James McClean is banking on the Republic of Ireland’s big-game mentality to force them back into Euro 2024 contention. Ireland belatedly registered their first win of the qualifying campaign at the third time of asking when they beat Gibraltar 3-0 in Dublin on Monday evening. Coming after a hard-fought 1-0 home defeat by France and a less-impressive display in a 2-1 reverse at the hands of Greece in Athens on Friday night, victory was the very least they needed ahead of September’s trip to Paris and the Netherlands’ visit to the Aviva Stadium three days later. Asked about the Dutch in particular, McClean, who won his 100th senior cap against Gibraltar, said: “I don’t want to create headlines and be disrespectful, but they seem to have a lot of very good individual players, but maybe as a team they are not where they want to be and hopefully we can exploit that. “I actually think we perform better in the big games, as you have seen here against France.” Realistically, Ireland will need to get the better of the Netherlands over the two fixtures if they are to stand any chance of escaping from Group B, and the odds remain heavily stacked against them despite Monday’s win. Nobody likes being criticised, that's the way it is. No one likes it, but we're not stupid. This is the game we are in James McClean They went into that game having been roundly criticised for their performance in Athens and with manager Stephen Kenny feeling the full force of a concerted backlash. McClean, who provided assists for both Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah, said: “Nobody likes being criticised, that’s the way it is. No one likes it, but we’re not stupid. This is the game we are in. “If you don’t perform and do well, criticism comes along with that, as does praise when you are doing well, so you have to take the bad with the good. “We bounced back. It’s a massive win to take us into September and hopefully we can pull off one of those famous wins.” Ireland boast famous wins over then world champions Germany and at Euro 2016, fellow aristocrats Italy in the recent past, but under Kenny have fallen heart-breakingly short, if only just, against Portugal and France. However, McClean, 34, is confident the belief and spirit which contributed so much to those landmark victories has been retained by a new-look squad. He said: “I don’t think that’s something that can ever be questioned, the togetherness in the Irish team. “There is a lot of ability in those young lads. If you can get them playing with confidence, you are on to a winner. Hopefully they can create special memories for themselves.” McClean added his own special memory on Monday when he completed his century and was presented with his 100th cap by President Michael D Higgins before kick-off. He said: “Having my family on the pitch, the president of the association and of the country handing me an honour, the reception of the crowd, having the whole family there, the way the lads treated me this week leading up to it and how they treated me after the game… Look, it couldn’t have gone any better.”

Thursday's football transfer rumours, with updates on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Jadon Sancho, Victor Osimhen, Ivan Toney & more.

Sunderland have reached an agreement to sign 17-year-old Jobe Bellingham from Birmingham for an undisclosed fee. The Black Cats have been targeting Bellingham for some time and will complete the deal when he returns from international duty with England Under-18s. Jobe is the younger brother of England midfielder Jude Bellingham, who also completed his move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid on Wednesday. Jobe made his debut for the Blues at the age of 16 in January 2022, and made 22 appearances for the club in last season’s Sky Bet Championship campaign. Bellingham told Sunderland’s official website: “I’m delighted to sign for Sunderland AFC and I can’t wait to get started. “The opportunity for young players to move here and progress is clear, so I believe this is the perfect club for me to continue my development. “I’m grateful to everyone at Birmingham City for their support over the past 11 years and I wish them the best for the future, as I begin the next chapter of my career at the Stadium of Light.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

The NBA offseason is fast approaching and three teams could be poised to make huge mistakes with their NBA free-agent signings.This offseason plenty of mistakes will be made by teams. These mistakes could derail rebuilds or set back teams approaching title contention. Sometimes a mistake is sign...

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Jayson Tatum had 21 and the Boston Celtics routed the Chicago Bulls 124-97 in the final round of group play in the NBA In-Season Tournament

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Lauren James has been handed a two-match ban following her red card in England’s World Cup win over Nigeria. The Chelsea star was dismissed late in the second half for stamping on Nigeria forward Michelle Alozie following an altercation. FIFA said in a statement: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed a two-match suspension on England’s player Lauren James following a violation of article 14 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code at the FIFA Women’s World Cup match England v Nigeria. “The suspension will be served for the Women’s World Cup quarter-final and the next international fixture following that.” It means James will be available for the tournament final should England progress that far. James already knew she would miss Saturday’s quarter-final against Colombia following her red card in the game, which England won on penalties. But fears she could be automatically ruled out for the rest of the tournament could prove unfounded if Sarina Wiegman’s side make it all the way to the final. Conceivably James, who apologised in the wake of the incident and has been publicly backed by Wiegman, would be available to return in the prospective August 20 showpiece in Sydney. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

As if Alex Grinch was not already horrible at his job at USC, the Trojans' much-maligned defensive coordinator pretty much revealed that he does not watch film, as illustrated by his comment about how Utah uses safety Sione Vaki on offense.

Romy González’s two-run double broke a seventh-inning tie and sent the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians

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