Win earns Preston boss applause

Preston booked their place in the second round of the Capital One Cup with a 2-0 defeat of Huddersfield on Monday night.                                                                                                                                                 

Graham Westley left the Deepdale dugout to a standing ovation after his new-look North End saw off the Terriers.

Westley endured a troubled time after taking over at Preston last season but saw his side make the perfect start to the new campaign when Jack King headed home after 29 minutes.

Nicky Wroe, a summer signing from Shrewsbury, then doubled the lead five minutes before the break to help the League One side into the next round.

Westley fielded a starting 11 which featured 10 summer signings, with only goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann surviving the summer cull.

And the North End new boys enjoyed a dream start to the season when King's deft header floated past Alex Smithies in the Huddersfield goal after 29 minutes.

The striker, signed from Woking in the summer, directing Jeffrey Monakana's brilliant chipped ball inside the far post.

Wroe then side-footed Chris Beardsley's low cross into a gaping net five minutes before half-time to double the advantage.

Lee Novak would have pulled a goal back for the visitors after the restart had he not been tardy to Paul Dixon's cross.

Seconds later, Oscar Gobern's meek effort wasted some fluid build-up play as the Championship side failed to make their league supremacy count.

Steven Fletcher: Wolves reject third Sunderland bid

Wolves have rejected a third offer from Sunderland for striker Steven Fletcher.

The Championship side have previously turned down bids of £10m and £12m for the 25-year-old, and this latest offer falls short of Wolves' £15m valuation."We want to keep our best players," said Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey. "If our valuations are not met then they will remain at Wolves."

Fletcher, who scored 12 goals in 26 Premier League appearances as Wolves were relegated from the top flight last season, has two years left on his Molineux contract, with an option for a third.

His former club Burnley will be due 15% of any profit Wolves make on a player they paid £7m for in 2010.

"ALL parties need to draw a line under this matter, which has now dragged on for more than a month," he said.

"We need to focus on the season ahead and these disruptions to the squad's preparations are unhelpful.

"We cannot allow this speculation to drag on indefinitely up to the closure of the transfer window."

Sunderland are short of attacking options following the departures of Asamoah Gyan and Nicklas Bendtner, and boss Martin O'Neill has made Fletcher his prime attacking target this summer.