Leeds united's South Africa international Lucas Radebe has been ruled out for the rest of the season by a knee injury. The defender had keyhole surgery on Thursday to repair damage sustained four weeks ago during Leeds' 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid.

"Lucas underwent an operation last night and as a result he will definitely be out for the remainder of the season," Leeds spokesman David Walker said yesterday.

Leeds defender Michael Duberry is understood to have been told he has a future with the club after walking free from Hull Crown Court.

The 25-year-old, a £5 million signing from Chelsea in the summer of 1999, is apparently to be given assurances by manager David O'Leary he has a part to play in the years ahead at Elland Road.

Duberry, however, will not play any part in the remainder of Leeds' season as the trial has delayed the centre-back's rehabilitation in recovering from a ruptured Achilles he sustained in September.

Celtic's Neil Lennon has been named Bank of Scotland player of the month for March. He has bounced back from his highprofile barracking from Northern Ireland fans in Belfast to produce a series of outstanding performances for Celtic in their drive to the championship.

Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro has been dropped by Nigeria for the World Cup tie against Sierra Leone later this month after they claimed he had "failed to show the right attitude and commitment".

Babayaro missed a match against Zambia in January because he believed he was owed thousands of pounds in unpaid travel expenses by his country.

England legend Gary Lineker claims the ideal international set-up would not see a foreign coach at the helm. Sven-Goran Eriksson's new-look England have won three out of three. However, Lineker feels the FA would have been better looking closer to home for the new national team coach.

Harry Redknapp would only change one thing about a season which is rapidly becoming a nightmare for West Ham. He would like to have kept Rio Ferdinand at Upton Park instead of cashing in with the player's £18 million sterling sale to Leeds.

"I would just like to have still had Rio here," he said. "The idiots who say he can't do this or that are completely wrong."