Southampton 1 Sunderland 1: Sam Allardyce admits Sunderland are now effectively fighting for a 17th-place finish in their bid to beat the drop.

Liverpool 2 Sunderland 2: Note to Liverpool’s players — the walkout was meant for the fans, not the first team.

Mauricio Pochettino is happy to assume the role of father figure to his “naughty” Tottenham side who continue to come of age as the title race approaches its final examination.

Swansea 2 Sunderland 4: Jermain Defoe struck a hat-trick as Sunderland won a thrilling Premier League relegation battle at Swansea.

Vardy has recovered from a minor groin surgery in time for tonight's big game.

Jermain Defoe picked Scott Dann’s pocket for a poacher’s finish to seal Sunderland’s 1-0 Premier League victory at Crystal Palace.

Sunderland 0 Southampton 1<br>

Sunderland 2 West Ham 2: Former Sunderland defender Sam Allardyce, who has been taking a break since leaving his post at West Ham at the end of last season, is the early favourite to take over from Dick Advocaat, who left his job as head coach yesterday just four months after being persuaded to delay his retirement plans for a year.

Man Utd 3 Sunderland 0: As a proven winner of league championships across Europe, Louis van Gaal knows what it takes to stay the course and finish on top.

Sunderland 0 Tottenham 1: Tottenham Hotspur finally won their first match of the Premier League season at the fifth attempt, but Harry Kane is still waiting for his first goal of the campaign.

Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 2: A moment of frustration left Tim Sherwood with a hamstring injury – but the Aston Villa boss was delighted with his team’s performance despite having to settle for a draw against Sunderland.

Sunderland 1 Swansea City 1: Sunderland skipper John O’Shea has urged his team-mates to use their first point of the season as a springboard to ease themselves up the Barclays Premier League.

First there was the Great Escape, then last season an almost equally implausible sequel.

Everton midfielder James McCarthy last night ended speculation about his future as he signed a new five-year deal, which will now see him remain at Goodison Park until 2020.

QPR boss Harry Redknapp is still looking to add players to his squad in a bid to secure Barclays Premier League survival.

The French Football Federation has banned midfielder Yann M’Vila from the national team until the end of June 2014.

Croatia’s head coach is disappointed Andre Villas-Boas is not picking Luka Modric, but expects the unsettled playmaker to complete his move from Tottenham to Real Madrid soon.

Arsene Wenger insists he is not looking to sign Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila, but admits any injury setbacks during the summer may lead him to reconsider his options.

Didier Deschamps last night agreed to take on one of the toughest tasks in internatinoal football after he agreed to become the new France coach.

The French Football Federation (FFF) have opened disciplinary proceedings against four members of France’s Euro 2012 squad.

The French Football Federation have opened disciplinary proceedings against four members of France’s Euro 2012 squad.

Robert Lewandowski (Poland)

France’s ‘1987 Generation’, so-called after the year of their birth, had been tipped to lead Les Bleus to a repeat of the team’s success at Euro 2000.

France drifted into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 despite second-half goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sebastian Larsson providing a rousing Group D send-off for already-eliminated Sweden.

An exhilarating match on an extraordinary night in Donetsk, with play suspended for almost an hour because of a thunderstorm, ended with France beating their hosts to go top of Group D and a long way towards securing a place in the knockout stages.

France coach Laurent Blanc says Yann M’Vila has returned to fitness following his ankle injury, but said he was unlikely to start tonight’s opener against England.

Ireland

Ben Lyttleton on the young guns who’ll fire in Poland and the Ukraine

England’s Euro 2012 hopes suffered a major blow yesterday after Frank Lampard was ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury.

Yoann Gourcuff and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa have been left out of France’s squad for Euro 2012 after it was named today.

Defender Bacary Sagna is confident Arsenal can keep hold of captain and star striker Robin van Persie this summer.

Tottenham defender Younes Kaboul will miss out on a place in France’s Euro 2012 squad due to injury, coach Laurent Blanc has revealed.

Yann M’Vila has admitted he would love to join Arsenal.

Marseille midfielder Morgan Amalfitano was today handed his first call-up to the France squad for Wednesday’s international friendly against Germany.

FABIO CAPELLO opened a door on the future for England – and the fans did not like what they saw as the Three Lions were jeered off after defeat to France at Wembley last night.