• Premier League’s bottom club to make official approach

• Championship club are reluctant to lose head coach

Wolves are to make an official approach to Middlesbrough to make Rob Edwards their next head coach. The Premier League’s bottom club are long-standing admirers of Edwards, previously a player and coach at the club.

Boro are reluctant to lose Edwards, who joined the Riverside club on a three-year contract in the summer. The club stand third in the Championship following Tuesday’s draw at Leicester and last Saturday’s defeat by Watford.

This story will update

The Scottish midfielder on the constant battle to keep his place, the ‘stigma’ of employing a home chef, and why he believes Aston Villa will win a big trophy soon

John McGinn has spent the best part of half an hour reflecting on his journey to this point, his next appearance for Aston Villa his 300th for the club, when he volunteers something of a confession. Asked whether he has lasered in on nutrition to maximise performance, perhaps inspired by Erling Haaland revealing his penchant for raw milk and honey, the Villa captain smiles a little sheepishly. “Yeah, I have, which makes me feel quite uncomfortable because I’m from a very humble part of the world,” he says, referring to his roots in Clydebank, a few miles north-west of Glasgow.

“They will all laugh at me and wind me up for it but I do have a chef at home. I think there is a stigma towards it: ‘Who do you think you are?’ Which I get, because it used to be me thinking that. I was more nervous about telling my siblings and my mum and dad about the idea of having a chef than actually having one. My mum and dad were always running us about to training and if my dad was cooking it was always whatever is left in the fridge.

• Fans banned from attending match at Aston Villa

• Police granted section 60 stop-and-search powers

The Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Issouf Sissokho urged his teammates to make their supporters smile against Aston Villa, after away fans were banned from the politically charged Europa League match on Thursday.

The Israeli club’s fans were prohibited from attending on public safety grounds but, despite the ban, West Midlands police have been granted section 60 stop-and-search powers and plan to deploy more than 700 officers around Villa Park to cope with protests and potential unrest.

• Club were confident O’Neil would take charge

• Supporters’ Trust had criticised the potential move

Gary O’Neil has stunned Wolves by withdrawing from talks to return to the club as head coach.

Wolves sounded out O’Neil over the weekend and all parties held further discussions on Monday about him succeeding Vítor Pereira, but the 42‑year‑old has since had a change of heart.