The OTB Brief has the latest news from the sporting world, on this Tuesday morning.
SOCCER
The most lucrative game in football takes place this evening as Brentford and Fulham battle it out in the EFL Championship play off final. The winner at Wembley will earn a place in the Premier League - and with it a windfall of around 160-million pounds.
Fulham's top-scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic missed both legs of their semi-final victory against Cardiff with a hamstring issue but he's been passed fit to play.
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Derry City have moved up to fifth-place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division. The Candystripes bounced back from their weekend defeat to Sligo Rovers to win 2-nil at St Pat's last night.
James Akintunde and captain Conor McCormack were on target for Derry at Richmond Park. Gary Shaw scored twice as Bray beat Longford 2-nil in the First Division.
Athlone Town have their first point of the campaign following a 2-all draw at Galway United.
This evening, Finn Harps host Shelbourne in the top-flight. While the meeting of Sligo Rovers and Waterford was postponed yesterday due to a potential case of coronavirus.
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It was a disappointing start to the Scottish Premiership season for Motherwell last night.
Last season's third-place finishers missed a penalty and had Callum Lang sent-off in the closing stages of a 1-nil defeat at Ross County.
RUGBY
Leinster must plan for their Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens without James Ryan. The influential Ireland lock has undergone surgery after picking up a recent shoulder injury in training.
He's set to be sidelined for around three months and is also a doubt for Ireland's final two games in the Guinness Six Nations.
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Lions boss Warren Gatland says he's spoken with Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster about being part of their coaching team for next year's tour of South Africa.
Gatland's revealed that he has "huge respect" for the former England coach and that they've already held a "couple of conversations" about a potential role in the Lions setup.
The British and Irish representative side are due to play the World champion Springboks in three tests next summer.
CRICKET
Kevin O'Brien has urged his Ireland teammates to play aggressively in today's third One Day International cricket series match against England after Andrew Balbirnie's team have lost the first two games against the World champions in Southampton.
As Ireland seek their first points in the I-C-C World Cup Super League, O'Brien says they need to come out positively and pressure England's bowlers.
Curtis Campher, who's scored half centuries in the previous matches, is set to be promoted up the batting order.
SNOOKER
Antrim's Mark Allen gets his campaign underway at the World Snooker Championship later. Having reached the recent Tour Championship final, he faces Jamie Clarke at the Crucible from 10 this morning.
The in-form Stephen Maguire goes up against Martin Gould this afternoon. Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his place in round two with a 10-1 demolition of Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh yesterday.
GOLF
And Brooks Koepka feels his game is "right there" ahead of the first major of the year.
The American goes in search of a third successive PGA Championship crown on the back of a runner-up spot at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational last weekend.
Kopeka believes "everything's moving in the right direction" and that his game is "solid" after recovering from a knee problem.
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