Mark Robins made a Premier League vow just hours after guiding Coventry out of League Two, former captain Michael Doyle has revealed.

The ex-Sky Blues midfielder skippered the club to their first promotion in 51 years in 2018 to kick-start their journey to the brink of a top-flight return.

Coventry beat Exeter 3-1 in the play-off final with Doyle lifting the trophy at Wembley and the Sky Blues are now dreaming of a repeat in Saturday’s Championship play-off final against Luton.

Robins, who signed a new four-year deal this month, took them out of the fourth tier at the first attempt after returning 14 months earlier for a second spell and, even then, outlined his vision to Doyle.

He told the PA news agency: “The night we got promoted from League Two we…

FIFA President Sepp Blatter was in attendance as the 11 Russian host cities to stage 2018 FIFA World Cup fixtures were announced on Saturday.

Blatter was flanked by Russia s Minister for Sport and Chairman of the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee (LOC) Vitaly Mutko at the ceremony.

Moscow, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Saransk, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi and Ekaterinburg will all host matches during the tournament.

Two venues in Moscow the 90,000-seat Luzhniki Stadium and a 45,000-seat arena set to built by Russian football club Spartak Moscow will host matches, meaning a total of 12 stadiums in 11 cities will be used.

The announcement of the host cities is the first concrete step taken in the delivery of the 2018…

Olivier Giroud has confirmed he will retire from international duty after Euro 2024.

Giroud is France s record goalscorer, having netted 57 goals in 131 appearances for Les Bleus.

The 37-year-old has featured for France at Euro 2012, 2016 and 2020, as well as winning the World Cup with Didier Deschamps team in 2018 and helping them reach the final in 2022.

Euro 2024 will mark his final appearances for the national team, though, with Giroud who is leaving Milan to join Los Angeles FC in MLS revealing he is stepping aside.

In an interview with L Equipe, Giroud said: Obviously I m going to miss it a lot, but I think my time with the French team will be over after the Euros. I need to cede my place for the young players.

Co-president and General Mana…

Vincent Kompany insists Leon Goretzka will continue to be important for Bayern Munich, despite his limited game time this season.

The Germany midfielder has fallen down the pecking order behind the likes of new signing Joao Palhinha, and played just 21 minutes this term.

Nine of those came on Tuesday, when he scored as a late substitute to complete his side s 9-2 rout of Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener.

Though the 29-year-old has found opportunities hard to come by, Kompany maintains he is an integral part of Bayern s squad.

He s important for us and will continue to be, Kompany told DAZN. The team loves him. I only have players who want to play and accept the competition for places.

At Bayern, it s always easy to talk about indi…

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Needing only a point to secure their spot in the Euro 2024 knockout stage, the Netherlands face Austria in their final Group D game on Tuesday in Berlin.

The Oranje have accumulated four points after drawing with France, while Ralf Rangnick s team triumphed over Poland but must avoid defeat to maintain a strong chance of advancing to the last 16.

Netherlands

Seeking a place in the knockout stage for the eighth time in their past nine European Championship appearances, the Netherlands edged closer to this goal by securing a 0-0 draw against tournament favorites France on Friday night.

Although neither team managed to score in Leipzig, Xavi Simons nearly broke the deadlock in the 69th minute, skillfully driving the ball…

Barcelona debutant Dani Olmo struck a late winner to steal a 2-1 comeback victory at Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday, as the LaLiga leaders continued their perfect start to the season with a third consecutive win.

Rayo dominated proceedings in the first half and took the lead with a strike by Unai Lopez in the ninth minute, but Barca were livelier after the break, with Pedri levelling from a counter-attack in the 60th minute.

Olmo, introduced as a substitute for his first outing since leaving RB Leipzig, scored the winner with a curling strike in the 82nd minute, snatching Barca a deserved win to maintain their momentum.

Barcelona top the standings on nine points from three games, two ahead of second-placed Villarreal, while Rayo are eighth on four points.

TIME…

While Real Madrid might have already stormed their way to an historic 36th La Liga crown, there are still plenty of battles that need to be decided.

As the likes of Sevilla and Atletico Madrid steal centre stage on Wednesday night, we have four La Liga showdowns on the cards.

For those of you looking to stick on a Wednesday flutter, we have found a couple of the most intriguing Spanish betting markets.

20:00 Sevilla vs Cadiz

Although Sevilla might have opened the New Year at the heart of an infamous relegation scrap, Wednesday’s hosts now have a shock top-half finish at the top of their agenda. Opening the midweek fixtures sat just two points adrift of skyrocketing their way into the top-10, Quique Sanchez Flores’ men will certainly be excited to m…

Despite boasting a strong road record this season, Jim Curtin still believes Philadelphia Union can do better in their final away match against Columbus Crew.

The Union lost their most recent road outing, falling 2-1 to Orlando City in midweek, but had only lost one of their previous three such games before that.

They are one of three teams currently on 37 points in the Eastern Conference, but sit 10th, below Toronto FC due to winning fewer games.

Curtin knows they need to win their last two matches and hopes they can improve on Wednesday s performance.

I think our road record has been good enough this year, Curtin said. Overall, at this stage of the year, as you know, the margins are razor-thin.

We have to do a better job in the attacking end a…

Gareth Southgate pleaded for England s supporters to stay with the team , after venting their frustration following the goalless draw with Slovenia.

The Three Lions advanced to the Euro 2024 knockout stages as Group C winners, despite winning just one of their opening three games and scoring two goals.

Southgate s side, who came under scrutiny following their 1-1 draw with Denmark, did little to silence those critics with another underwhelming performance against the Slovenians.

Despite dominating large periods of the contest with 74% of possession, it yielded an expected goals (xG) tally of just 0.87, with the front three of Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden registering just two shots on target between them.

Sections of England fans jeered their te…

The United States remained unbeaten in the semi-final phase of regional qualifying for the 2010 World Cup Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

With goals from Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Brian Ching, the United States took their points total to nine, stretching their lead atop Group 1 to five points over Trinidad.

Guatemala and Cuba were playing later Wednesday in the group.

The United States, who have already beaten Guatemala and Cuba, got off to a quick start.

Bradley struck first, firing home a free kick lofted from the left by Landon Donovan in the ninth minute.

Nine minutes later, Dempsey made it 2-0 with a powerful right-footed shot into the left side of the net.

Ching added a header in the 57th to rou…