SPEEDWAY: Ipswich’s miserable form continued as they slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat after going down 41-49 at home to Belle Vue on Thursday night.

Both teams have now confirmed their places in the end of season play-offs, alongside defending champions Sheffield and Leicester.

In the Premiership’s other midweek fixture, substitute Richard Lawson scored 13 points as Oxford led from the first tape to beat King’s Lynn 48-42.

MEN’S FOOTBALL: Cymru Premier champions The New Saints scored three second-half goals to earn a 3-0 victory at Lithuania’s FK Panevezys in first leg of Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off tie.

Elsewhere, in the Conference League, Larne were beaten 2-1 in Malta by the Lincoln Red Imps, Kilmarnock lost 2-0 at FC Copenhagen, St Patrick’s drew 0-0 with Istanbul’s Basaksehir and Chelsea edged out Geneva-based Servette 2-0.

MEN’S BOXING: Former heavyweight title challenger Bryant Jennings, who lost by unanimous decision to Vladimir Klitschko in 2015, makes a return to the ring five years after his last fight when he takes on Joel Caudle in Philadelphia on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Jennings was comprehensively beaten by Joe Joyce on his last appearance in 2019 and had suffered a technical knock-out loss to Oscar Rivas six months before that.

MEN’S FOOTBALL: Manchester City completed a deal to re-sign Ilkay Gundogan from Barcelona today.

The German midfielder has signed a one-year contract to return to the club he left for the Catalan giants last summer.

The 33-year-old won 12 major trophies, including five Premier Leagues and the Champions League, in seven years during a hugely successful first spell at the City of Manchester Stadium.