ROKER ROUNDUP: Former Sunderland midfielder facing trial after controversial MATCH FIXING charge

Etuhu charged in match-fixing case

Former Sunderland midfielder Dickson Etuhu, who now works as a football agent, has been charged by Swedish police in a match-fixing case after he was accused of offering former team-mate Kenny Stamatopoulos a bribe to throw a game.

AIK Stockholm’s Stamatopoulos claims he was offered a large sum of money to throw a game against IFK Gothenburg last year and the match had to be cancelled due to the allegations.

Etuhu’s lawyer said his client denies the charge and will defend himself during the trial:

He has not offered any bribe and he does not know anything about any bribe. He had a snack with the AIK goalkeeper, they knew each other and used to meet for lunch. He has an explanation of what happened and we will present it during the trial.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Rodwell praised after under-23 appearance

Jack Rodwell is still to break into the England national team at centre-back after he left Sunderland in the summer and is still waiting to make his first team bow for Blackburn Rovers, but made a huge step towards his England goal this week.

The 27-year-old played for Rovers’ under-23 team in a 0-0 draw against Arsenal earlier in the week as the England hopeful started in the heart of a back-three for the hosts, and his display drew praise from their manager Damien Johnson:

Jack’s been terrific. He’s dropped down a couple of times for some training sessions with us and it was important to get minutes under his belt. I was pleased for him that he managed to come through the 90 minutes and looked good I thought.

He helped us, you never can doubt his quality and his attitude has been top class as well. I’m delighted that he got 90 minutes of football.

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Przybylko confused by Sunderland’s League One status

Former Sunderland trialist Kacper Przybylko confirmed his move to MLS side Philadelphia Union last week and watched his new side for the first time as they lost 4-1 to Montreal Impact.

Speaking after the game, the striker - who has struggled with foot injuries for the past couple of seasons - says he struggles to believe both his former club Kaiserslautern and Sunderland are in the third tier of their respective leagues:

It was very sad just watching all the games and not helping, it’s a big, traditional club like Sunderland.

It’s impossible that teams like Sunderland and Kaiserslautern are now in their third leagues.

Przybylko says he is now fully fit and is hoping to to do his bit as the Union make a play-off push:

I have now trained for the last four or five months preparing, it would be great to get some minutes for the team and help them go into the playoffs.