Eden Hazard is confident Antonio Conte will inspire Chelsea to recover from their first defeat of the season when they visit Leicester tonight (7.45pm, live on Sky Sports).

Arsenal’s defensive crisis worsened in Sweden as centre-half Gabriel was stretchered off late in the 3-2 win over Manchester City with what appeared a serious leg injury.

Claudio Ranieri has promised Leicester fans that his players will fight for the cause when the going gets tough.

A Military Cross awarded to an Irish chaplain for bravery during the Second World War goes under the hammer in Cork tonight.

While it would clearly be ridiculous to make any kind of judgement on Martin O’Neill’s management after one game, tomorrow’s fixture in Tbilisi does offer a curious kind of acid test — and an immediate point of comparison.

Seamus Coleman will embark upon the quest for a trip to the Euro 2016 finals desperate to make up for missing out on his country’s last big adventure.

Robbie Brady insists the Republic of Ireland will not be fazed by the prospect of launching their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in the white heat of Tbilisi.

World Cup 2014 kicks off in nine days so Ger McCarthy looks at how some of the contenders and outsiders are shaping up ahead of their final friendlies before boarding the plane to Brazil.

John Delaney has revealed the FAI are monitoring political developments in Russia and Ukraine ahead of Ireland’s opening Euro 2016 qualifier against Georgia.

Andy Reid is determined his return to the Republic of Ireland squad will not be a token gesture.

Andy Reid, Darron Gibson and Anthony Stokes have been recalled to the Republic of Ireland squad in the wake of Giovanni Trapattoni’s departure.

Pep Guardiola will make his competitive debut as Bayern Munich manager on July 27 as the reigning Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB Pokal holders face Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup.

Paul Lambert has compared Aston Villa’s supporters to those of Borussia Dortmund and believes the emphasis on bringing through young players has helped keep the fans behind the te

With Giovanni Trapattoni having previously been warned by the FAI that he needed to put a stop to his media outbursts about Ireland players, apparent evidence of fresh tension between the association and the manager has surfaced in the wake of Stephen Kelly’s stinging response to the Italian’s claim that the player had issued a ‘play me or I go’ ultimatum.

Tottenham have won the race to sign highly-rated Germany international Lewis Holtby from Schalke.

We love our ‘eras’ in football.

Frank Lampard today refused to rule out this being his final season at Chelsea.

The future of one of Germany's two Formula One grand prix venues is uncertain as the Nurburgring faces possible insolvency.

Jan Vertonghen is confident he can make an immediate impact in the Premier League after agreeing terms to join Tottenham.

Giovanni Trapattoni has said that he expects his players to be responsible and to “not betray the Irish people” by breaching discipline off the pitch during the European Championship finals.

German referee Babak Rafati has confirmed that he is suffering from depression and that is what prompted him to attempt suicide last weekend.

IT isn’t so long since we faced the prospect of Irish national teams playing their home games on foreign soil while Lansdowne Road was being given its facelift.

Veteran Schalke striker Raul has pledged his future to the club amid speculation he was set to leave.

EARLY September. A time for new beginnings in schoolyards the length and breadth of the country and in the similarly boyish surroundings of professional dressing rooms across Europe.

THERE is a scene in an old Hollywood movie where Charlton Heston, playing the part of Moses, holds up a stone tablet on which is inscribed the rules that the faithful must obey.

Budget airline Ryanair accused the Government today of losing out on 200 jobs after it announced plans for a new maintenance hangar and training centre in Germany.

IN 2000, at the height of the tech bubble, telecom operators fell over themselves to snap up 3G or third generation mobile licenses in an auction in Germany.

ANDY REID’S father revealed yesterday that the Sunderland midfielder is “gutted” about his continued absence from Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland squad.

BLACKBURN manager Sam Allardyce has launched an astonishing attack on Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, labelling the Italian’s comments about Steven Reid “disgusting”.

SUNDERLAND midfielder Andy Reid believes his current impressive form can earn him an international recall.

SOME of what Giovanni Trapattoni likes to call his “famoose names” might be absent for Ireland in Thomond Park this evening but present and very much correct will be Kevin Doyle.

SOMEONE should start compiling the new Irish football thesaurus.

MAYBE the excitement got the better of him. Either that or the pitchside MC at Thomond Park just isn’t much of a rugby fan.

Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane is determined to bring a smile to the faces of the nation after rediscovering his own.

GEORGIA landed in Dublin earlier this week minus four players through injury and with half their squad coming out of cold storage due to the winter football hiatus in parts of eastern Europe.

Republic of Ireland assistant boss Marco Tardelli has admitted a final decision on Paul McShane's fitness will be taken tomorrow.

STEPHEN HUNT has never given the impression of a man lacking in self-belief and the Reading midfielder was in typically ebullient form last night when he backed himself to reclaim a starting spot in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Irish XI.

THE weekend was a story of highs and lows for Kevin Doyle who was last night named Player of the Year at the annual eircom FAI International Awards — just 24 hours after he had been knocked unconscious in Reading’s scoreless draw with Preston.

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has welcomed Robbie Keane’s return to Spurs as good news for the striker and for Ireland, and hailed the Irish captain has one of the best players he has ever managed.

Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni believes Robbie Keane’s return to Tottenham could be good news for his country.