Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen have returned to the England set-up but there is no place for Raheem Sterling once again. The penultimate camp of 2023 kicks off with a Wembley friendly against Australia before hosting Italy under the arch in a European Championship qualifier. Gareth Southgate named a 26-man squad for the October double-header, with uncapped Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah again getting the nod as a pair of in-form forwards made their long-awaited returns. Watkins has not been called up since March 2022 and returned days after Southgate watched the striker score a hat-trick in Aston Villa’s 6-1 win against Brighton. Bowen returns to the England squad for the first time since September 2022 having scored five goals in seven league games for West Ham. There was no place for team-mate James Ward-Prowse despite his fine start to life in east London. Sterling was another conspicuous by his absence after Southgate overlooked the 82-cap Chelsea forward for September’s fixtures. Mason Mount is also out despite returning to action with Manchester United. John Stones returned from injury and Bukayo Saka was selected despite fitness concerns, while Ben Chilwell, Eberechi Eze and Callum Wilson were ruled out. Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips retained their place despite ongoing questions over their playing time, while Jordan Henderson also remained after moving to Saudi Arabia. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Justin Gaethje has claimed that he has little desire to fight Conor McGregor, after the Irishman called him out in the aftermath of UFC 291. Gaethje avenged a 2018 loss to Dustin Poirier on Saturday, knocking out his fellow American with a stunning head kick to win the ‘Baddest Motherf*****’ title. And McGregor, as he so often does after major UFC cards, then took to social media to call out one half of the main-event fight. “I’ll slap you around,” tweeted McGregor, 35. “I KO him one shot. Guarantee it.” At the UFC 291 post-fight press conference, Gaethje was asked about the former UFC champion’s comments. The lightweight, 34, replied: “I think he’s turned me down six times. And usually you have to lose to fight him, so don’t know what’s going on. “I don’t know, I don’t really care. Whatever. I fight MMA, I like to fight big fights, I like exciting things, so it sounds pretty exciting to me. [But] I’m not going to fight someone on steroids.” Gaethje was addressing the fact that McGregor, who has never tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, is currently absent from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) testing pool. McGregor is set to fight Michael Chandler next, but the Irishman must first spend six months in Usada’s testing pool and return two negative tests – and zero positives. As such, McGregor vs Chandler is still without a date and location. Gaethje added: “I’ve never taken steroids in my life, never will. Well, maybe when I retire, I might... but I’ve never taken steroids, and I don’t want to fight someone that’s cheating. And I probably shouldn’t even say that if I want the fight, but it’s the truth.” McGregor vs Gaethje is a fight that many fans have long wanted to see. Meanwhile, McGregor has fought Poirier three times. McGregor knocked out the 34-year-old in a featherweight bout in 2014, before suffering a KO loss to Poirier in January 2021 at lightweight. In their trilogy fight in July 2021 – also contested at lightweight – McGregor suffered a broken leg at the end of Round 1. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Justin Gaethje stuns Dustin Poirier with brutal head-kick knockout at UFC 291 Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend Next UFC Fight Night: Event start time, card and how to watch

Norway's Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a stunning new world record over 2 miles at the Diamond League meeting...

Manchester United have announced that Amad Diallo will miss the beginning of the 2023/24 season due to a knee injury. The Red Devils are currently unable to put a timetable on his return.

Bayern Munich captain Thomas Mueller said his side were not out of the title race after the 3-1 home loss against RB Leipzig on Saturday...

ESPN presenter and former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop collapsed live on air in a scary moment during the channel’s coverage of a pre-season friendly between Real Madrid and AC Milan The game was being played in around 30-degree heat in Pasadena, California, with Hislop providing coverage from the touchline alongside host Dan Thomas. The frightening incident happened during the build-up to the game. As seen in the video above, the 54-year-old Hislop began wobbling before falling forward into Thomas and on to the ground. This sparked immediate concern on the touchline as a couple of nearby workers rushed over and Thomas can be heard saying “ Shak. Shak. We need some help.” ESPN quickly cut to a break after Hislop’s collapse but later had good news for viewers, with an update on the former Trinidad and Tobago international’s condition. “My mate, Shaka, not here, but as it stands, it’s good news,” Thomas stated at half-time. “He’s conscious, he’s talking, I think he’s a little embarrassed about it all. He’s apologised profusely. Not a man who likes people to make a fuss of him. “Obviously far too early to make any sort of diagnosis, but the important thing is, that Shaka’s conscious and we spoke to his family as well, because you imagine seeing that happen live. We spoke to his wife and things are looking OK.” Hislop, played over 250 Premier League matches for Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth during a distinguished playing career and has become a popular pundit in the USA since his retirement. AC Milan led 2-0 at half-time, when Thomas delivered the update on Hislop’s condition, with Fikayo Tomori and Luka Romero netting their goals. Real Madrid made eight changes at the break and Federico Valverde scored a quick-fire double to level things up before Vinicius Jr’s 84-minute goal ensured it ended 3-2 to the Spanish side. Read More Carlo Ancelotti hails Jude Bellingham as ‘complete midfielder’ after Real debut Tottenham consider Brazil striker with Harry Kane’s future in the balance

Los Angeles had to wait 75 years for the U.S. Open to return and now it feels like a regular stop

Yorkshire County Cricket Club were slapped with a huge 48-point deduction in the English County Championship on Friday after admitting four charges related...

Kaylee McKeown just missed her own 200m backstroke world record in an ominous swim at the Australian world championship trials on Friday, while sprint king Kyle Chalmers powered...

Sophia Smith scored twice for the United States in the opening half and the two-time defending champions kicked off the Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 victory over tournament first-timers Vietnam on Saturday

Spain’s women’s team has received the support of a record crowd in its first home match since winning the World Cup title

Ange Postecoglou oversaw a thrilling first win as Tottenham manager as Pape Sarr’s strike and a Lisandro Martinez own goal settled a pulsating Premier League clash with Manchester United. Even by Spurs’ standards this has been a chastening year, with their struggles in the second half of last season compounded by homegrown star Harry Kane’s recent switch to Bayern Munich. But former Celtic boss Postecoglou has brought new hope to Tottenham and his entertaining, new-look side sealed a fine 2-0 win thanks to Sarr’s effort and a late Martinez own goal. Erik ten Hag’s men – playing under the cloud of continued talk about Mason Greenwood’s future – began on the front foot in north London and could have gone into the break ahead. United were aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty after the VAR reviewed a Cristian Romero handball in a half that saw Marcus Rashford and, in particular, Bruno Fernandes waste good chances. Those let-offs allowed Spurs to grow into proceedings, with Pedro Porro smashing an effort off the bar before Luke Shaw deflected a Sarr cross onto the post just before the break. Spurs returned with the bit between their teeth and took a 49th minute lead as Sarr reacted quickest to a deflected Dejan Kulusevski cross to score his first goal for the club. Antony struck the post as the sides traded blows in a thrill-a-minute start to a second period that eventually calmed down, with Martinez’s late own goal wrapping up a home win. The atmosphere was fantastic throughout as Spurs beat United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time, with Postecoglou receiving a fantastic reception before and after the match. The home fans – a number of whom had protested about ticket prices before the match – had to hold on tight during a bright United start. After some half-hearted chances, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario spread himself to stop Rashford giving United into a 13th minute lead having been slipped in by Antony. Andre Onana’s stunning diagonal pass to Alejandro Garnacho deserved more than a driven cross being blocked, with an audacious Fernandes rabona cross headed over from close range by offside Rashford. There was anger that the VAR did not intervene after Garnacho’s shot hit Romero’s arm, with the proximity of the effort understood to be behind the decision not to award a spot-kick for handball. Another let-off soon followed. Smart play ended with Luke Shaw’s cracking first-time cross putting Fernandes behind, only for the unopposed skipper to head well off target from six yards. But Spurs had grown into proceedings by this point. Sarr was denied by Onana after being played through by skipper Son Heung-min and went closer still in the 40th minute. Son laid off for Porro to slam a thunderous shot off the crossbar and Sarr’s low ball back into the box deflected off Shaw and onto the post. Spurs had clearly settled into a more cohesive attacking unit and needed just four minutes of the second period to take the lead. Good team play ended with Kulusevski sending in a cross from the right that hit Martinez, with Sarr reacting quickest to slam home at the far post and spark wild celebrations. The opener added extra spice to an already entertaining encounter. Antony was allowed onto his favoured left foot just two minutes later and beat Vicario, only for his attempt to come back off the far post. Spurs immediately swept up the other end. Onana stopped a low Destiny Udogie attempt and penalty appeals for Martinez’s challenge on Romero fell on deaf ears. Vicario reacted well to tip over a Casemiro header and Fernandes saw a low shot pushed wide before the offside flag was raised. Yves Bissouma had efforts either side of a blocked Son attempt, before changes took the sting out of the game. Ivan Perisic and Ben Davies were among Spurs’ introductions, with the latter swinging at the former’s pass and getting the slightest touch before Martinez accidentally turned the ball into his own net in the 83rd minute. United pushed to reduce the deficit but their play was stilted and frustrated, with an offside Raphael Varane denied by Vicario during nine scoreless minutes of stoppage time. Read More Many Brighton players capable of scoring like Kaoru Mitoma’s stunner – De Zerbi Tottenham vs Manchester United LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Manchester United’s new-look midfield must click quickly – Erik ten Hag Ange Postecoglou promises to bring Spurs fans joy after Nick Cave inspiration Chris Wood heads home late winner as Nottingham Forest see off Sheffield United Ange Postecoglou insists Tottenham have to be ‘united on and off the field’