News round-up: Sunderland midfielder Thomas Butler's season could be over after a scan revealed a tear in his calf muscle. The 21-year-old was forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad last week with the problem.

Butler's injury is all the more galling as he had only just returned from a niggling hamstring problem which had blighted his attempt to build on his emergence into the first-team.

He did not play at all under Peter Reid's successor Howard Wilkinson, and has appeared only once for new boss Mick McCarthy, the 2-0 defeat at West Ham last time out in which he picked up his injury.

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has been boosted by the news that Joos Valgaeren should be fit in time for the UEFA Cup semi-final against Boavista. The defender picked up what looked like medial knee ligament damage during Belgium's defeat by Croatia at the weekend.

A statement on the club's official website said: "The Belgian defender will undergo a scan later tonight in order to quantify the exact nature of the injury, but club doctor Roddy McDonald isn't anticipating any serious problem."