Mick McCarthy has declared his first month in charge of Cardiff City as the best fresh start he has ever enjoyed in his career. The Bluebirds boss remains unbeaten after seeing his side thrash Preston 4-0 at home to move within three points of the Championship play-off places. It was McCarthy’s fifth successive win and another away victory at Bournemouth next Wednesday could see them replace the managerless Cherries in the top six.

Steve Cooper said Swansea City paid a heavy price after failing to do the basics as they were also hit with a worrying injury to Jordan Morris. The Swans saw their nine-game unbeaten run ended after conceding three goals in seven second-half minutes.

Mick McCarthy has won praise from Preston manager Alex Neil for being true to his principles at Cardiff City. McCarthy remains unbeaten since he took charge of the Bluebirds and will be looking for his fifth straight victory when Preston visit on Saturday afternoon. The former Republic of Ireland boss has earned two draws, followed by four victories which have lifted his side from 15th in the table to seventh.

Gavin Gwynne insisted nobody was going to stop him claiming the vacant Commonwealth lightweight title in Bolton. The Treharris man stopped Belfast’s Sean McComb in the seventh round of a ferocious fight on Friday.

Dean Ryan conceded he was left proud but frustrated after the Dragons blew a chance to take the scalp of Guinness Pro14 champions Leinster. Ryan saw his team battle back to earn a losing bonus point as they went down 35-29 to at a very wet and windy Rodney Parade. The home side led by a point at the break as the visitors fell foul of referee Ben Whitehouse’s whistle and at that stage it looked like a shock result might be on the cards with the Dragons seeking a first win over the Dubliners since 2016.

The fuel for Connor Roberts’ fiery performances is a secret hot sauce he pours over his food, according to Swansea City teammate Freddie Woodman. Roberts has ignited the Swans’ promotion surge this season at various points – the most recent being his superb headed winner against Nottingham Forest in midweek. His energy and athleticism levels have also been at the top of the thermometer scale and Woodman reckons it’s all down to Black Out sauce – a tongue-burning sriracha concoction the Wales defender lathers over his grub in the training ground canteen.

Newport County manager Michael Flynn has admitted the promotion bandwagon needs to be put back on the rails on Sunday. The Exiles manager wants his players to rediscover the consistency that made the first half of their seasons such a period of promise as they host second place Forest Green Rovers. A severe loss of form of late has seen County drop to fifth – five points adrift of leaders Cambridge United but only one point clear of promotion chasers Morecambe – who sit in eighth place.

Geraint Thomas is well in the hunt after the opening stage of the Tour du Var in France. The 34-year-old finished just three seconds behind Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo who won the opening stage of the three-day race at the summit finish in Gourdon.

Elfyn Evans will be looking to send a chill down his FIA World Rally Championship rivals when he resumes his title quest at the Arctic Rally Finland next week (26-28 February). The Dolgellau ace will, like many of his fellow drivers, be making his debut on the event which has replaced Rally Sweden on the calendar due to COVID-19 issues.

The Ospreys will be looking for a fourth straight victory when they take on Zebre at The Liberty Stadium on Saturday night. Toby Booth’s side have also managed to blood plenty of youngsters this season, including 20-year-old fly-half Josh Thomas, who is grateful for no less than four top quality No.10s who are guiding his progress as he tells Graham Thomas. Josh Thomas knows he’s at the perfect finishing school for a would-be Wales outside-half. After all, the Ospreys youngster currently has a quartet of high grade number tens guiding him that would be the envy of almost every rugby club in the UK and beyond.

The return to action for some Welsh athletes continues this weekend at the European Indoor Championships selection trials. The events to be staged in Manchester, Loughborough and London have been organised following the cancellation of the British Indoor Championships, which should have been taking place this weekend in Glasgow. In order to give British athletes the opportunity to earn selection for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Poland, the smaller, elite only, Covid-compliant events have been set up at three separate venues across the weekend.

George North has been given the “green light” to win his 100th Wales cap against England in the Six Nations showdown next week. North missed Wales’ second Six Nations win against Scotland last weekend with a foot injury. But the 28-year-old British and Irish Lions star has returned to training ahead of England’s visit to Cardiff on Saturday week. Wales attack coach Stephen Jones said: “George is making good progress, every day he is improving. He’s taken part in some sort of training already, which is great, and that’s the good thing from our perspective. I believe it is a full green light.”

Yan Dhanda has revealed no-one from Instagram has contacted him, more than a week after he was racially abused on the social media platform. The Swansea City midfielder branded social media companies “selfish” for not doing more to remove abusers from their sites and apps. Birmingham-born Dhanda, who has an Asian background, was abused on Instagram following the Swans’ 3-1 FA Cup defeat by Manchester City on February 10.

Former Wales international Gavin Williams has stepped down from his role as manager of Merthyr Town – who have replaced him with Dean Clarke. Former West Ham, Ipswich and Yeovil playmaker Williams is taking a break from football in order to re-assess his options, at least temporarily, after Merthyr took the decision to suspend playing until the start of next season because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Williams, also a former youth team player at Cardiff City, has resigned after four-and-a-half years in charge.

Next week, Wales will be bidding for a Triple Crown when they take on England – surely, the most unexpected success story of the season. They’ve blindsided their critics, but the red cards have also led to a certain blind spot when it comes to possible concussion, says Harri Morgan.  After the opening two rounds of the Six Nations, Wales are fighting the good fight for all the students who were never given the opportunity to disprove their predicted grades. Ok, so their luck is in.

Mick McCarthy insists he has not waved any magic wand in turning Cardiff City from Championship strugglers to play-off contenders. The veteran manger has overseen a huge turnaround in fortunes since succeeding Neil Harris.

Cardiff middle distance runner Kate Seary and two other international athletes have called on the sport’s bosses to issue lifetime bans for coaches found guilty of abuse-related breaches of their licences. Welsh indoor 1500m champion Seary, Great Britain cross country international Mhairi MacLennan and pole vaulter Anna Gordon, have written an open letter to UK Athletics CEO Joanna Coates. The letter calls for zero tolerance lifetime bans for coaches who are found to have broken the conditions of their coaching licence in cases of physical or sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse.

Geraint Thomas will ramp up his season when he competes alongside one of Britain’s hottest talents in France this week. The 2018 Tour de France champ will compete for the second time this season at the three-day Tour de Var which starts on Friday.

Wales flanker Josh Navidi is among a group of players calling for rugby to bring in meaningful change to reduce head injuries. Navidi – who missed the first half of this season after suffering a concussion in a training session for Cardiff Blues – is backing Progressive Rugby to lobby World Rugby for urgent reform to the way the game is organised and officiated. The group have written an open letter to World Rugby which is also signed by current and former players that includes Alix Popham, who was diagnosed with early onset dementia back in December.

Dai Young insists the arrival of Rhys Priestland at Cardiff Blues will help develop Jarrod Evans – rather than drive him away. The Blues have confirmed that Priestland is moving to the Arms Park this summer after six seasons at Bath. The 34-year-old former Wales No.10 has signed a long-term contract at the Arms Park, where he will challenge Evans for the pivot role.