Bath’s games against Harlequins on the weekend of 15 May and Saracens on 5 June are scheduled to be moved, and if the club were to reach the Prem semi-finals and secure a home tie next June, that fixture would also be played away from the Rec.

The club’s owners say the plans are being accelerated to ensure the redevelopment is completed for the start of the 2028-29 Prem campaign.

Reading’s final home game of the upcoming season is against Sheffield Wednesday on 1 May. However, they would be due to host another match that month if they reach the League One play-offs.

Their ground has been regularly used for rugby in the past, having been the home of London Irish between 2000 to 2020.

Couhig highlighted a number of changes and upgrades which have been made at the SCL Stadium this summer – including to the stands and a new pitch which has been laid – as factors that make a possible agreement with Bath feasible.

“This pitch is built in a way that it could handle that and recover very quickly [from rugby],” Couhig said.

“Our football team is the first priority tenant and we would make sure it is handled the right way.”

He added that any money generated would be reinvested in the football team.

“Let’s say we did something with Bath Rugby, then we’d be allowed additional money under the SCMP [salary cost management protocol] to spend on our football players,” he said.

Crystal Palace are in talks to re-sign Evann Guessand on a season-long loan from Aston Villa.

The 25-year-old Ivory Coast forward spent the second half of last season at Selhurst Park and was part of the side that won the Conference League in May.

He only joined Villa in August last year but endured an underwhelming start to the season after his £26m transfer, scoring two goals in 21 appearances in all competitions.

After moving to Palace in January, Guessand scored his first Premier League goal in a 1-0 win over Wolves and he came on in the Conference League final win over Rayo Vallecano.

He also finished the season with a Europa League winner’s medal after appearing for Villa earlier in the season before Unai Emery’s side went on to win the trophy.

Guessand made two substitute appearances for the Ivory Coast at this summer’s World Cup.

He returned to Villa for pre-season after Palace failed to take up an option to sign him earlier in the summer.

Keely Hodgkinson and expected gold medal rivals Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol remain on course for their highly anticipated showdown after safely reaching Thursday’s women’s 800m semi-finals at the European Athletics Championships.

Olympic champion Hodgkinson, winner of the past two European titles, controlled her heat throughout to win in one minute 57.28 seconds – the fastest time across the four heats on Tuesday morning.

Swiss athlete Werro, who stunned Hodgkinson by running the fastest time for 43 years to beat the Briton earlier this season, appeared equally comfortable as she won her race in 1:57.83.

There were no issues either for Femke Broeders-Bol. The fast-improving Dutch two-time world 400m hurdles champion, who chose to switch events this season, crossed the line first in 1:59.96.

Hodgkinson’s post-race interview with BBC Sport was briefly interrupted by Italy’s Eloisa Coiro, who said the 24-year-old was “an inspiration on and off the track”.

Hodgkinson, who has had a couple of setbacks during her outdoor campaign, said: “I have worked so hard and the shape has been there all year. It’s just been an unfortunate couple of events that have led to me maybe being a little bit off.

“Championships are a fresh start. That felt very good, very comfortable. The standard has gone up but it’s good, it brings out the best in me.

“All it takes is one person to raise the bar and you think more things are possible. Everyone knows that to keep up you have to keep getting better. It’s a really exciting time for the women’s 800m.”