Injury crisis for celeb squad in 'The Match'

The celebrity squad in Sky One's The Match suffered an agonising first training session on Sunday, with a massive eight players receiving treatment for injuries of varying severity. Anxious manager Graham Taylor commented that they "are going down like flies."

The injury list gained its first member in bizarre circumstances, before the players even made it onto the pitch. Goalkeeper Mark Bosnich participated in a playful sparring session with former rugby league star Martin Offiah that led to a recurrence of an old calf injury. "It is a problem for us," said Taylor, as he is now down to only one fit 'keeper in the squad.

On the pitch, Jeff Brazier, Darren Campbell, Tommy Craig, Chris Hollins, Anthony Hutton, Brian McFadden and Sam Robertson all picked up knocks, mainly due to over-exuberant tackles. Brazier was particularly concerned with his calf pain, saying about his fitness: "so much to prove, so little time." Former Westlife star McFadden was also agonised, failing in a bid to suppress a flood of tears.

But later in the day, Taylor was in a more upbeat mood. When asked to predict the scoreline in next Sunday's match he defiantly answered: "I don't do scorelines, I just do results. We'll win."