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Bad news for Scotland. Midfielder James McArthur has been ruled out of Friday's match against the Republic of Ireland because of an injury.

One last snippet from Spain, where David Moyes is speaking about the challenge of taking over at Real Sociedad.

"I believe this is the biggest challenge of my career," said the Scot. "It is an opportunity to show that British managers can work abroad.

"I'm always beating the drum about making sure there are British managers going to other countries so hopefully I'm the first of many. If I can come here and succeed then maybe it will make it easier for other managers to come and do the same.

"I'm well rested. I've had six months off and I'm raring to go. The confidence the president has given me has been great and I'm looking forward to showing him what I can do."

Kei Nishikori has seen off Spaniard David Ferrer at the ATP World Tour Finals and now faces a nervous wait to see if he will qualify for the semi-finals.

The fate of Nishikori, who beat Ferrer 4-6 6-4 6-1, depends on the outcome of tonight's match between Andy Murray and Roger Federer.

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If Federer, who is already through to the last four, beats Murray, Nishikori will finish runner-up in the group.

US Open finalist Nishikori would also qualify in second place if Murray beats Federer in three sets, but he will be eliminated if the Scot wins in straight sets.

David Moyes, sacked by Manchester United in April, says he never had any doubts about his own ability and claims he was offered lots of jobs in the Premier League.

Image source, Real Sociedad

"I've had several offers to manage back in the Premier League, and spoken to several clubs in several countries, but the only club that has tugged at the heartstrings is Sociedad," he said.

"La Liga is the best league in the world, it has overtaken the Premier League because of the quality of the teams and players."

Asked which Premier League clubs offered him jobs, Moyes said: "I can't tell you that, that's not my style."

David Moyes, for so long a fixture in English football, is starting a new life in Spain as boss of La Liga side Real Sociedad.

The former Everton and Manchester United boss has just faced the media for the first time and said it was the Spanish club's president, Jokin Aperribay, who convinced him to take the job.

"He was fantastically passionate about the club, how special it was, and his love for the club was the thing that pulled me," said Moyes, looking relaxed and happy in his new surroundings.

"Also it has always been an ambition of mine to work abroad. As a coach, to feel fulfilled, you need to work in different cultures."

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Former Northants and Surrey all-rounder Matt Spriegel has retired at the age of 27.

He was released by Northants at the end of last season. Since making his debut for Surrey in 2007, he scored 4,098 runs across all formats in the county game.

More from Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan on his decision to sack Uwe Rosler.

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"All the fans want to see is Wigan Athletic playing good football and they would love us to be back in the Premier League," Whelan tells Sky Sports News.

"It has been an awful day. I made the decision yesterday and gave great thought to it. I regard him as a gentleman and a good football manager and I have to lose him."

Asked if Whelan should remain as chairman, the 77-year-old answered: "I ask myself if I'm getting too old and if I'm the man who can take Wigan forward. Am I getting too old? Yes. Have I lost my love or knowledge of football? No. I love Wigan.

"It has been a difficult day, but I feel it's in the best interests of the club."

Bristol City have recalled midfielder Bobby Reid from his loan spell at League Two side Plymouth Argyle.

The 21-year-old was due to stay at Home Park until 29 November, having originally arrived in September, and made seven appearances for Argyle.

Peterborough United have made an approach to take their former striker Aaron Mclean on loan, according to his club Bradford City.

The 31-year-old scored 82 goals during four years at Posh, and Bantams boss Phil Parkinson says two League Two clubs have made better financial offers for the forward.

"Obviously Aaron's preference is Peterborough, because it's a higher division and he's played there before," he told BBC Radio Leeds.

Championship club Wigan Athletic sack manager Uwe Rosler.

Image source, AFP

"I have thought long and hard about this," said chairman Dave Whelan. "I have thought about little else for days in fact.

"Initially my thoughts were that Uwe should be given more time.

"He is a good manager and I like him immensely as a person, he is honest, passionate and clearly works day and night to try and earn success for the team.

"However, the situation we find ourselves in at the moment, and the run of results in recent months, really has been alarming. Something is clearly not working."

The Football Association has fined Blackburn Rovers first-team coach Craig Short and Millwall assistant manager Mark Bircham for improper conduct.

The duo were found guilty of charges issued last week which related to their behaviour during a touchline row in the 2-2 draw at The Den earlier this month.

Short has been fined £2,000, while Bircham has received a £1,000 fine.

Wayne Rooney will go down as one of England's all-time greats, according to team-mate Leighton Baines.

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Rooney will join an illustrious group of players to win 100 caps if he faces Slovenia in Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier.

"Sometimes it's not until later on that people get the credit they deserve," said Everton left-back Baines.

"Everyone will look back when he's finished and has broken all the records and will acknowledge he has been one of the all-time greats for England."

Colchester United have re-signed Ipswich full-back Elliott Hewitt on a month's loan, while West Ham defender Jamie Harney has joined the League One club until January.

Aston Villa are keen to hang on to skipper Ron Vlaar, which means they might not be too chuffed about comments made by the defender's agent.

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"It is obvious that for Ron, now is the moment to make a nice big move in his career," said Arnold Oosterveer, who represents the 29-year-old.

"Ron is very ambitious. The situation is ideal for Ron right now. I don't want to react to the rumour that he will go to either Arsenal or Manchester United, but Ron is very ambitious."

Vlaar is out of contract at the end of the season and will be allowed to talk to other clubs in January.

Some good news for Andy Murray as his chances of advancing in the ATP Tour Finals have been boosted as Kei Nishikori has lost his first set 6-4 in his match against late replacement David Ferrer.

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Spaniard Ferrer was drafted into the tournament earlier today to replace the injured Milos Raonic. A Ferrer win would mean Murray would advance to the semi-finals if he beats Roger Federer tonight. But a Nishikori victory leaves open all kinds of confusing options (see 12:58).

Follow all the action from London with our live text tennis commentary.

England coach Stuart Lancaster explains why he is handing a first start to Bath's 20-year-old winger Anthony Watson in Saturday's autumn international against South Africa.

"I have had personal knowledge of his development over the last four years and he has performed well for Bath this season," says Lancaster.

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"It was a big step for a 20-year-old to take the field as a replacement against New Zealand. Hopefully in seven or eight years' time he will have 60 or so caps."

Watson replaces injured Bath team-mate Semesa Rokodunguni.

Organisers have hailed the 2014 Four Nations an "outstanding success" with record-breaking crowds.

The tournament, which concludes with the final between Australia and New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday, has already set the highest aggregate attendance for the group stages of 119,603, beating the previous best of 101,207 in the 2010 event.

England failed to make the final after narrow defeats by Australia and New Zealand.

We asked for #greatsportingrecords and here is another one.

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Rory Zachilroy:, external Rafael Nadal's 66-1 Win/loss record at Roland Garros (French Open). Astonishing in this era of tennis.

Poor old Alan Pardew. Five wins on the bounce and he still hasn't won over the Newcastle fans.

The sackpardew.com group, which is calling for the removal of the manager, has told the BBC its stance has not been altered by the team's recent resurgence.

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A 2-0 win at West Brom on Sunday moved the Magpies up to eighth in the Premier League. But prior to that Newcastle had won just five games in the whole of 2014.

"A good run of results will not alter our position. Our stance remains the same," a spokesman for the group said.

A few more to mull over.

1963: Sporting Lisbon set a new record for the highest score in one of the major European club competitions when they beat APOEL Nicosia 16-1 in the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup.

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1992: Evander Holyfield lost his world heavyweight title to Riddick Bowe in Las Vegas after two years as champion.

1997: Ron Atkinson returned as manager of struggling Sheffield Wednesday. He managed to keep the Owls in the Premier League but stepped down at the end of the season to be replaced by Danny Wilson.

2006: Luton manager Mike Newell apologised to assistant referee Amy Rayner after describing her appearance at the 3-2 defeat by QPR as "tokenism for the politically-correct idiots".