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Newcastle United have had a major fall from grace this season when compared to the triumphs of their 2022/23 campaign.

Last season, the Magpies managed to achieve Champions League qualification for the first time since the 2003/04 season.

Eddie Howe managing to achieve this feat with Newcastle was nothing short of legendary and cemented his legacy within the club's history.

Granted, the PIF takeover assisted the former Bournemouth manager in achieving a top-four finish, however, if it wasn't for his tactical choices and decision-making, it's highly unlikely that they would've managed to achieve as much as they have done.

Much like many of their fellow Premier League counterparts, the Tyneside-based club have gone through their own injury crisis this season.

Players such as Nick Pope, Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes have all been sidelined for extended periods and left Howe with something of a headache in regard to his team selection.

That said, there has still been a lack of action for Tino Livramento, and it arguably showed during the club's 4-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday evening.

Standing in for Dan Burn, the former Southampton gem hardly covered himself in glory.

Tino Livarmento's game in numbers

Livramento joined the Magpies for a fee in the region of £40m at the start of the 2023/24 season but even despite the ongoing injury crisis on the Toon, he's still not cemented a regular spot in the side, starting on just seven times in the league.

Presented with a rare chance to prove himself in Saturday's 4-1 loss to Arsenal, he was not at the races in what was the Magpies' joint-highest defeat of the season, alongside their 4-1 loss to Tottenham back in December.

Livramento's performance certainly left a lot to desire and was arguably one of the defenders' worst outings of the season. It was so bad that Shields Gazette only gave the youngster a match rating of 4/10.

As per Sofascore, the 21-year-old only played a total of 73 minutes and still managed to lose 100% of the duels he attempted. In addition to this, he only managed two more touches than goalkeeper Loris Karius and managed to lose possession a total of four times.

William Saliba of Arsenal, on the other hand, played the full 90 minutes and managed to win 50% of his duels and lost possession the same number of times as the youngster.

This puts into perspective that, despite playing less time than the France international, he still had a much worse defensive performance.

Livramento wasn't the only player who had a below-par performance against the Gunners at the weekend though.

Sven Botman's performance in numbers

6 foot 3 anchor, Sven Botman arguably had a worse game than Livaremento did, with the Shields Gazette giving the Netherlands international a 3/10 rating for his performance against the London-based club.

Not only did he score an own goal within the first 20 minutes of the game, but, he was also on the pitch until the 73rd minute but managed to come out with poorer statistics than those of Livramento's.

Courtesy of Sofascore, the 24-year-old lost possession of the ball a total of ten times, and made a further error which led to another one of Arsenal's goals away from putting the ball in his own net. The defender did, however, manage to win 3/4 of the duels he attempted.

In order for Newcastle to qualify for any sort of European competition this season, they will really have to step their game up.

The Magpies currently sit in mid-table and find themselves 15 points away from the top four spots which is likely much farther away from where they expected to be this season.

With some players now returning from injury, Howe will be hoping that his team can change their fortunes and start climbing back up England's top flight.

Update comes after CPL terminated its participation agreement with the owners of the island’s franchise

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2019

St Lucia Stars’ future remains unclear•Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty

St Lucia Zouks will make a return to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), replacing St Lucia Stars for the upcoming season.Zouks was the name of the original franchise from St Lucia when the league was launched in 2013. In 2016, Stars replaced Zouks, but last week the CPL terminated its participation agreement with Royal Sports Club, LLC, the entity that operates the St Lucia franchise.CPL didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind Stars’ termination, but said it was “in the process of establishing and operating a new franchise to be based in St Lucia” for the upcoming season, which begins on September 4.Jay Pandya, the chief executive and owner of Royal Sports Club, LLC, termed the CPL decision “an attempt to bully us”, one which, he said, the franchise would fight legally. “CPL Limited has absolutely no basis, legal or otherwise, to terminate our contractual rights to operate St Lucia Stars,” Pandya told ESPNcricinfo. “We vehemently dispute CPL’s decision and will use all means necessary to vindicate our rights. This is an attempt to bully us, plain and simple. We are confident in our position and look forward to securing justice against CPL’s blatantly illegal act in the appropriate court of law.”

MatériaMais Notícias

A paralisação do futebol paulista prejudica o desempenho das equipes, principalmente as do interior, que sofrem com a falta de recursos sem a bola dentro das quatro linhas.

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No Guarani, o técnico Allan Aal concedeu entrevista coletiva e comentou sobre a paralisação e a sua projeção para a retomada.

‘A gente procura equilibrar essa pausa, essa falta de jogos oficiais com a intensidade do treinamento, mas nada é igual você enfrentar um adversário. Então a gente sabe que vai ter essa dificuldade, mas por outro lado não é um ponto exclusivo nosso. A gente tem que se adaptar o mais rápido possível e procurar a voltar em uma jogabilidade, em uma intensidade alta como a gente terminou’, afirmou.

Após quatro jogos disputados, o Bugre está na vice-liderança da chave D, com 5 pontos.

Earlier this week, Celtic completed their first signing of the January transfer window with a £3m deal for Rapid Vienna winger Nicolas Kuhn, but Brendan Rodgers doesn't intend to stop there. Before the deadline, the Hoops boss also wants to add a left-back and a striker to his squad.

One candidate for the latter position is Bologna's Sydney van Hooijdonk, son of the former Celtic man Pierre, and one newspaper in Italy has even predicted that he'll make the move to Parkhead in the second half of the window.

Another is Brondby's Mathias Kvistgaarden. It's been nearly a week now since we learned that Celtic were in talks with the Danish club over a transfer, and it seems as if there's been an encouraging development in their pursuit.

Celtic take step towards Kvistgaarden deal

According to Football Insider reporter Pete O'Rourke, Celtic are "making progress" on a deal for Kvistgaarden. If the Scottish Premiership leaders receive "encouragement" from Brondby, they could launch an offer.

Meanwhile, the proposed move for Van Hooijdonk "has hit a stumbling block", because it's believed it would take at least £8m for Bologna to sell him – a fee that's "too steep" for Celtic in the mid-season market. Crucially, Kvistgaarden is expected to be available "on more favourable terms".

"Crazy" Kvistgaarden has edge over Van Hooijdonk

21-year-old Kvistgaarden has been with Brondby since 2018, racking up 81 appearances for the club, but this is the year where he's really come alive. He scored six goals and provided three assists in his last six league games at the back end of 2022/23, a "crazy" run of form in the words of talent scout Jacek Kulig, and he's carried that momentum into the current campaign with 14 direct goal contributions (seven goals, seven assists) in 21 appearances.

The youngster ranks second in the league for assists and fourth for overall goal contributions. If he keeps this up, be it at Brondby or at Celtic, it surely won't be long before he graduates from Denmark's Under-21s (for whom he's played 16 games) to the senior team.

Celtic could repeat O'Riley blinder with swoop for £1.6k-p/w "hero"

The Hoops have been credited with an interest in the Championship centre-forward.

ByDan Emery Jan 20, 2024

In light of his exploits this term, you'd expect him to arrive in Glasgow full of confidence and in peak condition, but the same can't be said for Van Hooijdonk. The Dutchman has found himself down the pecking order at Bologna, starting just two of his side's 20 league games and watching 10 matches as an unused substitute.

Given that Celtic's joint-top scorer is a midfielder in Matt O'Riley (10 goals), and Kyogo Furuhashi is the only one of their forwards to score more than seven goals this season, they need somebody who can make an instant impact in whatever capacity as they battle for the title with Rangers. There will be pressure on the new face to swiftly boost Rodgers' firepower, and Kvistgaarden looks better-placed to live up to that task. As such, it may not be the worst thing that Van Hooijdonk is out of their price range.

With the January transfer window on the verge of swinging open, Tottenham Hotspur have turned their attention towards reinforcements for Ange Postecoglou in an attempt to rediscover their early season form under their new boss. As things stand, the Lilywhites are on course to narrowly miss out on a place in the Premier League's top four in what would come as a major blow given the start they made. And whilst the winter window could help turn things around, the North London side have already suffered an early blow in pursuit of one target.

Tottenham transfer news

On paper, Spurs' form can be looked at as quite the disappointment, especially after they suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last time out. When taking a deeper dive, however, it is clear that a lack of squad depth combined with injuries has had a major part to play.

Trevoh Chalobah

20th December

Morato

19th December

Radu Dragusin

31st December

Sebastian Caceres

14th December

Jarrad Branthwaite

13th December

Postecoglou has already been forced to field some makeshift centre-back partnerships this season following the injury to Micky van de Ven and the latest setback for Cristian Romero means that the Australian may have no choice but to welcome another defender next month. That reinforcement will not be a certain Ligue 1 star though.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Spurs' deal for Jean-Clair Todibo could collapse, with the Lilywhites looking to land a central defender in the next week and instead turning their attention to Genoa's Radu Dragusin. Romano posted on X:

Romano previously reported that Tobido was high on Spurs' shortlist and the Lilywhites had opened talks with Nice over a deal to sign the centre-back, but things could now begin to collapse.

"Great" Todibo could be better than Dragusin

Even though a deal to sign Dragusin looks more convenient when it comes to timing, the Genoa centre-back may not a better option than Todibo. The Frenchman has been a constant feature in Nice's side in recent years and has more than earned the interest of Spurs. When compared, Todibo's stats stand clear of Dragusin's this season.

Player

Progressive Carries

Progressive Passes

Tackles Won

Blocks

Jean-Clair Todibo

10

66

14

20

Radu Dragusin

6

29

11

14

Todibo has also earned plenty of praise for delivering such numbers during his time at Nice, including from former teammate Aaron Ramsey, who said via Get French Football News: "He’s playing alongside one of the most experienced players in Dante, who has played at the very highest level now for a number of years. For Jean-Clair to have that experience next to him is invaluable. He’s a great guy, a great player and very ambitious, so there is no reason that he can’t go all the way to the top and represent France.”

The 2023/24 Premier League season has been another one to forget for Chelsea fans, and it has only just crossed the halfway point.

The massive spending in the summer and the appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has done little to improve upon the poor performances of last year and if anything, the side look worse.

Aside from Cole Palmer and potentially Đorđe Petrović, it would be hard to describe any of the summer signings as successes, and with the January window now open and Benfica's Antonio Silva heavily touted for a move to Stamford Bridge, Axel Disasi could be about to lose his place in the starting XI – if not the entire club

Chelsea transfer news – Antonio Silva

According to Portuguese newspaper A Bola (via Sport Witness), Chelsea are incredibly interested in Benfica's promising young centre-back Silva and have even made an offer in the region of €60m, which is about £52m.

However, the Portuguese giants swiftly rejected the proposal, and as such, the Blues have reportedly 'found the door firmly closed on them'.

That said, while the report is clear that the Eagles do not want to sell their star defender midway through the season, there is said to be a €100m – £86m – release clause in his contract, which the club have 'pointed to' as Chelsea and Manchester United have persisted in their interest.

It is going to take a serious effort from Todd Boehly and Co to get this deal over the line this month without paying for the full release clause.

Still, based on Chelsea's actions in the market in past years, they might just be able to get it done – to the detriment of current starter Disasi.

Axel Disasi could lose his place in the team to Antonio Silva

The 25-year-old Frenchman only joined the Blues in the summer from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, but he has already become one of the first names on the team sheet for Pochettino, starting 90% of Chelsea's Premier League games and 100% of cup games.

Yet, despite his seeming importance to the manager's set-up, he has not been all that impressive. In fact, he has been poor for much of the season, with talkSPORT pundit Andy Jacobs labelling him a "disaster" earlier in the season and former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand claiming that he wouldn't play him next season on his podcast, FIVE.

Now, players can often struggle in their first season in the Premier League, and so perhaps next year, when he has had time to acclimatise to the league, he'll be far more impressive and be able to justify his place in the XI, although at a team like Chelsea, in the state that they are in, he might not get that chance, especially if Silva comes in.

That said, how do the pair's underlying numbers compare? Is there a significant difference between them, or is this a classic case of the grass always being greener on the other side?

Unfortunately for Disasi, there is a difference and a marked one at that.

The Portuguese "smooth operator", as U23 scout Antonio Mango dubbed him, comes out on top in every critical metric and by quite some way in a few of them.

Stats per 90

Silva

Disasi

Progressive Passes

4.47

4.12

Progressive Carries

1.07

1.02

Passing Accuracy

92.5%

89.7%

Shot-Creating Actions

0.87

0.45

Tackles Won

1.80

0.68

Blocks

2.07

0.79

Interceptions

0.60

0.56

Clearances

3.47

3.28

Aerial Duels Wn

2.37

2.13

All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 Domestic Season

He wins far more tackles, makes more blocks, interceptions and clearances, wins more aerial duels than Disasi, and he's also more of a goal threat as he produces more shot-creating actions and progressive passes per 90 than the Frenchman.

Ultimately, this would be an expensive deal to complete, and while it could be seen as harsh on the former Monaco man, if Chelsea have the chance to sign a player Mango described as being "born to play football", then they must take it.

Mauricio Pochettino will be disappointed with how his Chelsea side has been so underwhelming in his debut campaign.

The Blues are currently tenth in the Premier League after 17 matches, losing seven times already this season. Despite their 2-0 win over Sheffield United yesterday, Chelsea are still two points behind West Ham in ninth who have played one less game.

The Argentine may want to bolster his squad in January in an attempt to improve their results and potentially challenge for a European spot.

Chelsea transfers latest – Max Kilman

According to a recent report from Simon Phillips on his Substack earlier this month, Pochettino is eyeing a move for Max Kilman of Wolves to strengthen his defensive department.

The centre-back had plenty of clubs interested in him in the summer, including Napoli, who were quoted a £35m price tag by Wolves to acquire his services.

However, with the 26-year-old titan being such an integral part of the Wolves squad, it is difficult to see a move occur this January.

Max Kilman’s style of play

With Pochettino recently mentioning that he wants to add more height to his side, it is no wonder reports regarding Kilman have begun to arise. The Wolves defender stands at 6 foot 4 and would seemingly tick off the boss’ request.

The left-footed defender has played every minute for Gary O’Neil’s side this season, helping his team to 13th in the Premier League, just three points off Chelsea. However, the Englishman has only kept two clean sheets in a leaky Wolves backline.

Kilman is a tall, physical centre-back who can comfortably play in a back-three or a back-four. The 26-year-old ace is tidy with both feet and possesses on-the-ball quality in the form of passing and dribbling, which most likely stems from his days as a professional England futsal player.

According to FBref, Kilman has a very similar player profile to ex-Chelsea player Marc Guehi, who left the club in 2021 after being at the Blues since the age of seven.

The Crystal Palace star is linked with numerous clubs, including the Blues and Manchester United, and this is how he has compares statistically to Kilman this season…

Passes completed

50.81

52.72

Progressive passes

3.44

2.50

Tackles

1.25

1.25

Interceptions

1.06

0.88

Clearances

4.50

4.69

These statistics show that both players are able to progress the play with the ball at their feet to go along with their multiple defensive interventions per 90.

Another similarity between the two defenders is that they both display excellent leadership qualities that would massively help the young Chelsea side. Kilman has captained Wolves this season, and he would become Chelsea’s second-oldest defender in the squad behind Thiago Silva at just 26.

The Wolves star is also blessed with versatility, which allows Pochettino to be tactically flexible both pre-game and during the match. Another underrated attribute is Kilman’s impressive injury record – with only six games missed in his career – which makes him a reliable option. This could be vital with the Blues experiencing an injury crisis.

Although Chelsea signing Kilman does make sense and he is a “monster” – as per presenter Tom Parker – of a centre-back, if the likes of Benoit Badisahile, Levi Colwill, and Axel Disasi can remain fit, it is difficult to see him getting enough gametime or replacing any of the above, even more so when the full-backs return from injury.

However, depth is needed, particularly with injuries coming thick and fast at Chelsea at the moment, and they could land their next Guehi in a swoop for Kilman to bolster their options.

Ever since the PIF takeover in 2021, Newcastle United are finally in a place where they can build a team that challenges for trophies, not assemble a squad for a pittance with the hopes of surviving in the Premier League for another year.

The acquisition of Alexander Isak was one of the Magpies’ first signings under the new regime which made the rest of the division stand up and take notice.

Under the previous ownership, managers were forced to sign cheap strikers who could do a job but were never good enough to challenge for major honours. The likes of Salomon Rondon and Emmanuel Riviere spring to mind. However, there is another former player who still plays in England but is having a torrid time this season.

How much Newcastle United signed Dwight Gayle for

Having had a solid three seasons with fellow top-flight outfit Crystal Palace, Newcastle United announced the signing of Dwight Gayle for £10m upon relegation to the Championship in 2016 when Rafa Benitez was in charge at St. James’ Park.

The striker bagged 25 goals in 74 appearances for the Eagles, including the equaliser in a thrilling 3-3 comeback to all but end Liverpool's title chances during the 2013/14 season on that famous night at Selhurst Park.

Gayle didn't set the world alight but did have a superb debut season as a Magpie, scoring 23 goals in the Championship in 32 games as Newcastle were promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. This was the joint-best individual season of Gayle's career, alongside his 23-goal feat on loan at West Bromwich Albion in the 2018/19 campaign.

Unfortunately, the frontman scored merely 11 goals in 88 matches after Newcastle's 2016/17 title-winning season in the second tier, according to Transfermarkt.

Dwight Gayle at Newcastle United
Season – All Competitions	Minutes	Goals
2016/17	2,287	23
2017/18	2,173	6
2018/19 (on loan at West Brom)	0	0
2019/20	883	4
2020/21	543	1
2021/22	106	0
Stats via Transfermarkt.

Gayle played just ten minutes of first-team football for Eddie Howe during the 2021/22 campaign, but Howe admitted that the experienced striker was Newcastle's "best player in training" and "one of the best finishers" he'd ever worked with. Nevertheless, Gayle was allowed to leave for free at the end of Howe's first season in charge.

Dwight Gayle's stats this season

Gayle moved to Stoke City in the summer of 2022 on a two-year deal when Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill was in charge. The 33-year-old's time at the Bet365 Stadium hasn't gone as well as he'd have hoped, having scored merely three goals and recorded six assists in 48 appearances.

However, eight of Gayle's nine goal contributions came last term. This time around, the veteran has failed to score a single goal in 11 games for the Potters and has just one assist to his name which came in a 2-1 win over his former side West Brom in the EFL Cup.

When compared to all other strikers from leagues similar to the Championship over the past 365 days, Gayle's stats make for painful reading.

Dwight Gayle
Per 90 Metric	Percentile Rank
Goals	13
Non-Penalty Goals	21
xG	27
Non-Penalty xG	44
Shots	18
Assists	39
Shots On Target	41
Stats via FBref.

FBref's percentile ranks weigh up how a player compares to all others in the same position in leagues of similar quality. Gayle ranks poorly in this regard and is well below the 50% mark in a number of key metrics in front of goal, especially goals and shots per 90.

Stoke City have had 14 different goalscorers this season in all competitions but not one has been Gayle. Andre Vidigal leads the club's top goalscoring charts with five goals as head coach Alex Neil is leaning heavily on the Portuguese forward to score. Newcastle United certainly parted ways with Gayle at the right time.

Soumya Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal chose the scenic route to Bangladesh’s eight-wicket win over West Indies in Sylhet to clinch the three-match ODI series 2-1. Soumya’s attacking 80 was complemented by Tamim’s unbeaten 81, which came after Mehidy Hasan dipped his offbreaks to perfection in a career-best bowling performance.It was Bangladesh’s eighth bilateral series win (out of 12) since the 2015 World Cup, with two of those now coming against West Indies this year. Shai Hope’s unbeaten century was West Indies’ only moment of happiness as the visitors lost both Tests and ODI series in Bangladesh, a first for any major side touring the country.Bangladesh first sparked a batting collapse during the middle overs as West Indies lost three wickets for three runs in 22 balls. They slipped from 96 for 2 in the 23rd over to 99 for 5 in the 26th. Hope, who made an unbeaten 108 playing the full 50 overs, had to rely on the lower order to reach his fourth ODI hundred, but it was hardly going to take the control out of Bangladesh’s grip.Tamim then did what an experienced batsman should do in a 199 chase. He batted sensibly, while Liton Das and Soumya blasted the bowlers at the other end. At times, Tamim too drove down the ground and flicked off his pads for fours but he largely focused on collecting singles.Liton’s punches through cover and mid-off fetched him four of his five fours. But his impulsive strokeplay – this time a swipe across the line that was caught at mid-on – cut short his stay at the crease, for a 33-ball 23.Soumya, who had started off with a sublime on-drive off Keemo Paul, was otherwise devastating against spin. He lifted Marlon Samuels, Fabien Allen and Devendra Bishoo for five sixes.Samuels was hit over midwicket and long-off, while the two off Allen were sent high over the midwicket boundary. In the 34th over of the innings, he launched Bishoo over cover for his fifth six, before striking him for two fours to finish off the over. Paul eventually got him for an 81-ball 80, ending the 131-run second-wicket stand.Mushfiqur Rahim struck two fours and an upper-cut six before Tamim’s two fours off Rovman Powell in the 39th over got Bangladesh to the win. But the foundation of this win was laid down when Mohammad Saifuddin sparked the collapse with Samuels driving aimlessly at an offcutter, to be bowled for 19. It ended a promising 39-run third-wicket stand between Samuels and Hope before Mehidy got into the act.Having already removed Chandrapaul Hemraj and Darren Bravo, Mehidy dismissed Shimron Hetmyer for the sixth time in seven innings on this tour, this time lbw for a duck. It ended a poor ODI series for Hetmyer who was sparkling in the Test series. Powell’s wicket was his fourth, caught behind to a delivery that he expected to turn. Powell made just 16 runs in the series, making it a dreadful subcontinent tour on which he scored 77 runs in eight innings at an average 9.62.Shakib Al Hasan then removed Roston Chase and Allen, both caught in the deep. Chase mis-hit one to long-off, while Mohammad Mithun dived forward at deep midwicket to complete Allen’s catch.Hope meanwhile stood firm at the other end, having carried the confidence from his unbeaten 146 in the second game, which led to a hard-fought four-wicket win. He struck four boundaries through the covers, one through midwicket and two down the ground.Hope moved from 94 to his hundred with a straight six off Shakib. All the Bangladesh players shook hands with him at the end of the West Indies innings, while the Sylhet crowd was generous in applaud. But all the cheers for the rest of the day went to the homeboys.

In the last three years, teams have struggled to push the scoring rate under lights thus making it more favourable for teams batting first

Mohammad Isam20-Oct-2018

Mashrafe Mortaza reacts in the field•AFP

Bangladesh are now used to the unpredictable nature of the pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, said captain Mashrafe Mortaza. While Zimbabwe expect spin to play a big part, Mashrafe warned that even turn can’t always be assured in Mirpur.In the last three years, teams have struggled to push the scoring rate under lights. It has been more favourable for teams batting first as the pitch has changed nature with lots of use. As recently as February this year, the stadium was slapped with a demerit point when the second Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ended on the third afternoon.Since April 2015, the side batting first has won 14 out of 23 ODIs, averaging 241 per innings, while those chasing have managed only 196. Bangladesh’s 251 for 2 against Pakistan in 2015 is the highest successful chase in this period.Mashrafe said that sides with tougher mentality – Bangladesh themselves since 2015 – have done well in Mirpur. But whenever they have been impatient, they have lost, as was the case in the tri-nation series final against Sri Lanka in January this year.”Mirpur wicket is unpredictable because it changes behaviour almost suddenly,” Mashrafe said. “It keeps low or starts turning without warning. Batsmen have to quickly change their mindset in the middle, and also in the dressing-room. Most of the senior players have played here for more than ten years, so we are now used to the unpredictability. It obviously becomes hard for the opposition.”Only when we started to believing in ourselves since 2015, did we have a good record here. In cases when we were mentally weak, like in the Asia Cup final [in 2012], we lost here.”Mashrafe expected his players to be able to deal with whatever surface is prepared for the first ODI on Sunday. “Chittagong is predictably a batting wicket unless it is prepared slow or a turning track. Mirpur is totally different. It starts behaving differently after the half-time. I hope the boys won’t use it as an excuse. It is always helpful if we think of scoring 250-260, which always puts pressure on the opposition in Mirpur,”Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza said that spin remains the major challenge for his batsmen, particularly in the subcontinent. “It is obviously one of the things you focus on when you play in the subcontinent. Spin plays a very big role. We have prepared for it. It is in the back of our minds.”The main thing is to stay positive and back ourselves. We also have to deal with the challenge of spin. We can go forward from here after the recent disappointments.”