Aberdeen manager Barry Robson is confident his squad can show the energy needed against St Mirren on Sunday following their European exploits.

The Dons came from two goals down late on to seal a 2-2 Europa League play-off first-leg draw against Swedish champions BK Hacken in Gothenburg on Thursday night.

They are now looking for a first cinch Premiership win of the season when they travel to Paisley on Sunday.

“In my experience of doing it a lot of years under Derek (McInnes), and I did it a lot of years as a player with international and European football, so I know the demands of it,” former Dundee United, Celtic, Aberdeen and Scotland midfielder Robson said.

Bojan gets us back in the game

— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC)

“But if y…

Mikel Arteta has backed Kai Havertz to win over the fans and come good at Arsenal after the summer signing from Chelsea endured a tepid start to his career at the Emirates.

Havertz arrived for £65million in June and has started all three of the team’s Premier League games as part of a midfield three this season.

He was withdrawn after 56 minutes of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Fulham having struggled to help Arsenal back into a match in which they trailed to Andreas Pereira’s first-minute goal.

Two goal contributions for Fabio yesterday

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

He had one glorious chance to level early in the first half when he got his head to Bukayo Saka’s clever flick back across goal but badly miscued his effort.

And there was audi…

Luis Suarez scored four times and Lionel Messi netted a hat-trick as Barcelona thumped 10-man Valencia 7-0 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

A pair of clinical finishes from Suarez had Luis Enrique s men two goals up within 12 minutes and the ruthless Messi soon made it three.

Neymar missed a penalty just before half-time after Valencia captain Shkodran Mustafi was sent off for bringing down Messi, who then notched his side s fourth in the second half.

The Argentine scored his third of the contest before Suarez headed home and struck again in the final minutes, with the stunning victory meaning Barca have won 12 of their last 13 games in all competitions and extend their unbeaten run to 27 matches.

Prior to the …

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson revealed on Wednesday that he is set to retire from football at the end of the season.

The Scot has enjoyed unprecedented success at the Old Trafford club, becoming the most decorated manager in English football history since taking the reins in 1986.
Here, we look at the numbers behind the 71-year-old s storied career at the summit.
1500 Ferguson s final game against West Brom on Sunday May 19 will be his 1500th in charge of United.
10 Just 10 managers have managed an English club for longer than Ferguson. Fred Everiss 48-year reign at West Brom is the longest in history and will likely never be beaten.
3 Ferguson has broken the British transfer record on three occasions as United boss. Andy Cole (7 million pounds) Juan Sebastian Veron (…

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has warned successor Gianni Infantino that friends will become increasingly difficult to come by in the corridors of world football s governing body.

Infantino was elected in Zurich on Friday, replacing Blatter, who saw his reign come to an end amid allegations of corruption at FIFA and is now serving a reduced six-year ban from the sport over a payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.3million) made to UEFA boss Michel Platini in 2011 that infringed upon FIFA s Code of Ethics.

Blatter expressed delight at Infantino s election in the aftermath of the vote, but says his Swiss compatriot faces a tough road ahead.

I congratulate you, but remember that this position you wanted will not be easy. Miracles will be expected, …

Zinedine Zidane has made the seamless transition from extraordinary player to successful coach and former team-mate Fernando Morientes is not surprised as Real Madrid look to make Champions League history in Cardiff.

Zidane and his men head to the Principality Stadium to face Juventus on Saturday as defending champions and newly-crowned LaLiga kings.

One of Madrid s favourite sons has been instrumental in dethroning Barcelona and putting the club on the verge of becoming the first in history to retain the European crown in its current format.

Since replacing Rafael Benitez in January last year, Zidane has gone from coaching Castilla – Madrid s reserve team – to a Champions League and LaLiga-winning boss.

But Zidane s success does not come as a surpris…

Lionel Messi is unsure if he will continue playing for Argentina beyond the World Cup.

The 30-year-old briefly stepped away from the Albiceleste in 2016 and is considering bringing a permanent close to an international career that began in 2005.

His long stint in the national team has been marked with near misses including a defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup decider and back-to-back final failures at the Copa America.

Messi, who was named player of the tournament four years ago, believes Argentina s accomplishments have been undervalued by his country s media, and says the trip to Russia could be his last.

I don t know. It will depend how we do, how it ends, the star attacker told Sport.

The fact we ve lost three finals now has led to s…

Ajax have re-signed striker Siem de Jong from Premier League side Newcastle United on a three-year contract.

De Jong s move was completed on Monday, with the Dutch side reportedly paying £1.8million to bring back the player who represented them at first-team level between 2007 and 2014, having spent time in their youth system.

The 28-year-old originally joined Newcastle from Ajax for around £6m, but only started four league games over his time with the club, which was heavily interrupted by injuries.

Last season, he was on loan at his new club s Eredivisie rivals PSV, scoring six times in 19 league appearances, 10 of which were starts.

— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax)

De Jong – whose brother Luuk is now at PSV after a loan spell at St Jame…

Julian Nagelsmann says he is leaving RB Leipzig for a unique opportunity at Bayern Munich with a heavy heart but vows he will give everything to finish on a high.

Leipzig head coach Nagelsmann is to become the new Bayern boss and has agreed a five-year contract beginning on July 1, both clubs confirmed on Tuesday.

Bayern, who are on the verge of a ninth successive Bundesliga title, have agreed to terminate the contract of Hansi Flick, who informed the club he did not want to stay in charge beyond this season.

Nagelsmann has Leipzig on the brink of sealing second place in the Bundesliga, which would be their best finish.

There also remains a chance he will guide the club to their first major silverware with Bayern already out of the DFB-Pokal ahead of L…

According to Tuttosport, Alex Sandro could be sacrificed so to speak in order to make room for Marcelo to join the club, with him being used as a makeweight . The Brazilian defender has been heavily linked with a move away from Real Madrid, with reports suggesting that he s fallen out with the new manager.

The 27-year-old has been with Juventus since back in 2015, when he made the jump from Porto. He s always been viewed as an important member of the first team setup in Italy, but if the Marcelo deal is a possibility, then it seems as if Juve would be willing to do whatever it takes in order to acquire his services.

They ve got a few more months yet before they are even able to pull the trigger on a move like this, meaning that if Sandro can continue to impress, we coul…