ON THE ROAD: Paul takes a quick glance at his watch and lets out a heavy sigh. 'A season or two ago, this place would have been rammed by now,' he says.

IAN WHITTELL AT THE BET365 STADIUM: Nathan Jones edged ever closer to the exit door at struggling Stoke with yet another helping hand from his goalkeeper Jack Butland.

Aston Villa are poised to step up their search for a goalkeeper and a striker with the club expecting Wesley and Tom Heaton face significant spells out of action.

Stoke City midfielder Peter Etebo is in talks over a move to Getafe. The 24-year old is due to join on loan with view to a permanent sale. Etebo joined Stoke from Feirense in the summer of 2018.

Cardiff City boss Neil Harris is interested in a reunion with Stoke City forward Lee Gregory after their success together at Millwall.

Bowyer, 42, claimed after his side's 2-1 loss that 50/50 refereeing decisions had not gone their way, with two second-half penalty appeals waved away by referee Peter Bankes.

Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie has been charged with drink driving offences. The Scotland international was arrested in west Yorkshire on Friday morning.

Swansea City have condemned the 'disgraceful' actions of some of their own fans after they printed vile boarding passes that mocked the death of Emiliano Sala.

Swansea manager Steve Cooper revealed after the 1-0 win over Cardiff that the 22-year-old will be out for two months with an ankle tendon injury. Rodon will have surgery this week.

Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Leeds and Swansea have all joined the race to loan Liverpool starlet Rhian Brewster this January.  Jurgen Klopp has said he is happy to let the striker go looking for minutes.

The Gunners dismissed Unai Emery a week and a half ago after a difficult start to the season and put their former midfielder Freddie Ljungberg in charge of the side on an interim basis.

The 2010s have seen an unprecedented turnover of managers in England's top flight. In total, 103 different men have been in charge of Premier League clubs in the last 10 years, holding 153 posts between them.

The 31-year old is a free agent after leaving Swansea City last season and fellow Championship outfit West Brom have invited him in to train with their squad.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has come out in defence of Oli McBurnie after the striker was spotted taunting Cardiff fans while watching Swansea on Sunday.

Renato Sanches must have truly felt on top of the world after Portugal lifted the Euro 2016 trophy. But an assent to the lofty heights of the game can often be followed by a plummet to the bottom.

KATE MCGREAVY AT CRAVEN COTTAGE: The Championship top scorer continued his good form with a towering header to seal a 1-0 victory for the Premier League promotion chasers.

When your father has left Cardiff City to become Liverpool's centre forward and managed the great Real Madrid twice, it's fair to say taking on a challenge is in your blood.

MARTIN SAMUEL AT THE YOKOHAMA STADIUM: The gentleman in the Houston Texans baseball cap sat in the stand scribbling his notes. He will not have needed exhaustive entries.

Edwards spent almost 12 years in a similar role with Wales and departed alongside head coach Warren Gatland following the side's fourth-place finish at this year's World Cup.

EXCLUSIVE BY WILL KELLEHER: Gatland confirmed the Lions have been to date knocked back in their attempts to convince the Premiership to move their final in 2021 by a week.

WILL KELLEHER: The Welsh Rugby Union have been leading an investigation into the former attack coach's conduct since he was jettisoned from Japan on September 17.

WILL KELLEHER AT THE PRINCIPALITY STADIUM: Warren Gatland bid a final farewell to Wales with a special send-off match with his former flame.

Dan Biggar has always been up for the fight. When the Wales fly-half signed for Northampton Saints in the autumn of 2017, the East Midlands club were spiralling down the Premiership.

RORY KEANE AT THE AVIVA STADIUM: It took an entire game to ship 43 points to Leinster last weekend. On Saturday night, the Saints had conceded the same total after 48 minutes

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: The Six Nations powerbrokers are largely content with the existing deal, which is worth £90m a year between the BBC and ITV and is delivering record viewing figures.

ROUND-UP: The Six Nations kicked-off this weekend with a thrilling round of fixtures, as Ireland, France and Wales got off to the perfect start, as our team of the filled up with French players.

With England firing bombs at their Championship rivals each week, and Scotland responding with talk of 'hate', Wales coach Wayne Pivac is finding the pre-match mudslinging all a bit unnecessary.

The last two Tests between Wales and France have been edge-of-the-seat thrillers. Both were won by wily Wales just when all looked lost:

WILL KELLEHER AT PRINCIPALITY STADIUM: And so the fortress has fallen. After 10 years of being out-gunned in Cardiff, the French revolution is well and truly alive.

Liam Williams, Josh Navidi and George North all set to be fit for selection for boss Wayne Pivac as Wales were handed a triple boost before taking on England at Twickenham on March 7.

Wales' oracle has spoken and delivered doses of reality to his nation. Alun Wyn Jones does not talk much, but when he does it is worth listening to the totemic and decorated captain.

Wales wing Hallam Amos will miss the rest of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations due to a knee injury. Amos sustained the injury during the Cardiff Blues' Guinness PRO14 victory over Benetton.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: It might have been a little subdued before the match but we should have known England and Wales would provide some action to perk us up. The 33-30 win for England was all action.

The skipper will play in his 148th Test - levelling Richie McCaw - his 139th for Wales to add to nine for the British & Irish Lions. Meanwhile Webb wears the No 9 shirt for first time since 2017.

MIKE BROWN: It is that time of year where we all get asked to give our Six Nations awards so here goes. Rising star: Antoine Dupont. Best try: Justin Tipuric (v England).

EXCLUSIVE BY ALEX BYWATER: Hadleigh Parkes and Owen Williams are to end their Wales careers after they turning down offers in regional rugby in favour of big money moves to Japan.

EXCLUSIVE BY WILL KELLEHER: Wayne Pivac's side were due to play Japan in Shizuoka on June 27 before jetting down to New Zealand for a two-Test series shortly afterwards.

There is something deeply sinister about cashing in on the pressures faced by young women today. I remember well the 'need' to have a new outfit for every occasion - and that was before Instagram.

Our mailbag is overflowing with emails from bitterly disappointed holidaymakers whose travel plans are now in ruins. Many had spent thousands of pounds on once-in-a-lifetime trips.

NASSER HUSSAIN: The way that England have played their Test cricket in recent years, they were always going to be found out by a high-class bowling attack.

PAUL NEWMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Australia have retained the Ashes with victory over England in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, claiming their first away series win since 2001. 

Steve Smith was already the pantomime villain for England fans but he has riled them even more following Australia's celebrations after they retained the Ashes on Sunday.

Sportsmail columnists Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, Lawrence Booth and Paul Newman answer the big questions for England's Test team after they failed to regain the Ashes.

PAUL NEWMAN: There have not been many England captains handed the chance to win a third Ashes series after losing his first two in charge but Joe Root could be the exception.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: Buttler, whose previous eight innings in this series had produced a best of 41, deposited Josh Hazlewood for three sixes to reach stumps on 64 not out.

Channel Nine is reportedly 'unsatisfied' with Sunrise host Edwina Bartholomew's apology after she 'defamed' journalist Seb Costello in a since-deleted Twitter post.

Donald Butler's daughter Nicolle, 27, had recently passed away, with family staying nearby in Tampa, Florida, for the funeral when his truck disappeared with his daughter's urn inside.

Stokes struck an unbeaten 84 in the final against New Zealand on the way to England's maiden World Cup title and then crashed a barely-believable 135 not out to keep the Ashes alive at Headingley.

NASSER HUSSAIN: Sam Curran is something of an anomaly in the England side who will take to the Bay Oval for the first Test against New Zealand.

With another year's end came another installment of SPOTY, as England cricket star Ben Stokes picked up the honour. Sportsmail went behind the scenes to capture the special moments on reel.