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Premier League champions Leicester have held informal talks with former England boss Roy Hodgson about him becoming their new manager.

However, it is thought the 69-year-old was just one potential candidate spoken to in the search for Claudio Ranieri's replacement.

And acting boss Craig Shakespeare could stay in charge until the end of the season if results continue to improve.

Ranieri was sacked on 23 February, nine months after winning the title.

The Italian departed with the Foxes just one point above the relegation zone.

Shakespeare's first match as caretaker manager resulted in a 3-1 victory over Liverpool on Monday.

Defender Danny Simpson said Shakespeare is a "top coach and a top guy".

He said: "He has kept it simple and told us what he wanted to do, which was simple and basic, and we've done that so let's hope we can carry it on for him."

'Public perception of Hodgson is totally wrong'

Hodgson has been out of work since resigning as England coach after they lost to Iceland at Euro 2016.

But his former goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely says Hodgson should be a leading contender for the Leicester job and the public perception of the veteran manager is "totally wrong".

Kiely, who worked under him at West Brom, said: "I can see why he's on anyone's shortlist."

Hodgson, who has been managing for more than 40 years, guided Fulham to the Europa League final in 2010 and had spells in charge of Liverpool and West Brom before he got the England job in 2012.

He took the Three Lions to the quarter-finals at Euro 2012, but two years later they were eliminated at the group stage of a World Cup for the first time since 1958.

Hodgson's team won all 10 matches in qualifying for Euro 2016 but he quitafter a 2-1 defeat by Iceland in the last 16 left him with a record of three victories from 11 games in major tournaments.

Former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Kiely told BBC Radio 5 live: "The public perception is totally wrong to how he is as a person and how the players react to him, which is only positive from my point of view.

"The end of his England reign was quite negative but shouldn't wash away all the good work he had done in the campaign leading up to that and also his club management career, certainly at West Brom."

Kiely said Hodgson "brought stability" when he succeeded Roberto di Matteo at The Hawthorns in February 2011.

"He was great," said the former Charlton goalkeeper. "He just wants to be out on the training ground, with tracksuit on and coaching the players.

"I was fortunate to go in for England training when Roy invited me in. On the grass, he comes alive and the best thing for me was the players responded great to Roy.

"He's a fantastic fella away from football also, very engaging, and the time I spent with him was excellent for me. I learned a lot."

What a save from Tyrone Mings. The Bournemouth centre-half directed a sensational header towards the top corner of Ben Foster's net only for the England keeper to pull off a match-winning left-handed stop.

But how does Tony Pulis keep producing such effective teams? He always seems to leave clubs in better condition than when he arrived and currently West Brom are a pleasure to watch, which is something I can't say with all of Pulis' teams. The Baggies have 12 games left and need 10 points to achieve their best ever Premier League tally. With Foster in this form it looks like they have every chance.

Right-back - Seamus Coleman (Everton)

It was a tremendous ball for Idrissa Gueye and Ross Barkley should have scored in the second half after another wonderful cross by Seamus Coleman. The Irishman is playing out of his skin at the moment and for my money is Everton's player of the season.

And yet I can't understand for the life of me (and I apologise to Evertonians) how Manchester United or City haven't lured him away from Goodison Park. Coleman brings a dimension to Everton very few full-backs bring to a team. The problem for the opposition is that Coleman has been doing it for some considerable time. Coleman is an infectious player and it's a joy to watch him play.

Centre-back - Gareth McAuley (West Brom)

It has been a long and somewhat distinguished career for Gareth McAuley and he couldn't have spent his 500th appearance in football better than this. West Brom's 2-1 win over Bournemouth had an element of good fortune about it. The Baggies' first goal was a deflection before McAuley was handed a celebratory gift by the Cherries' unpredictable keeper Artur Boruc.

I have seen Boruc perform heroics for Bournemouth in the past and then he goes and does something that leaves you utterly puzzled. Not that McAuley wasn't grateful for the present - in fact he could have scored a second but for the intervention of the crossbar. Nevertheless, McAuley did grab his sixth league goal of the season, which is not bad for a centre-half who started his career at Linfield.

Centre-back - Michael Keane (Burnley)

I thought that referee Martin Atkinson made absolutely the right call in giving a penalty to Hull when Michael Keane was adjudged to have raised his arm above his head and gained an advantage. At that point the game looked to be running away from Burnley. It took something a bit special to get the Clarets back into the match - but who would have thought it would have been the very man responsible for putting them behind in the first place?

Keane brought the ball down on his chest, allowed it to fall to the ground before dispatching the strike past the goalkeeper. You also have to bear in mind that all this happened in a crowded penalty area. Not only was it impressive it also was nothing less than Burnley deserved.

Venue: Barcelona Date: 27 February-2 March and 7-10 March Coverage: Live text commentaries, reports and analysis on the BBC Sport

Lewis Hamilton begins his quest for a fourth world title as pre-season testing begins in Barcelona on Monday.

Hamilton, 32, and his Mercedes team will be joined by the other nine outfits as they begin preparations with new cars designed to radically different rules.

The promise is for cars up to five seconds a lap faster, more dramatic and more demanding of the drivers.

And the hope is that at least one team can compete with Mercedes for the title after three years of domination.

However, expectations of a serious threat to the constructors' champions were dampened last week with the launch of Mercedes' new car, which drew admiring glances from both observers and rival teams.

McLaren aerodynamics chief Peter Prodromou said: "The car that has impressed me so far is Mercedes - clearly they have put a huge amount of man hours into the car."

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Ferrari, like Mercedes and a handful of other teams, have already put a few miles on their new car in a so-called 'shake-down' test.

The Italian team have hopes of challenging after a winless and sometimes fractious 2016 but, for a challenge to Mercedes, most are looking at Red Bull, whose new car was unveiled to great anticipation on Sunday.

What to look out for

It is notoriously difficult to glean an accurate picture of form from headline lap times at pre-season testing, but we should get indications of various teams' positions.

The first task for all teams will be to run through systems checks to validate the reliability and operations of their cars. Any team who can run consistently at that stage - as Mercedes did this time last season - has a head-start on their rivals.

The large part of Red Bull's deficit to Mercedes last year was in their Renault engine. The French company has hopes of bridging the gap this year, but the engine hit reliability troubles in a 'shake-down' test with Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso on Thursday.

Mercedes, meanwhile, are said to have made their own significant step forward with their engine; a worrying sign for the rest, if true.

As the test develops, detailed analysis of lap times as the teams complete longer runs can provide a reasonably accurate picture of form.

The BBC Sport website will be providing comprehensive coverage of all eight days of pre-season testing over the next fortnight - live text commentaries, reports and analysis.

Randox Health Grand National
Date: Saturday, 8 April Venue: Aintree racecourse Time: 17:15 BST
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live, text updates on the BBC Sport website and mobile app.

Outlander, Empire Of Dirt and Don Poli are among eight horses withdrawn from the Grand National at Aintree by Irish owners Gigginstown House Stud.

Gigginstown boss Michael O'Leary was furious with some of the weights allocated by handicapper Phil Smith.

Devil's Bride, Clarcam, Tiger Roll, A Toi Phil and The Game Changer were also taken out, but eight Gigginstown contenders remain in the 8 April race.

A total of 95 entries go forward, with a maximum final field of 40.

Fifteen horses were withdrawn at the latest entry stage. The others are: Champagne West, Devils Bride, Triolo D'Alene, Vieux Morvan, Gallant Oscar, Tour Des Champs, Dromnea and Otago Trail.

The weighting game
Unlike the Cheltenham Gold Cup, where horses race off level weights, the Grand National is a handicap.
Horses are ranked according to their previous form, with the best given top weight.
The handicapper's ultimate (although in practice unfeasible) aim is for the horses to pass the winning post in a dead heat.
The closest finish came in 2012 when Neptune Collonges denied Sunnyhillboy by the shortest possible distance - a nose.

Trainer Gordon Elliott had indicated Outlander would not run as soon as he was allocated top weight of 11st 10lb, and Ryanair boss O'Leary has lived up to his vow to withdraw several of his leading hopes.

Road To Riches and Rogue Angel are among his horses still in the marathon contest, for which the weights are now headed by Carlingford Lough, with last year's runner-up The Last Samuri next on the list.

Smith has denied the suggestion there might be an anti-Irish bias. He said British handicappers keeping their own performance figures for Irish races has "given our handicaps greater equality and fairness".

Vieux Lion Rouge, trained in Somerset by David Pipe, is the 10-1 favourite for the big race after winning the Grand National Trial at Haydock in November.

Fourth one-day international, Hamilton
South Africa: 279-8 (50 overs) De Villiers 72*, Patel 2-57
New Zealand: 280-3 (45 overs) Guptill 180*, Tahir 2-56
New Zealand won by seven wickets
Scoreboard

World number three Rory McIlroy says he was "taken aback" by the extent of the criticism he received for playing golf with US President Donald Trump.

McIlroy, who returns to the PGA Tour in Mexico this week after nearly two months out with a rib injury, says he was called "a fascist and a bigot".

"It's not as if we were talking foreign policy out there," said the Northern Irishman. "We were talking golf."

McIlroy also met Tiger Woods, and said the American was "in a good place".

Former world number one Woods has been plagued by injury in recent years, and has not played since pulling out of the second round of February's Dubai Desert Classic because of back spasms.

McIlroy said the 41-year-old could still play in the Masters - which he has won four times - in April.

"It's a possibility," said McIlroy, who had lunch with Woods last week. "Mentally, he's in a good place.

"He struggled with his body over the past couple years and it's unfortunate because it just won't allow him to do what he wants to do."

Iain Carter analysis: McIlroy's clubs need to do the talking

'I was just doing what I felt was respectful'

McIlroy was speaking at a news conference streamed on the PGA Tour's Facebook page.

Asked about his round with Trump at the president's Trump International course in Florida last week, he said: "I was just doing what I felt was respectful.

"The president of the United States phones you up and wants to play golf with you. I wasn't going to say no.

"I don't agree with everything he says but it is what it is. I'm not an American. I can't vote. Even if I could vote I don't think I would have."

McIlroy said he had a "good time" and seeing "30 secret service and 30 cops and snipers in the trees" was "a surreal experience".

'It's been a little tough for me'

McIlroy is preparing to compete in the WGC-Mexico Championship, which begins on Thursday.

And he hopes his injury lay-off is actually "a blessing in disguise".

The former world number one, who won the last of his four majors in 2014, said: "I feel like I'm probably stronger now than I was in November, December last year."

McIlroy can reclaim top spot in the rankings if he wins at the Club de Golf Chapultepec and Dustin Johnson finishes in a two-way tie for third or worse.

"I don't think we make too big a deal of it," he said. "It's not as if I earn any more money as the world number one, it's just nice to be able to say you're the best in the world at what you do.

"It's been a really great group of guys that have won the last few weeks and it's been a little tough for me."

अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय क्रिकेटको सर्वोच्च संस्था आइसीसी नेपाल क्रिकेट संघ (क्यान) माथि लगाइएको प्रतिबन्ध हटाउन सहमत भएको छ।

आइसीसीका पदाधिकारीले आइतबार बिहान प्रधानमन्त्री पुष्पकमल दाहालसँगको भेटवार्तापछि क्यानमाथिको प्रतिबन्ध हटाउन सहमति जनाएका हुन्।

प्रधानमन्त्री दाहालले नेपालमा क्रिकेट खेलको ठूलो क्रेज रहेको र सरकारले लगानी पनि गरेको भन्दै क्रिकेट खेलको विकासका लागि क्यानको सटमा बोर्ड गठन गर्ने प्रतिबद्धता जनाएपछि प्रमुख कार्यकारी अधिकृत डेभिड रिर्चडसनको नेतृत्वको आइसीसीको टोली क्यानमाथिको प्रतिबन्ध हटाउन सहमत भएको हो। यद्यपि, प्रतिबन्ध फुकुवापछि क्यान भने अस्तित्वमा रहने छैन।

प्रधानमन्त्री दाहाल र आइसीसीका प्रतिनिधिको भेटवार्तामा सहभागी राष्ट्रिय खेलकुद् परिषद्का सदस्यसचिव केशवबहादुर विष्टले अब नेपाली क्रिकेटमा कुनै विवाद् नरहेको भन्दै आइसीसीका प्रतिनिधिसामू गरेको प्रतिबद्धता अनुसार क्रिकेट खेलका गतिविधि संचालन गर्न नर्मलाइज कमिटी गठन गरिने बताए।

उनले बोर्ड गठन नहुञ्जेलसम्मका लागि कमिटीले काम गर्ने र क्यान अस्तित्वमा नरहने बताए।

आइसीसीले सरकारी हस्तक्षेप र क्यानभित्रको विवाद्लाई कारण देखाउँदै गत वैशाखको पहिलो साता क्यानलाई निलम्बन गरेको थियो। निलम्बनसँगै आइसीसीले क्यानलाई दिंदै आएको अनुदान समेत रोकेको थियो। प्रधानमन्त्री दाहालसँगको भेटवार्तापछि आइसीसीका प्रतिनिधिले रोकिएको अनुदान दिने प्रतिबद्धता पनि जनाएका छन्।

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