Football news in brief: Iceland U21s drop Palsson from squad

HIBERNIAN midfielder Victor Palsson was last night omitted from Iceland's Under-21 squad for this month's European Championships. The former Liverpool player had been included in Eyjolfur Sverrisson's initial 40-man pool, but the 20-year-old was surprisingly left out. Eggert Jonsson of Hearts has been included as Iceland prepare to kick-off against Belarus on 11 June, before taking on Switzerland and host nation Denmark.

Saints to prepare across Irish Sea

ST JOHNSTONE manager Derek McInnes is to take his side across the Irish Sea again for a pre-season training camp. McInnes' men travel to face Drogheda on Thursday, 7 July and then follow that up with a Dublin meeting against Bohemians on Sunday, 10 July. Saints have also pencilled in away warm-up matches at Spartans (2 July), Dundee (13 July) and Ayr United (16 July) in readiness for the earlier SPL kick-off on 23 July.

Juventus appoint Conte as new coach

FORMER midfielder Antonio Conte has become the latest in a long line of coaches tasked with trying to revive the fortunes of once mighty Juventus. Conte has signed a two-year contract. Juve, who finished seventh in Serie A for a second successive season, sacked Luigi Del Neri last season after just one term in charge and have turned to the Siena coach having been linked with the 41-year-old in the past.

Balotelli suffers training setback

MANCHESTER City's Mario Balotelli has suffered a knee injury while training with Italy. He reported a recurrence of a problem with his right knee minutes into a training game against the Italy under-18 side. The ex-Inter Milan forward will be assessed by medical staff ahead of Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Estonia in Modena and a friendly with the Republic of Ireland in Liege the following Tuesday.

Scotland U15s held by Belgium

SCOTLAND Under-15s drew 1-1 with Belgium at Stirling Albion's Doubletree Dunblane Stadium last night in a keenly-contested Challenge Match. The Scots went in front thanks to a second-half goal from Celtic's Jaison McGrath, but Genk's Siebe Schrijvers saw the honours end even. Ross Mathie's captain, Craig Stories of Aberdeen, gave a tenacious display in midfield, but the brightest prospect on display was Charley Junior Muscoda of Anderlecht.