes for Euro 2012 by the loss of two points in Kaunas. Weir conceded that Spain and the Czech Republic, who also feature in Group I, are likely to gain maximum points against Lithuania.

"We have to hope Lithuania can take points against our rivals. But I would be surprised, to be honest, especially against the Spanish who I would think will have too much for them. But who knows? It's a funny game." Steven Fletcher's failure to recover from a bruised ankle means the Wolves striker has returned to his club and will not feature on Tuesday.

Levein has been boosted by the return to fitness of the left-backs Lee Wallace and Kevin McNaughton who trained today. Peter Houston, Levein's assistant, was today cautious not to underestimate Liechtenstein. "Last year, England had to wait until late on to get a goal against them," he said. The three points are the most important thing. Yes, it would be nice to score a few goals, but I think it would be disrespectful for me to talk about how many we're going to score."

Portugal 0-1 England

England Under-21s kept alive their hopes of qualifying for next summer's European Championships with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Portugal in Barcelos on Friday night.

Defeat by the Group 9 leaders Greece in their previous match in March had left Stuart Pearce's side five points adrift but they closed the gap thanks to Daniel Sturridge's 35th-minute goal.

Victory for England in their final qualifying match against Lithuania on Tuesday should be enough to send them through to the play-offs before the finals in Denmark.

Pearce chose not to start with the Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who made his senior England debut last month, while Manchester United's £7m signing Bebe won his first Under-21 cap for Portugal.

David Simao had the first shot on goal after eight minutes but his long-range effort flew well over the bar.

England's striker Danny Welbeck then produced a clever flick to break into the box but Daniel Carrico cleared the danger.

The cagey opening to a game both sides needed to win was summed up after 24 minutes when the England goalkeeper, Frank Fielding, was booked for time-wasting.

The visitors should have opened the scoring when Welbeck tapped in Kyle Walker's cross but the flag was incorrectly raised for offside.

However, England had to wait only seven minutes to put that behind them as Tom Cleverley played in Sturridge and the Chelsea man chipped the Portugal goalkeeper, Rui Patricio.

The same pair then combined again but this time Cleverley shot high and wide as England had to settle for a one-goal lead at half-time.

England continued to press after the break and Tottenham's Danny Rose had a close-range effort well blocked by Carrico.

Bebe had been largely disappointing but he tested Fielding for the first time with a shot in the 65th minute that the Blackburn keeper beat away.

The home side cranked up the pressure and Fielding was called on again to save from Andre Pinto.

There was still time for Welbeck and the substitute Nathan Delfouneso to miss presentable chances but the win was all that mattered for Pearce and England.

• Rangers fans caused 'mayhem' at final in 2008
• Manchester suffered 'worst night of destruction since blitz'

All but one of 12 rioting football hooligans who took part in the worst destruction Manchester has suffered "since the blitz" will be going to jail, a judge said today.

They were among hundreds of Rangers fans who caused "mayhem" at the Uefa Cup final held in the city two years ago, in which Zenit St Petersburg won 2-0. Police were attacked and property damaged in the hours of violence in the city centre and two officers – Mick Regan and John Goodwin – were caught by the mob, surrounded and battered.

Judge Andrew Blake had indicated 11 of the 12 were going to jail and had sentenced eight of the defendants before a fire alarm caused Manchester Crown Court to be evacuated temporarily.

Several defendants put thumbs up to weeping relatives in the public gallery as they were led down to the cells. But then Scots accents could be heard shouting up to the courtroom: "Fuck Manchester! Fuck Pc Regan and Goodwin as well!"

Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Blake said: "The riot police were deployed in full riot gear and struggled to contain the trouble and restore order.

"What followed was the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the blitz.

"What came afterwards, the damage, the filth and litter was apparent to all who arrived in Manchester the following day.

"Many more than these 12 were involved. It had nothing to do with football rivalries but everything to do with drink.

"The anger of the mob was directed at the police doing their best to restore order."

There were audible gasps from the public gallery as he jailed Scott McSeveney for three-and-a-half years for violent disorder and the assault on Pc Goodwin.

Pc Goodwin was separated from his detachment, outnumbered by tens of fans and attacked. Brought to the ground, he was stamped on and kicked and said later he thought of the Met Police officer Keith Blakelock – killed in the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985 – and thought he was going to die at the hands of the mob.

He was saved only after a Rangers fan, Sharon Gibson, lay across him and her boyfriend shouted: "You are letting the team down."

Rangers return to Manchester to play United in a Champions League group game on 14 September.

France's new manager problems mounted at the Stade de France, with injuries, suspensions and a fourth straight defeat

France continue to be European football's greatest source of merriment after a miserable Friday evening in Paris when Laurent Blanc's competitive bow as head coach ended in a 1-0 humiliation by Belarus in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier.

That was a fourth consecutive defeat for the national team, a sequence that has not happened since 1937, but this was hardly surprising given what France have offered since Thierry Henry's handball in the second leg of their World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland in November.

Now they face a difficult trip to Sarajevo to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday. Lose that one and qualification for the finals will still be possible in a group that also includes Luxembourg, Romania and Albania, but it will hardly be the shiny new world demanded by fans following their shambolic World Cup in South Africa.

"We're in a difficult situation and we need to fight, which is exactly what we will do," Blanc said after the Belarus defeat. "When you're young, you make mistakes. Our problem is we cannot afford to make any."

Blanc's deeper problem is the malaise inherited from his predecessor, Raymond Domenech, and the squad the eccentric coach fell out with in comic manner in South Africa, which ended in a player strike and led to the suspensions of Jérémy Toulalan (one match), Patrice Evra (five), Franck Ribéry (three) and Nicolas Anelka (an international career-ending 18).

Having replaced Domenech, Blanc made a decision that may have done little for building a fresh team spirit: demanding that the 23-man World Cup squad be suspended for the friendly against Norway last month, which France lost.

Now Blanc also has injury and on-field-related suspensions to deal with ahead of Tuesday's match. Without the suspended playmaker Yoann Gourcuff and Arsenal's injured Samir Nasri against Belarus, the coach was forced to field an inexperienced team that entered to applause at the Stade de France but exited to jeers after Sergei Kislyak's 86th-minute winner.

The only established performers were Arsenal's Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby and Gaël Clichy, and Florent Malouda of Chelsea, who led the team in Evra's absence. With only Toualan of the "World Cup four" available for selection against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Louis Saha and fellow forward Loïc Rémy injured against Belarus, Blanc is facing a stiff test of his managerial smarts.

"Nothing works in our favour at the moment with all those injuries: it's difficult to find anything positive in a defeat but there were things in our game that I liked," he said.

But after the insipid 90 minutes that had the Stade de France howling at their team, Yuri Zhevnov, the Belarus captain and goalkeeper, gave a more worrying verdict: "I didn't have so much work to do. This is a new beginning for the French team, and our coach kept telling us they might be vulnerable. He was right."

League One: Charlie MacDonald's goal condemned Wednesday to their first defeat of the season

• Tony Pulis accuses Wenger of trying to influence referee
• Stoke manager wrote to Arsenal to complain

The Football Association has decided Arsène Wenger has no case to answer following his claim that Stoke City employ "rugby-style" tactics.

The Arsenal manager was unhappy at Ryan Shawcross's challenge on his midfielder Aaron Ramsey earlier this year which left the promising 19-year-old with a broken leg and he criticised the City defender's approach, along with Robert Huth, during their team's 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Wenger said: "You cannot say it is football any more. It is more rugby on the goalkeepers than football. When you see the way Shawcross kicked Heurelho Gomes, how Robert Huth pushed Gomes in the goal, you cannot say that is football any more."

Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was furious at the comments and wrote to the Premier League to complain and said on Sunday: "The club is desperately disappointed with the comments which Wenger has come out with, especially the comments about Shawcross. We think they are out of order and you don't expect it from a person of Wenger's esteem. What he said about Ryan was very, very poor and the football club will take that matter up. The club will deal with it in the right and proper manner."

Although that process included Pulis writing to Arsenal to complain, and copying the Premier League in, there was a suspicion that Wenger's comments were an attempt to influence the referee Chris Foy. He had taken charge of the Stoke-Spurs game and was due to officiate Arsenal's visit to Blackburn Rovers last Saturday.

Asked about this Pulis said: "To say he was doing it as a sidetrack to influence the referee, you've said it. I've just agreed with you. He's entitled to his opinion. We've fought two world wars to be a free country. We've all got different opinions and we must let people say what they say. Whether you agree with it or disagree with it, that's a different matter."

As Wenger did not directly mention Foy or any official by name, and so was voicing a general view on the game the FA decided that the Frenchman was within his rights and so would not have to answer any charge.