The draw was made after completion of 33 first-round fixtures last night and includes all the top-flight clubs who are not involved in European competitions.

Manchester United fans were involved in more football-related arrests where racism was an aggravating factor or a feature than any other club in England in the four seasons up to 2017-18, data from the UK Home Office shows.

Brendan O'Brien Column B

The Corkman is now expected to miss the rest of the season.

Nottingham Forest manager Martin O’Neill hailed super-sub Daryl Murphy after the veteran striker sparked a comeback against Swansea in Saturday’s Championship clash at the City Ground.

"During Saturday’s game I went through what can only be described as the worst experience of my life."

As much as the diminishing number of Premier League regulars in the senior Ireland squad is a concern, deeper problems are evident among the U21 panel, though Noel King’s main striker Reece Grego-Cox insists the non-league circuit is ideal for him at this stage.

Ireland 3 Iceland 1: Derry City midfielder Rory Hale took just 14 seconds to mark his international U21 debut last night with a goal by firing Ireland on the way to victory against Iceland.

Birmingham hauled themselves out of the relegation zone and left Sunderland further in trouble at the wrong end of the Sky Bet Championship with a 3-1 win at St Andrew's.

Stoke left with a difficult decision

League One Fleetwood Town welcome the live television cameras and Leicester City to their Highbury Stadium for today’s lunchtime FA Cup third round tie. 

Norway 2 Rep of Ireland 1

Ireland 4 Israel 0: Reece Grego-Cox felt honoured to escalate Ireland’s U21 European Championship qualification crusade yesterday against Israel.

Galway native Ryan Manning has his sights set on guiding Ireland to the U21 Euro finals and earning senior promotion.

If Martin O’Neill was seeking encouragement about the talent pool for the next campaign, the Ireland manager should have received some assurance from the display of the next generation.

Ireland U21 0 Norway U21 0

Declan Rice admits the desire to resume working with Roy Keane endures but helping Ireland’s U21s break their major finals duck is his immediate objective.

Hell hath no fury like a player scorned! Last season Aiden McGeady re-ignited his club career during a loan spell at Preston, finishing the season as their player of the year. That form earned him a permanent move to Sunderland in July.

Second-half Leicester goals from Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani sent Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle.

In an U21 qualifying group which underdogs Kosovo have taken the early initiative, victory for Ireland in Azerbaijan today (4pm Irish time) is a must for their 2019 European Championship hopes.

Manchester United begin the defence of the Carabao Cup by hosting Burton in the third round.

Bristol City upset Premier League Watford to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 victory at Vicarage Road.

Mick McCarthy was grateful for a moment of “magic” from David McGoldrick as Ipswich maintained their perfect start to the new Championship season by winning 2-1 at Barnsley on Saturday.

Sunderland have started an internal disciplinary process against Darron Gibson after footage emerged of the midfielder criticising team-mates in a bar.

There was a distinctly Irish flavour to Aberdeen’s 3-2 win over Hibernian in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

Uefa U21 European Championship qualifier

Spurs scout and former Cork City player Brian Carey dreams of unearthing the next Jamie Vardy, a player he admired at non-league level for his blistering pace, writes Liam Mackey.

Ireland U21 boss Noel King has strenuously denied pursuing Northern Ireland-born players for his squad following allegations made by Michael O’Neill.

As is the case in life, timing is everything in sport. And with Martin O’Neill set to name his squad today for the crucial World Cup qualifier with Wales on Friday week, Daryl Horgan could scarcely have picked a better time to produce a virtuoso display.

Brighton stormed back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship table with a 4-1 victory over struggling Burton.

Daryl Horgan’s first start for Preston proved a memorable one, the former Dundalk star creating the second goal and nearly scoring a third as North End beat Chris Hughton’s Brighton 2-0 in Saturday’s Championship clash at Deepdale.

Chelsea captain John Terry was sent off as the Premier League leaders beat Peterborough 4-1 in the FA Cup third round at Stamford Bridge.

Steven Gerrard will turn down the chance to become manager of MK Dons, it has been reported.

A drone has delayed a League One game in England.