1 DAY AGO - Mick McCarthy says there is “no doubt” Aaron Connolly is ready to start for the Republic of Ireland. Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Tony Bloom's Stratum provided Willie Mullins with his second successive victory in the Emirates Cesarewitch at Newmarket. Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - Héctor Bellerín played well for Arsenal Under-23s while returning from injury, but not every big star is a great exampleBy Gavin Willacy for Playing in the ShadowsMost of the Arsenal Under-23 team will have been unfazed by the thought of playing Liverpool at Meadow Park in Borehamwood in front of a crowd of 358. But a few of them may have been starstruck when they looked around and saw Héctor Bellerín in their defence. Bellerín’s appearance was unusual for two reasons. Star players returning from injury usually play for less than an hour and only do so in reserve games at the club’s own stadium. Bellerín played the full 90 minutes at a local non-league ground, setting up Arsenal’s second equaliser in a 2-2 draw.Lining up alongside an established international should help the young Arsenal players develop. However, star names often prove as much aggro as they are worth for Under-23s managers. One told me: “We get different first-team players every game and it’s always for the benefit Collapse