hello, i'm marc edwards. welcome to sportsday. here's what we've got coming up on the show. wood rescues forest as nottinham avoid upset against third tier blackpool but they are third place in the fa cup first round. now you saudi, now you don't. jordan henderson short stint in the kingdom looks to be over. jamie george chosen to lead his country for the six nations in a new—look england side.

hello, and thanks for joining us on sportsday. we will start with football and the magic of the fa cup was almost alive on wednesday. third—tier blackpool taking on premier league side and two—time european cup winners, nottingham forest, all the way to extra time in a five goal thriller, ultimately losing 3—2 in this third round replay. chris wood the hero in the end, but forest had looked to be cruising into the fourth round when denino 2—0 in the first minute of the second half but blackpool fought back in style and the raucous venue. kylejoseph headed in from close range to make it 2—2 and set up a frantic finish and early in the second period of extra time the visitors retook the lead. chris wood scoring what proved to be the winning goal. the side will now play away at bristol city in the fourth round.

that is why it's such a special competition for everybody. they allow all the teams to have a chance, and blackpool gave us a hard one, credit for them, the way they fight the first game today with the comeback. this is the cup, you have to be ready for everything. thank god we did it and we want to go and move into the next run. i thought we because a real problem _ i thought we because a real problem when we took them outside _ problem when we took them outside their comfort zone. we had a _ outside their comfort zone. we had a great chance to win in normal_ had a great chance to win in normal time and if we had have one it _ normal time and if we had have one it -- — normal time and if we had have one it —— won it, i don't think anyone — one it —— won it, i don't think anyone would have grumbled. we had a great chance to win and if we had've won, once i don't think anyone could have grappled with that scoreline.

i'm proud of the players but disappointed we have gone so far over two games and have nothing to show for it. everton also through to the fourth round after beating crystal palace in an thai at goodison park. andre gomez a hero for the hosts in a 1—0 win. his kick the one true moment of quality in a game of few key opportunities but enough to set up in a tie against luton town. barely half a year, and with just 17 matches under his belt in the country, jordan henderson's time in saudi arabia looks to be coming to an end. the midfielder close to joining ajax amsterdam on a permanent move and his contract set to be terminated. it is just six months since he swapped the premier league for saudi arabia. a move that turned heads now looks a move that has turned sour. jordan henderson is a current england international. he put that at risk for a reported weekly wage of £700,000. the salary was extraordinary, the results were underwhelming. henderson on a nine—game winless run and one match in october was watched by around 700 fans. the player said to

have struggled with heat and humidity and the criticism he received for his move to the country. after talks with his club, he has been freed up to move on and now looks set to join the dutch side, ajax. at this moment, we understand ajax at this moment, we understand ajax is breaking the bank and will make him the best—paid player ever at ajax. i think you can find a platform here which is much better than in saudi arabia, the desert to show that he is ready to go out the european championships in germany. henderson is 33 and now has five months to prove he can help england at the euros. he has to win round a coach and fan base. three months ago, he came on at wembley and was booed by some supporters. henderson had previously spoken out on lgbt rights.

some felt his decision to move to a country —— relations are illegal undermines that message. it is said he leaves amicably. a three—year deal cut short to move closer to home. jordan henderson is a premier league and champions league winner. he is now set tojoin a team who sit fifth in the dutch league. at ajax, his hope is to lift up a club and rebuild his career. to the ivory coast where pre—tour minute favourites morocco began 2024 african cup of nations campaign. a convincing win in group avenue. ...following their historic run to the semifinal at the 2022 world cup. had to wait until the final ten minutes for the goal in the first half, a slick finish before severe striker rounded off the win.

the days other game finished well between zambia and the democratic republic of the congo. zambia and early leg in the coastal city of san pedro. congalise yoane wissa of brentford scored the equaliser. came from behind to draw in the opening game. a huge group b on thursday when egypt take on ghana. both sides aiming for nothing less than a victory after an underwhelming start to the competition for them. egypt held to a 1—1 draw by mozambique but only thanks to an injury. egypt's coach determined to move on from the side's opening performance. we know we have 1—point and ghana don't have any point but the quality of both teams are big and the quality of

the players as well. these players, all the players in ghana, these players playing the big team in the big competitions are ready for the match and we also. ...struck again as holders and first team ...struck again as holders and first team to qualify for for the asian r 16 with a 1—0 win after tajikistan. scored twice in qatar's opening 3—0 victory. midway through the first half in front of 55,000 at the stadium. the hosts now guaranteed to go through to the knockout round as group a winners. good finish there. now china's asian cup hopes are on a knife edge after they were held to a second successive goaless draw, this time against lebanon.

china best chance at the end... lebanon had their own chance to take the lead as the bar was clipped. china need at least a point against qatar to have a chance of advancing to the knockout stage. to rugby union, and hooker jamie george will captain england in the 20245ix nations in the absence of owen farrell. george has been capped 85 times, having made his international debut in 2015. the 33 takes over from farrell following his decision to step away from international rugby to prioritise his and his family's mental well being. the england squad features seven uncapped players along with returns for henry slade and luke.... owen farrell is a unique character and a unique leader and i think we are both big supporters and fans of what owen farrell brings to a team. so, it is not about trying to replace him, i think

it is about to replace, as i said earlier, i was asked if i had givenjamie any advice and the only thing i said to him, i want you to lead as you. give the players enough room to lead and what was really interesting was watching owen during that world cup and how he helped others grow and how he gave room to other leaders within the team and i think you can see a lot of leaders in this team. the team has been criticised in the past were not having leaders. i see a load of leaders in different way, shape or form. so i have no doubt that they will develop together. there will be a different dynamic and it will be a dynamic that will help build this team. boss andy farrell has chosen peter omani as his captain for the six nations. the munster flanker chosen to usher in a new era following johnny sexton�*s retirement. he previously captained ireland on ten occasions and will lead

the team out in the beginning of their defence of the six nations title on february two in marseille. finally, golden state warriors assistant coach has died at the age of 46. he was part of the staff that help the warriors when the 2022 nba championship was hospitalised in salt lake city after suffering a medical emergency on tuesday warriors head coach steve kerr paid in addition to being a terrific basketball coach, he was one of the most positive and beautiful human beings i have ever known. someone who brought joy and light to every single day in his passion and energy. that is all the time we have got left for now.

from me marc edwards and the rest of the team here at bbc sport centre, we will see you soon. goodbye. hello there. our current cold snap may well be coming to an end, but before it does so, i think something of a sting in the tail. of course, over recent days, we've seen plenty of these snow showers — this one looking very heavy as it obscures the skyline of the island of skye. and it is in northern scotland we've seen the largest accumulations of snow. through wednesday, we had over 20cm on the deck in lerwick, and that was before this lot arrived. this is a trough bringing particularly heavy showers, widespread, prolonged showers, southwards, and that will just increase the risk of seeing some disruption. now, for northern scotland, an additional 5cm—15cm of snow as we go through thursday. a much greater chance of seeing some disruption in northern ireland, too. i think we could see around 5—iocm of snow building

in here, so a much greater risk of seeing some disruption. and for northern scotland, as well as all that heavy snow, winds gusting to around 40—50 mph, so blizzard conditions, significant drifting of the snow and, for some communities, it'd be very difficult to travel around at all. now, there could be a bit of snow elsewhere in scotland and a few wintry showers coming down to clip the western side of wales, a few coming down the north sea coast of england. you might see some localised accumulations, but otherwise, a lot of dry, sunny and cold weather. into thursday evening, a shower stream sets up off the irish sea that will bring some snow showers to north wales across cheshire, merseyside into the north—west midlands. accumulations will vary a lot from place to place, but you could see a few centimetres in a few spots. on into friday, temperatures come up with just a little bit and that means the showers that we have in scotland will start to fall as rain and sleet at lower elevations — the snow becoming confined to the hills. temperatures a degree or two higher. you probably won't notice much in the way of change — it will still feel cold. however, as we get into this weekend, that's when we see

a real change in our weather pattern as these south—westerly winds push mild air off the atlantic and that will really boost the temperatures for most. now, on saturday, we've got these bands of rain moving from west to east along with those gusty south—westerly winds. now, there'll be a rapid thaw taking place in scotland, so there could be some localised flooding concerns here, given all of that snow lying on the deck, being a much milder kind of day. very windy weather then, for sunday and early next week, top gusts could reach around 70mph, potentially disruptive winds, but it does turn incredibly mild. bye for now.

live from washington, this is bbc news. the us again hits houthi targets in yemen, hours after reinstating them as "global terrorists". as israel continues to hit gaza, its forces are accused of a deadly attack on civilians in the occupied west bank. presidentjoe biden holds talks with congressional leaders over aid to ukraine and issues at the us—mexico border. i'm caitriona perry. in the past hour, we've had confirmation from the us military that it has hit houthi positions in yemen for a fourth time. the air strikes targeted 14

loaded houthi missiles. that's according to us central command,