A youthful Chelsea side eased past Astana 3-1 to continue their recent winning run and all but confirm a place in the Conference League last 16.

England captain Ben Stokes admits he put "too much emphasis" on next year's Ashes in Australia and will now be "toning down expectations".

Blues defied freezing conditions to ease to another Conference League win

Blues could be confirmed in the last-16 before final league-phase match

Opportunities could become increasingly limited for 18-year-old but this was a clear display of what he can offer

A huge European clash under the lights at Ibrox

The pair’s fight in 2022 was cancelled, but could now take place in 2025 after Benn was cleared of any wrongdoing by the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) after failing two anti-doping tests

Enzo Maresca left at home the majority of the XI that started Sunday’s 4-3 win over Tottenham,

They are looking to whitewash New Zealand.

Rangers 1-1 Tottenham: An entertaining clash at Ibrox saw Dejan Kulusevski earn Spurs a draw after Hamza Igamane had given Gers the lead

The Guardian’s ranking of the world’s best female footballers overflowed with Americans. But their fellow players largely shunned themWomen’s soccer has grown exponentially in the 22 years since Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra marveled at the very existence of a professional game in the USA in Bend It Like Beckham.In the film, the main characters …

Walker received racist abuse after 2-0 defeat to JuventusMan City player: ‘Instagram need to stop this happening’The Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has called for more to be done to prevent online abuse after he revealed a “vile, racist and threatening” message he received.Walker posted a screenshot of a racially abusive message he received on …

Chelsea confirmed passage to the last 16 of the Conference League with a 3-1 win against Astana in Kazakhstan as Enzo Maresca handed full debuts to two academy graduates.Defender Josh Acheampong, 18, and 19-year-old midfielder Samuel Rak-Sakyi each played for the club at under-eight level and enjoyed comfortable first starts in the senior team, as the …

England captain admits he ‘spoke a little too much’ about Australia clash instead of New Zealand and India TestsEngland are about to complete their busiest year of Test cricket with Ben Stokes encouraged by the overhaul in personnel that has taken place. Although the captain has a small regret from this period: publicly discussing the next Ashes series. …

Interest in darts is currently rife with the success of Luke Littler doing wonders for the sport, and he will be looking to topple defending champions and world No 1 Luke Humphries.

Everton were due to invite their city rivals Liverpool to their famous old ground on Saturday afternoon but the clash was postponed in the 11th hour due to Storm Darragh.

Staveley departed her role as a director at Newcastle United in the summer nearly three years after she helped push through Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund's £305million takeover.

The last time Chelsea travelled anywhere near as far for European competition came at the 2019 Europa League final - but Azerbaijan's Baku National Stadium was a mere 3,000 miles away.

KIERAN GILL AT THE ALMATY ORTALYK STADIUM: The young players did their club proud, winning to make sure Chelsea will make it into the round of 16 with a game to spare