Ireland flanker Jamie Heaslip admits there is room for improvement as the Grand Slam holders (11/2 for a repeat) prepare for the trip to France this weekend.

Declan Kidney’s side laboured to a 29-11 win over Italy at Croke Park on Saturday as England and the French also kicked off the Six Nations with victories over Wales and Scotland respectively.

Ireland were unbeaten in eight Tests and two friendlies in 2009 but they kicked off the new season with a far from convincing display, but Heaslip is remaining upbeat ahead of the game in Paris.

He said: “There are little things that need to be tweaked. There’s nothing to be worried about. A bit of tweaking and it will be fine.

“It was a first day out in a few weeks for some of the boys. It was good to get the win and get the ball rolling and I’m sure we’ll be in good shape for next week.

“France will be as aggressive as the Italians and will look to attack a bit more. I don’t know if they’ll kick as much though.”

Ireland led 23-8 at half-time at the weekend but failed to capitalise in the second half and will know the French will not be so forgiving at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Check out the rest of totesport.com’s Six Nations betting.

Skipper Steven Gerrard has urged his Liverpool side (5/2 for the win) to build on the Merseyside derby win over Everton when they travel to Arsenal (10/11) on Wednesday night.

The Reds ended the Blues’ recent good run in the Premier League thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s only goal of the game on Saturday and they will now be looking for a repeat at the Emirates.

The Gunners’ own solid form has come undone in the last couple of weeks following losses to Manchester United and Chelsea, but Gerrard is refusing to get too carried away as he looks to hang on to at least fourth place in the table.

The England star told the Echo: “You always enjoy beating your local rivals but it was the way we did it that was really satisfying, particularly after losing a man after half an hour.

“Now we have got to take that high into the next game. It’s a tough one, Arsenal away always is.

“But we have used beating Everton as a platform in the past and we’ve got to do it again. We want to extend our run and go on to better things.”

Check out the rest of totesport.com’s midweek Premier League betting.

Arsene Wenger has admitted every game between now and the end of the season is “vital” for Premier League title-chasers Arsenal (Arsenal 16/1 Premier League - Outright).

Didier Drogba scored twice on Sunday at Stamford Bridge to complete a 2-0 win for Chelsea and take his tally for the season to 22 - and 12 in 12 against the Gunners.

The defeat – off the back of their 3-1 humbling by champions Manchester United last weekend – means the north Londoners have now lost six Premier League games and are nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Next up is another difficult fixture on Wednesday against in-form Liverpool (Arsenal 10/11 draw 9/4 Liverpool 5/2 Premier League match betting) but Wenger has promised his players will fight until the end.

“We are not in the best of positions but we will not give up,” said the Frenchman.

“It is vital against Liverpool but it was vital today and we still have lost.”

Check out totesport.com this week for midweek Premier League match betting opportunities.

Roberto Mancini has said his Manchester City players must learn to get nasty if they want to realise their ambition of securing Champions League football for next season (Man City 8/11 Premier League without Big 4).

The Italian was unimpressed by the manner in which his top-four hopefuls were bullied by relegation-threatened Hull in a 2-1 defeat at the KC Stadium on Saturday and has demanded a marked improvement for the visit of north-west rivals Bolton (Man City 4/11 draw 16/5 Bolton 6/1 Premier League match betting) on Tuesday.

Jozy Altidore opened the scoring in the 31st minute with his first Premier League goal and veteran midfielder George Boateng added a stunning volley to give the Tigers a first win since November on a day to forget for City in which Wayne Bridge was subjected by boos by the home crowd and Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson made their debuts off the bench.

Emmanuel Adebayor halved the deficit with a consolation goal but Mancini was left with plenty to think about on a weekend when Liverpool grabbed fourth spot.

He said: “If we want to make the top four, we must win away and we must fight. We must be aggressive away, not like the first half.”

Check out totesport for all Premier League midweek match betting opportunities.

Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho has fuelled talk he will return to manage in the Premier League by revealing he has a canellation clause in his San Siro contract (Inter 12/1 with Totesport to win this season’s Champions League).

The former Chelsea boss, who was in charge of the Blues between 2004 and 2007, guided Inter to the Serie A title last season but appears keen on a move back to England.

Speaking to the Portuguese press about his future, he said: “The club [Inter] and I signed a very objective contract until 2012, because we want to work together.

“But there is a cancellation clause that Inter will pay me if they want my departure and another that I will pay Inter if I want to leave.

“It’s all simple and very objective. There will never be a never-ending story with us as has happened in the past with other people. We are honest people with honest contracts and objectivity.”

The ‘Special One’ has consistently been linked with the jobs at Liverpool and Manchester City while he has also refused to rule out a return to Chelsea (4/1 second favourites to be crowned European champions with Totesport) at some point too.

England (11/2 third favourites for the World Cup with Totesport) will meet Wales in the qualifying for Euro 2012 while Scotland take on European champions Spain.

England have also been drawn against Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro in Group G while the Scots look set to struggle to make it to Poland and Ukraine as they must also play Czech Republic, Lithunia and Liechtenstein.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland face  world champions Italy, Serbia, Solvenia, Estonia and the Faroe Islands in Group C while the Republic of Ireland are in Group B with Russia, Slovakia, FYR Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra.

In the other groups, Germany will face Turkey and Austria in Group A, Croatia meet Euro 2004 winners Greece in Group F, France will take on Romania and Bosnia in Group D and Holland have been drawn against Sweden and Finland in Group E.

Full draw:

Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, SCOTLAND Lithuania, Liechtenstein

Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland

Group G: ENGLAND, Switzerland, Bulgaria, WALES, Montenegro

Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta

Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino

Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg

Group C: Italy, Serbia, NORTHERN IRELAND Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands

Group B: Russia, Slovakia, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, FYR Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Scotland are more than capable of winning a Grand Slam and can kick start their Six Nations aspirations by beating France (2/5 to win – match coupon) today, according to Sean Lamont.

The Scarlets and Scotland (15/8 to win – match coupon) winger will line-up for his nation at Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon knowing they have not opened a Six Nations campaign with a victory since 2006.

Scotland have had a worrying record in recent Six Nations tournaments, however recorded improving results in the three Autumn Tests against Fiji, Australia and Argentina.

Lamont (7/2 to be top tryscorer for Scotland) claims France play an open game and their side contains a lot of “flair” which could create a “broken game” at Murrayfield.

“I’m not going to to jinx it by saying too much. We’ve got to start with a win,” Lamont told the BBC.

“You can only win all of them if you win your first. If we play to the top of our game, we’re targeting all five. You don’t come into the tournament targeting one win, two wins, because then you get one win, two wins.”

France have beaten New Zealand and world champions South Africa in recent months, so will be tough opponents for Scotland – who have only beaten France once this century, which occurred in 2006.

Birmingham’s Premier League future may not be secure for this season even if they beat Wolves (19/5 to win – match coupon) this afternoon and move closer to the magical 40-point mark.

That is the opinion of Birmingham (5/6 to win, draw 9/4 – match coupon) boss Alex McLeish, who sees his side sit in eighth place at this point in time, with victory today set to take them to 37 points.

It is commonly thought that 40 points is the safety target to aim for, but McLeish is not looking that far ahead and admitted he can remember when 42 and 39 points has been enough to see teams relegated in the past.

“You would say with the way things are at the moment we would be safe, no danger but I don’t think we can afford to look too far ahead,” said the Scottish manager.

“The players are aware of it but I’m positive they won’t get complacent. There’s 45 points left to play for and we’d like to get as many as we can.”

Birmingham (80/1 to finish top of Premier League without big 4) recently went on a 15-game unbeaten run and McLeish is looking to kick start another similar run by naming the same starting 11 for the 12th Premier League game in a row.

Wolves (10/11 for relegation) boss Mick McCarthy is expected to bring Marcus Hahnemann back into the team, while Kevin Doyle, Matt Jarvis and Stephen Ward are all in contention after recovering from injuries.

England team manager Martin Johnson admits the time for talking is over as he unleashes his attack-minded XV on Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday evening.

Johnson named an exciting back line in midweek although he has since been forced to draft in Leicester’s Toby Flood after centre Riki Flutey suffered a thigh problem in training.

Danny Care and Jonny Wilkinson will form the half-back partnership with Flood partnering Mathew Tait who is making his first start since the 2007 World Cup final.

Out wide, Ugo Monye and Mark Cueto provide the pace with Delon Armitage at full-back – and 2003 World Cup-winning captain Johnson says it is time to deliver (England 10/11 -3 points).

“We have addressed the issues that we know we have had,” said Johnson. “We have been very honest about it as coaches and the players have been very honest about themselves as well.

“It has been good - but ultimately we need to turn that into a performance.

“It is important we understand what we are trying to do but within that we have good players and you have got to let them play with instinct.

“I am massively looking forward to it. This is a big season for us and a big year. We have put a lot of work into this game and we will get better game on game.”

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp insists Arsenal’s stranglehold on third place in the Premier League is by no means guaranteed this season.

Chelsea and Manchester United are widely expected to challenge for the title with the Gunners off the pace in third, but Redknapp says it is by no means a foregone conclusion.

It could be a pivotal weekend in the Premier League with Liverpool entertaining Everton in the 213th Merseyside derby, Arsenal travelling to Chelsea and Aston Villa (7/2 Premier League Winners Without Big Four) making the trip to Tottenham (3/1) on Saturday evening.

And Redknapp reasoned: “It is going to be tight.

“If we would have beaten Birmingham last week when leading 1-0, and we should have had the game over, then we are suddenly not so far away from Arsenal.

“Someone could get third spot. Manchester City could. We could. Liverpool could. Anyone is capable with a run. Arsenal are not 100% sure to be there if they get beaten by Chelsea and other teams pick up good results.

“Arsenal are favourites but it is not impossible for anyone to catch them, there could be a five or six-point turnaround. We thought that Chelsea were running away with it, but now look at it. Wide open again.”