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SOCCER:MANY a harsh word was uttered yesterday as Do-me-a-favour- love-gate hotted up, perhaps the cruellest of all the suggestion that Richard Keys and Andy Gray having to miss last night’s Bolton v Chelsea game was actually a reward and not a punishment.

The pair, then, were confined to their caves for the day by their Sky Sports employers, but they weren’t completely without support. Keys’ sister Susan, for example, told BBC Radio some of his best friends were women. “He has three sisters and a daughter – he has the greatest respect for women,” she insisted. “It was a bit of banter, perhaps we are all getting a bit precious.”