Taylor to call time on card schools

Peter Taylor will discourage late-night card schools when he takes temporary charge of England for next week's friendly international in Italy.

Taylor names his squad tomorrow and is conscious of the controversy caused by reports that gambling caused splits in the England camp during Euro 2000.

But Taylor, the Leicester manager, who engendered an excellent team spirit when he was a successful England Under-21 coach, has no intention of banning the England squad from playing cards during their leisure time in Turin next week.

Instead he will impose his low-key but firm disciplinary methods on the England players. It is likely that his rules will include time limits on card games so that pots do not become too big, and he will insist that only reasonable amounts of money change hands. He will not put up with cliques or rival factions.

Taylor, who is caretaker coach until Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson arrives, is well known for creating a togetherness in his teams. Players who have worked with him are sure he will do the same with the England party.

Frank Lampard, the West Ham mid-field player who was captain of the England Under-21 team under Taylor, said today: "I have always found working with Peter to be an enjoyable experience.

"He wants us to enjoy ourselves at the right times and work hard at others. It is a relaxed atmosphere under Peter, in my experience, but you certainly can't take any liberties."

The details of who did what during card games under Kevin Keegan could be aired in court.

Keegan ' s representatives announced last night that they will seek a full retraction and apology from the News of the World over an article last weekend headlined "Keegan's £40,000 bet shame."

But a spokeswoman for the paper, Hayley Barlow, said: "The News of the World is satisfied with its facts and stands by its story."