CLEVELAND -- Browns wide receiver Ryan Switzer said his infant son has been hospitalized again and is undergoing a blood transfusion.

Switzer posted the latest Twitter update about Christian on Sunday, saying he's having another transfusion after his hemoglobin dropped overnight. Switzer said doctors need to get the boy's blood count up so he's stable enough to undergo further testing.

Switzer asked his followers for prayers.

Earlier this week, the 26-year-old father posted a video thanking the public for its overwhelming outpouring of support for Christian, who underwent surgery last week after being hospitalized for bleeding. Switzer had said doctors still weren't sure what was causing the bleeding. Christian, who was born in May 2020, had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Switzer wrote Saturday night that Christian had more "significant bleeding" and was back in the hospital.

"We're frustrated but more so just exhausted seeing our son suffer," Switzer wrote. "We're asking for prayers for the doctors as they work to find a diagnosis & strength for Christian as he battles."

Switzer spent last season on Cleveland's practice squad. He was with the Pittsburgh Steelers for two seasons after being drafted by Dallas in the 2017 NFL draft out of North Carolina.

Rangers and Celtic did not take a knee ahead of the Old Firm derby on Sunday, opting to stand together following allegations that Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara was the subject of racist remarks during Thursday's Europa League defeat against Slavia Prague.

UEFA said on Friday it was investigating incidents in Rangers' clash with Slavia Prague after Kamara complained of being racially abused by a visiting player.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard confirmed their stance in a prematch interview.

"We won't take the knee," he said. "I spoke to both my captains [on Saturday] and they've made a collective decision that they're going to stand and they're going to stand together side by side and we'll support that and follow suit as a staff as well.

"I wasn't aware of the chat that the players have had among themselves, but [James Tavernier and Connor Goldson] have come to see me [on Saturday] and I totally understand the decision that they've made and I totally back it 100% and we'll do the same as a staff to show them support."

Celtic interim manager John Kennedy added: "We spoke to Rangers and agreed we won't do it. It's probably lost its impact so we will hopefully send out a much stronger message if we stand together.

"Racism and any sort of hate in society but also in football is disgraceful. We want to give any support we can."

On Saturday, Dundee United and Motherwell also opted against taking a knee. Motherwell said it had become an "empty gesture" in the fight against racism.

Kamara was furious after Slavia Prague centre-back Ondrej Kudela leaned into his ear and said something while covering his mouth, sparking a melee in the final stages of their round-of-16 tie.

Slavia Prague denied the allegations and said in a statement Kudela had been assaulted by Kamara after the game. The defender said his remarks to the Finnish midfielder, who is Black, had not been racist.

So this is what sporting heartbreak feels like. Utter devastation.

This turmoil is a new Six Nations experience as Wales wakes up still wondering how they lost in France.

England World Cup-winning scrum-half Matt Dawson says this last-gasp defeat will haunt the Wales players for years to come. It will certainly concentrate the minds of Welsh fans for some time.

Wales can still win the Six Nations title as they wait on the result of the tournament finale between France and Scotland in Paris next Friday. At this point that would be scant consolation.

Wales' defeat in France was a Six Nations spectacular for the ages, a modern-day masterpiece. It was a captivating classic that deserved to be played in front of a capacity crowd rather than the empty Stade de France.

A momentous match that left supporters breathless in their living rooms with a few hours' recovery needed to bring the heart rate and pulses down. Saturday night prime-time viewing at its best but watching the final 10 minutes should have come with a health warning.

Wales' players will care little about all of that. Desolation and dejection will override any thoughts of their role in entertaining millions.

Because Wales were so close, on the brink of completing the unlikeliest of Grand Slams. With Pivac's men leading 30-20 going into the final 10 minutes, France just having had second row Paul Willemse sent off, the scene seemed set for Welsh celebrations.

The red card had the opposite effect, as fearsome France were galvanised and Wales finished the match with 13 men as Taulupe Faletau and Liam Williams were yellow-carded.

France's commanding captain Charles Ollivon grabbed a try in the 76th minute before full-back Brice Dulin broke Welsh hearts with an 82nd-minute score. How? Why?

Dubious discipline

Wales' discipline had been outstanding during the tournament and helped bring them to the brink of a Six Nations clean sweep, but Pivac's side were undone in this department at the last.

Ireland and Scotland both had a player sent off in this year's meetings with Wales, who had played 15 Six Nations games since receiving a yellow card - when Liam Williams and Gareth Davies were sin-binned against Italy in 2018.

It appeared that once again it was their opponents who were losing their heads when Willemse was sent off for making contact with the eyes of prop Wyn Jones, a decision disputed by France head coach Fabien Galthie.

France front-rower Mohamed Haouas was already in the sin-bin for a professional foul that could have yielded a penalty try.

Referee Luke Pearce and television match official Wayne Barnes were central figures in this pulsating Parisian drama, where a few decisions might have gone either way. Should Wales have had a second-half penalty try, did Josh Adams ground the ball for his score?

Wales always though remained masters of their own fate.

But their discipline unravelled in the closing stages, with the yellow cards issued for persistent offending. Faletau was despatched for offside, while Williams was more controversially sent to the sidelines for diving off his feet at a ruck.

Despite losing two men, the game was still in Wales' hands. Literally. They had possession in the France half in the final minute before replacement second row Cory Hill was penalised at a breakdown to give the hosts one last chance at glory. The rest you know.

Attacking intent

The painful ending might overshadow what was Wales' most impressive performance under Pivac.

In building a 30-20 lead, a potent attacking outfit patiently eased through the phases and were rewarded with tries from Dan Biggar, Josh Navidi and Josh Adams.

It was an effective system, as promised by Pivac and Stephen Jones since they took over from Warren Gatland following the 2019 World Cup.

There had been promising signs in the final quarter against England and the 48-7 hammering of Italy in Rome. For 60 minutes in Paris, Wales flourished.

We saw effective ball-carrying from the forwards, with centres Jonathan Davies and George North cutting incisive angles in midfield.

Full-back Liam Williams dominated the night sky, fielding numerous high kicks, with wings Louis Rees-Zammit and Adams looking for work off their flanks and breaching the gainline.

It was all masterfully orchestrated by fly-half Biggar, who had one of his most influential games for Wales.

Wales finished the tournament with a record 20 tries. They averaged four tries and 33 points a game yet still might finish second. Savage.

Pivac project

Numb was the word used by coach Pivac after the game and he will spend the coming days analysing what went wrong.

The Wales coach will reflect perhaps on his use of replacements, which had been so effective through the tournament. The calls made on Saturday night, however, did not work.

The mass withdrawal of Biggar, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis and Jonathan Davies after 68 minutes will be most closely analysed. 323 caps' worth of international experience lost in one moment.

Biggar was especially impressive but Pivac afterwards said his fly-half was suffering from cramp.

The balance between keeping experienced campaigners on the field and introducing fresh legs after a brutal, fast-flowing test match will be weighed up. Wales were tiring which contributed to 36 missed tackles in the match.

Overall, Pivac has enjoyed a successful tournament as he starts to emerge from Gatland's shadow.

Remember he came into this competition with continued doubts over his job after a 2020 where Wales had won only three of 10 games, against Georgia and Italy twice. They had finished fifth in the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup.

A few months on, he has delivered a Triple Crown and Wales might yet be Six Nations champions. We are starting to see the imprint he promised he would make on this Welsh side.

Any talk of him not being allowed to take Wales through to the 2023 World Cup should now have been dispelled.

He will have decisions to make, especially about his senior statesmen who contributed to Wales fielding their most experienced starting side ever in France - with just short of 1,000 caps.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones, 35, and hooker Owens, 34, had outstanding campaigns and show no signs of slowing down.

At the other end of the scale, Rees-Zammit was the emerging star of the tournament, with the 20-year-old scoring four tries and his pace striking fear into opposition defences.

Crowned Champions?

For all the doom and gloom, reflections on the past and thoughts on the future, Wales could still be crowned champions next Friday, though their destiny is not in their hands.

Scotland travel to Paris for the rearranged match following the postponement of the original fixture because of Covid-19 cases in the French camp.

If France are to deny Wales the title, they must beat Scotland with a four-try bonus point and by at least 21 points. They would then triumph on points difference.

If that is equal it will come down to tries, with Wales having five more than France currently. If the sides cannot be separated on tries scored, the title will be shared.

So the Welsh fans will be Scotland supporters this week, although the Scots have lost their last 10 Six Nations matches in Paris.

Perhaps it is time for Scotland to return a 22-year-old favour. In 1999, Wales defeated England at Wembley with a famous try by Scott Gibbs and a Neil Jenkins conversion in the dying minutes.

Scotland had beaten France in Paris the day before with Gregor Townsend, now the national coach, playing a starring role.

That result gave the Scots an outside chance of winning the last Five Nations tournament - if Wales could deny Clive Woodward's side the Grand Slam in London.

That is exactly what happened as Scotland were crowned champions, the last time they won this tournament.

What Dawson and England experienced that day are the same emotions Wales are feeling now.

More than two decades on, Wales will feel it is time for Scotland to redress the balance as they pray for an away victory or narrow home win in Paris in six days' time.

A Six Nations title win would not wipe away Wales' Grand Slam agony, and not many will forget the astonishing Saturday night scenes they witnessed in Paris.

But it might at least soften the blow.

STOCKTON, Calif. – D.J. Netto won the season opener for the NARC-King of the West 410 Series at the Stockton Dirt Track on Saturday night.

The 30-lap feature served as the Salute to LeRoy Van Conett and was held in front of a limited but very respectable crowd of NorCal sprint car fans.

Netto in the Netto AG No. 88n held off a late race charge by runner up Rico Abreu. Front row starter Dominic Scelzi finished third ahead of Shane Golobic and a closing Austin McCarl.

Netto and Scelzi brought the 23-car starting field down for the start with Netto quickly jumping to the lead.  Scelzi developed a small wing issue going into the third turn when the front bolts holding the wing to the chassis loosened, making things interesting for his car’s handling.  The wing would eventually fold completely over, however, it did remain on the car for the whole race.

The folded wing would hamper Scelzi’s threat to Netto allowing him only to get close to the leader once on lap eight but towards the end of the race, it would cost him the runner up spot.

The race’s first caution came out on lap 13 when Mark Barroso would stop on the track in turn four. He would pit in the work area and return to the race for the restart.  Bad luck for Mitchell Faccinto when the cars came to the green as he would lose the third position to Abreu.

Another caution would wave when Kyle Hirst had a flat left front tire and spun cross ways in the third turn. The four-time series champion would be towed to the pits, ending his race.

The double-file restart allowed Abreu to pass Scelzi going into the first turn to take over second. McCarl shows his strength and takes over fifth after starting ninth.

Netto rolled on to claim the $3,000 triumph with Abreu second.

The dwarf car feature was won by Tommy Velasquez over Shawn Jones and Ben Wiesz.

The Finish:

D.J. Netto, Rico Abreu, Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Austin McCarl, Mitchel Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Geoff Ensign, Sean Becker, Justin Sanders, Blake Carrick, Billy Anton, Willie Croft, Sean Watts, Mitchell Moles, Tim Estenson, Kenny Allen, Mark Barroso, Kyle Offill, Kyle Hirst, Tanner Carrick, Joel Myers Jr.

PAIGE, Texas — Brad Sweet has made his mindset on World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink   Sprint Car Series championships very clear — win races, and the points will fall your way.

On Saturday night at Cotton Bowl Speedway, Sweet got back to his winning ways with his 60th career victory and his second of the season aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing NAPA Auto Parts No. 49.

The Big Cat led 28 of 30 laps and cruised to a 1.087-second advantage at the checkered flag. He joined Sheldon Haudenschild  as the only two repeat winners through the opening eight races.

“It’s pretty cool,” Sweet acknowledged on his 60th career win. “They’ve all come with Kasey Kahne Racing too, and we’ve got Kasey here with us tonight. I can’t thank him enough for the opportunity he’s given us. It’s been a fun ride so far, but it’s far from over. It’s always fun getting back in victory lane. These guys have been sticking by my side even through all my mistakes of late.”

Sweet himself, however, admitted he didn’t feel like the No. 49 was the car to beat on Saturday. He thought that honor belonged to Jacob Allen  of Shark Racing, who looked poised for a second career win.

Pacing the opening 10 laps, Sweet was in command of the race lead until lap traffic halted his progress and allowed a hard charging Jacob Allen to close quickly. Taking advantage of the back markers, Allen picked off Sweet and claimed the top spot on lap 11. He controlled two circuits before a mistake entering turn one sent him into the wall, flipping upside down, and eventually on fire.

Allen was heartbroken, dejected, and upset with himself.

“I stepped on it, that’s what I did,” Allen admitted. “The car felt phenomenal, I just screwed it up. There’s no need for that. That’s immature racing. I need to take a chill pill and finish these races to get myself a win. I’m racing with one of the very best in Brad Sweet and I need to capitalize, not end up on my lid.”

Lap 12 offered the final restart of the race and Sweet promptly used the high side to his advantage and checked out. Another bout with lap traffic made it interesting on lap 19, but the two-time and defending Series champion prevailed and survived to run off with his second career win at the Cotton Bowl Speedway.

“We’ve been knocking on the door lately,” Sweet said. “I think Jake had the better car there, but he just made that mistake in lap traffic. It shows us we’ve still got to get a little bit better. I still fought some things with the car that I’d like to get fixed.”

Brent finished a season-high second aboard his CJB Motorsports No. 5.

“We just needed lap traffic,” Marks mentioned. “We got too tight there at the end and I couldn’t run turns one and two like I needed to. All in all, a really great night. We’ve been struggling these last few races, so we needed this run. Make the 20+ hour drive back home a lot easier.”

After a disappointing Friday night in the Last Chance Showdown, Cory Eliason and the Rudeen Racing No. 26 rebounded with their second podium finish of the season.

“After our embarrassment last night we changed a lot off things and got way better tonight. Things really went our way tonight except for that double file restart. A podium for this team is awesome to get our sponsors the exposure they deserve.”

To see full results, turn to the next page.

Rangers and Celtic did not take a knee ahead of the Old Firm derby on Sunday, following allegations of racism against midfielder Glen Kamara during Thursday's Europa League defeat against Slavia Prague.

UEFA said on Friday it was investigating incidents in Rangers' clash with Slavia Prague after Kamara complained of being racially abused by a visiting player.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard confirmed their stance in a prematch interview.

"We won't take the knee," he said. "I spoke to both my captains [on Saturday] and they've made a collective decision that they're going to stand and they're going to stand together side by side and we'll support that and follow suit as a staff as well.

"I wasn't aware of the chat that the players have had among themselves but [James Tavernier and Connor Goldson] have come to see me [on Saturday] and I totally understand the decision that they've made and I totally back it 100% and we'll do the same as a staff to show them support."

Celtic interim manager John Kennedy added: "We spoke to Rangers and agreed we won't do it. It's probably lost it's impact so we will hopefully send out a much stronger message if we stand together.

"Racism and any sort of hate in society but also in football is disgraceful. We want to give any support we can."

On Saturday, Dundee United and Motherwell also opted against taking a knee. Motherwell said it had become an "empty gesture" in the fight against racism.

Kamara was furious after Slavia Prague centre-back Ondrej Kudela leaned into his ear and said something while covering his mouth, sparking a melee in the final stages of their round-of-16 tie.

Slavia Prague denied the allegations and said in a statement Kudela had been assaulted by Kamara after the game. The defender said his remarks to the Finnish midfielder, who is Black, had not been racist.

For the first time in the competition's 25-year history, New South Wales will not appear in the final of the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL).

Their last league match against Queensland in Sydney was abandoned without a ball bowled removing any chance they had of finishing in the top two.

Queensland then clung onto second place in the table, to play Victoria in the final on March 27, when ACT pulled off a last-over chase against South Australia to deny them the victory which would have booked their spot in the decider.

New South Wales had appeared in every final (or finals series) since the tournament began in 1996-97, winning 20 of the 24 titles with one of their final losses coming last season against Western Australia meaning this is the first time they have gone back-to-back seasons without claiming the title.

They made a poor start to the competition with losses in their first two games against Victoria then had a tie against Tasmania before three wins in a row kept them in the hunt. However, a heavy defeat against Queensland in Sydney two days ago ultimately proved costly.

"The group's proud of a lot of things we've achieved this year, it's been such a tough year with Covid," stand-in captain Sammy-Jo Johnson said. "We've done so many training sessions, the group's had people come and go, there's so many good things we've taken from this year.

"To look towards next year it's such a big positive that we'll see some similar faces around the squad and hopefully push to get back in the final."

There have been a record number of centuries scored in this season's tournament with Victoria's Elyse Villani leading the way with three. Notably, 12 of the 16 centuries have come from players not currently in the Australia set-up.

"Some new players have put their hands up with centuries and that's something we speak about, about dominating the game you play and hundreds in one-day cricket are game-changing," Australia captain Meg Lanning said last week. "It's been great to see a number of new players doing that.

"I think it's just the overall professionalism of the game, people are training more, we've got access to better coaches and better facilities. Just being able to put all our effort into trying to get better as cricketers, I think that's the reason there's been really good performances being put out on the board."

Victoria have lost six players to Australia duty along with the injured Annabel Sutherland while Queensland will be without Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes the lack of runs from regular opener KL Rahul has ended up benefiting India by providing them with an ideal opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Following scores of 1, 0, 0 and 14 from Rahul, India dropped him for the T20I series decider against England on Saturday, thus pushing Kohli up the order to partner Sharma and the duo put on a 94-run stand in just nine overs to set the platform for a match-winning total of 224.

"Your best batsman should bat the most number of overs in limited-overs cricket. So it was very important for Virat Kohli to bat at the top of the order," Gavaskar told India Today. "So maybe KL Rahul's loss of form has been a blessing in disguise because this has given us an opening combination to look forward to."

Sharma and Kohli's rapid partnership followed opening stands of 2, 0, 7 and 21 in the first four matches where India used three different combinations also involving Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan. On Saturday, Kohli, who opened for the first time in T20Is since 2018, batted out the entire 20 overs to finish on 80* from 52 deliveries by accelerating towards the death while Sharma smashed a quickfire 64 off 34.

With the T20 World Cup scheduled for this October in India, Gavaskar said he would continue with the latest pair.

"I would persist with this opening formula. Look at the way they fed off each other," he said. "You could see the interaction between the two of them, whenever each of them got the big shot going. When that happens, when two leaders of the team show the way, it becomes easier for the guys coming down the order. With Suryakumar Yadav in India colours and playing those cameos, it's really good."

Soon after India clinched the series 3-2, Kohli told the host broadcaster at the presentation that he would also open in the upcoming IPL, starting April 9, and he could also open in some additional T20Is India are likely to play between the England tour and the T20 World Cup.

"Yes, I am going to open in the IPL as well," Kohli said. "Look, I've batted at different positions in the past, but I feel like we do have a very solid middle order now, and now it's about your two best players getting the maximum number of balls in T20 cricket. So I would definitely like to partner Rohit at the top."

Ahead of the T20I series against England, Kohli had, however, firmly backed the pair of Sharma and Rahul to start the series and had said that they would be separated only if one of them had to take a break or was injured.

"If Rohit plays, then it's quite simple. KL and Rohit have been consistently performing at the top of the order for us and those two would start," he had said. "In a situation where Rohit takes rest or KL has a niggle or something like that, then Shikhi [Shikhar Dhawan] obviously comes in as the third opener. But the starting composition, Rohit and Rahul will be the ones who start."

Sharma, the vice-captain, said during the post-match press conference on Saturday that despite an instant result from the new pairing, the team may yet have to analyse and work out what is best since the T20 World Cup was still some time away.

"We'll just have to analyse and think about what suits the team most," Sharma said. "Today was, I guess, a tactical move because we wanted an extra bowler to play. We wanted to leave one batsman out, and unfortunately, it was KL, which was very tough."

Because Nolan Ryan pitched so well for so long, he was, for many years, a working model for what the ultimate pitcher's body might look like. He had those powerful legs anchoring a compact, fluid delivery. He is thought to have touched 100 mph in an era when hard throwers were the guys hitting 90 mph. Ryan amassed 5,714 strikeouts in the big leagues. As Justin Verlander noted, Ryan maintained his status as a power pitcher throughout his entire 27-year career.

But this generation's ultimate pitcher's body might belong to the Mets' Jacob deGrom -- 6-foot-4 and angular, a human rubber band with flexibility and elasticity. Even at 32 years old, he still seems to be finding physiological levers that enable him to throw a little harder and make the ball move a little more. Second baseman Jeff McNeil acknowledged that after deGrom throws a good fastball, McNeil will turn and peek at the scoreboard to see a velocity reading. The other day, deGrom's fastball was clocked at 102 mph.

To put that number into perspective: In deGrom's first year in the majors, his average fastball velocity was 93.5 mph. That number has continued to climb year after year.

• 2015: 95 mph

• 2016: 93.4 mph

• 2017: 95.2 mph

• 2018: 96 mph

• 2019: 96.9 mph

• 2020: 98.6 mph

His average velocity was the highest in baseball last year, but deGrom's power preeminence was even more pronounced with his slider. Among pitchers who qualified for the ERA title, deGrom threw his slider nearly 3 mph harder than anyone else.

Fastest sliders

• 1. deGrom: 92.5 mph

• 2. Zack Wheeler: 89.8 mph

• 3. Lance Lynn: 89.3 mph

• 4. Gerrit Cole: 88.8 mph

• 5. Brandon Woodruff: 88.3 mph

Birmingham-based athletes tell AW about their set-up as they strive for a home Commonwealth Games and beyond

“We have got a great group of guys who are mates, want to train hard, be accountable to one another and run fast, whilst having fun,” says Jonny Davies. That, in a nutshell, is Birmingham Track Elite.

Created in 2019, the Birmingham-based group currently features eight athletes who are all combining their athletics with jobs or study outside of the sport.

Guided by head coach Luke Gunn, a former GB international who won four national steeplechase titles between 2009 and 2012, the group accesses facilities at the University of Birmingham as they look to use ‘an innovative and exhaustive approach’, with special attention to the science behind the sport to achieve their goals.

The main goal right now? Not surprisingly, it’s next year’s Commonwealth Games on their home patch.

“The idea of an older semi-professional group around the University of Birmingham had been floated around for a long time,” explains Davies, the 2020 British indoor 3000m champion who won the European under-23 cross country title in 2015.

“There used to be a ‘Run Fast Birmingham’ group and I was part of that. A lot of people were staying around the area and it’s a great place to be, but we wanted to create a bit more of an identity for the training group, not just being some guys that are hanging around a university!

“Dougie Musson was the one who was really pushing it to start with and was coming up with these ideas,” adds Davies, who works as a lab technician in the Metallurgy Department at the university. “We went on a race trip to Belgium – I bought a car just the week before and we drove there. We had the best weekend and we were like, there’s something in this. We talked the whole weekend about trying to form this group.

“The key for the group is it is very much athlete-led, so it was all our own idea. We have had some great support from physiologists, but everyone said ‘this is your thing’. That was crucial.”

Accountability is also key.

“Most important for us is the idea of training together, pushing each other and being accountable – we use that word over and over,” Davies continues. “We are here to train hard and achieve.”

Michael Ward, who ran for Britain at junior level, is transitioning back to UK life after a spell training and studying at Bradley University in the US. He is now a dentistry student at the University of Birmingham.

“It’s changing the goalposts,” Ward explains, on the purpose of the group. “It’s not ‘get through uni and everything you had before just gets dropped’ – it’s elongating that process. If you want to stay in Birmingham after you have graduated, you can and you won’t be compromised.”

Davies adds: “It’s hard to stay in this sport once you’re out of university. That is something we’re all quite passionate about. There are some options of going to the States and that’s one path once you come out of a British university, but once that is done it takes commitment to compete to a high level. You have to make a lot of sacrifices, especially in terms of your career.

“Basically, starting this group was to make it easier for us guys but also, at least within Birmingham, we would like to leave some kind of legacy. It would be great to show people that if you want to, you can train hard for a few years to really make something out of your running if you commit to it. That was really important to us.”

For the group – which also includes Patrick Taylor, Mark Pearce, Tom Drabble, Will Battershill and Matt Jackson – the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealths is the focus.

“It has always been about getting as many of us as possible to the Commonwealth Games,” says Davies. “Everything that we do, it always comes back to the same question – does it help us get to the Commonwealth Games?

“It’s finding things that could make a real difference – innovation, recovery things that other people are not doing, getting an edge over our competitors.

“We did a good exercise at the outset where we put a form together and each wrote down what we expect of each other and what we want from the group,” adds Davies, with the set-up also including support from strength and conditioning coach Mark Burns, physiologist Ollie Armstrong and physiotherapist Mike Gosling.

READ MORE: British Olympic 10,000m trials head to Birmingham

“It was a really important exercise because it gave us direction. We all know exactly where the group is going and what we all want to achieve from it. We know what people want to do individually and also as a collective and what we expect of each other. All of us work or study so we want to be as professional as possible but also aware that we have lives and we need to pay the bills. That is the other crucial part of the group.

“Talking about our goals, one crucial thing – which perhaps sounds a bit corny – is that we just want to have fun doing this,” Davies smiles. “We are in a really lucky position that we are able to train and balance it with our work, but we’re with our mates through it all.

“You never know what happens in sport – we all might make the Commonwealths, or none of us might, but I think if we can look back and say we trained bloody hard and we had a bloody good time, we will be like ‘that is a life chapter ticked off’ and feel quite fulfilled.”

Ward agrees. “Enjoy the process as well as the end goal,” he says. “That’s definitely what it’s about.”