Manchester City remain undecided on Kalvin Phillips' future at the club.

Cristiano Ronaldo rolled back the years to score two stunning goals and propel his Al Nassr side to a thrilling 4-3 victory over Al Duhail of...

Mauricio Pochettino says Reece James’ “leadership” is why he handed him the Chelsea captaincy and defended the full-back after he picked up a suspension during his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last month. James, who did not play the match through injury, was suspended for Chelsea’s win over Burnley for aiming “abusive words” at a match official in the tunnel during the clash at Stamford Bridge and was ordered to pay a £90,000 fine. But Pochettino has seen James’ leadership attributes and believes his actions were a mistake fuelled by frustration after he sustained a hamstring injury in August. “Why did I choose him as captain? Because of his personality, his leadership, the respect he has from the club and his team-mates and he has my full respect also,” Pochettino said. “Chelsea is in his DNA and when you see the squad he is not only for the present, he is for the future and in this moment Chelsea need someone like that. “I think he was upset with the situation. He was so committed with this project from the beginning, he felt really bad because he could not help the team. “He made a mistake but he’s young and he can make mistakes. He was really sorry about that situation and I don’t think it will be repeated. “Even myself at Burnley I got a yellow card at half-time and I’m 51 years old; sometimes a young guy can make a mistake, he was frustrated because he could not help the team.” Pochettino said that James’ fitness “will be assessed” ahead of Saturday’s clash against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, quashing reports the full-back suffered a setback in his recovery. James has only started 22 times in the Premier League since January 2022 after a raft of injury issues. Pochettino added: “He is much better, he’s doing well and he’s progressing. He’s not at his best and is not 100 per cent, but he is in a position to help the team at some point and he is close. “What we are going to do is to avoid that (surgery) and we are building a strategy for him, to put him at his best and keep him at his best. “We are confident (of this). Always confident.” Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea during their 2-0 victory over Fulham and he opened his account for Ukraine when he netted against Malta in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Tuesday. Pochettino is happy with the winger’s progress after the 22-year-old struggled to adapt to life in west London following his big-money move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January. He said: “We are so happy with him. He’s changed a lot in the last three months since we first met him and he’s a completely different person and we can see how lovely, sensitive, smart and clever he is. “It is so important to give confidence and when people trust they can be open and express their talent and Misha (Mudryk) is doing really well with his relationships with the team and club.” Read More I don’t remember – Pep Guardiola denies tipping Roberto De Zerbi as successor Luke Shaw not expected to be fit until after November’s international break FIFA hands two-year doping ban to World Cup winner Papu Gomez Rotherham’s game with Ipswich off and Scottish matches postponed due to storm It is bad news – Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi expects Man City to bounce back Kevin Sinfield calls on England to empty tanks against South Africa

Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik has upset Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final of the Halle Open ahead of Wimbledon

Darren, affectionately known as 'Droz', was involved in a tragic ring accident in 1999 that rendered him a quadriplegic

The first Grand Slam of the summer gets underway this weekend!The WTA descends on Roland-Garros for the 2023 French Open. The clay court tournament is set to be dominated by odds on favorite Iga Swiatek, who won this event in 2020 and 2022, two of her three Grand Slam titles. However, Swiatek ha...

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola is sweating on Dominic Solanke’s fitness after the striker limped off with an ankle injury late on in the 2-0 win over Stoke at the Vitality Stadium. Striker Solanke was brought on at half-time to reinvigorate Bournemouth and put his side ahead six minutes after coming on. Joe Rothwell smashed in a free-kick to confirm the Cherries’ spot in the fourth round – where they will host Liverpool – but Solanke was replaced with five minutes to go to sour the evening. “Dom has played well,” said Iraola, of his top scorer. “We needed a change of energy and the whole of the team had a different attitude in the second half. “Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish the game, that was probably the worst part of the evening. “We will see tomorrow if the ankle is swollen or not but we have a very tight schedule so it will be tough for him to play at the weekend.” Former Liverpool forward Solanke controlled a low cross from Adam Smith before finishing with a neat swivel for his fourth goal of the season. Three minutes later, the Cherries were in complete control when Rothwell’s free-kick from the left side of the box escaped everyone’s touch and bounced into the bottom corner. It was the midfielder’s first goal since arriving from Blackburn before last season. Iraola was happy to progress but not to be up against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds in the next round. The Spaniard said: “We wouldn’t have chosen Liverpool, for sure, but I think we have to make them play a good game and come here and beat us. It isn’t an easy draw.” Stoke manager Alex Neil was angered by some naivety before Solanke’s goal. The Scot said: “I thought we competed really well for the majority of the match. “First half there wasn’t a lot in the game which is summed up by them bringing two strong attacking players on at half-time. “You could see at the start of the second half that they visibly upped the tempo and the lads that came on are naturally good players and got the fans behind them. “I think the biggest disappointment is that when you are playing Premier League players you can semi-accept that you can get undone by quality play but the first goal for us is so frustrating. “We gave the free-kick away and then after that we kicked the ball back to them, we weren’t set and the ball ends up in the back of the net. “All the hard work we’d done in the first half was wasted because of the lapse of concentration and naivety. “If you take the game in its entirety in terms of just playing I thought we competed and was good in spells.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Marco Silva knows Fulham need to start taking their chances Billy McKinlay relieved West Ham avoided upset against Lincoln Mikel Arteta praises returning Aaron Ramsdale as he helps Arsenal beat Brentford

Denver Broncos star safety Justin Simmons gave a spirited defense of fellow safety Kareem Jackson after the veteran's four-game suspension for an illegal hit on a Green Bay tight end was reduced to two games

Wimbledon gets started on Monday with some of the biggest names in tennis in action

The Dallas Cowboys were up 26-0 on the New York Giants at halftime. Fans were dreaming of silver trophies and blue-and-white confetti.

Man City legend and former Spain star David Silva announces retirement from football after suffering ACL injury.

Lewis Ludlam hopes he will be exposed to the "pressure" of Rugby World Cup competition again when England coach Steve Borthwick names his 33-man squad for next month's...