Arsenal
Arsenal’s hopes of domestic and European glory have been dealt another setback after Russian playmaker Andrey Arshavin confirmed he expects to miss up to three weeks with a calf problem suffered in the dramatic 2-2 Champions League quarter-final clash against Barcelona. The Russian said: “Perhaps I won’t be able to play for another two or three weeks. It is not a relapse of my old injury, this is a new one.”
Aston Villa
Aston Villa manager Brian Little believes the current season should be viewed as a success even if the midlands club fail to qualify for the Champions League. Little was at the helm when Villa won their last trophy – the League Cup – 14 years ago, when they defeated Leeds 3-0 in the final. And he feels Villa have re-established themselves as one of the top clubs in the country under Martin O’Neill. They reached the Carling Cup final and will tackle Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in 10 days’ time. Little said: “Villa, for me, are now once again cemented as one of the top six or seven clubs in the country. You have Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, of course, but then there’s Manchester City, Spurs and Villa now very much in among that pack while Everton will always be there or thereabouts too. Looking at Villa as a top-seven club is great because, prior to Martin arriving, in the two, three, four years before that, there were lean times and it looked difficult. But it’s great to see the club now. It’s fantastic to see how competitive they have become again.”
Birmingham City
Alex McLeish has been told he must wait until the close season to see if he can sign Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart on loan for a second season. Hart has been in outstanding form since his temporary switch from Eastlands and emerged as a strong contender to be part of England’s World Cup squad. McLeish is keen to retain Hart’s services for another 12 months and ideally would like to get approval from Roberto Mancini sooner rather than later. But the former Scotland manager has been told he must hold fire until the summer. McLeish said: “City are not going to make any decisions regarding Joe until the summer. They have confirmed that to us now. We would like to sign Joe for another season. The keeping role is massively important and that’s why I’d like to get City’s nod of approval. That would help us in terms of us knowing what we are doing but there will be no news until the summer.”
Blackburn Rovers
Sam Allardyce has confirmed an interest in signing Aruna Dindane, who is currently with Portsmouth, on a season-long loan from Lens. Allardyce recently admitted a desire to strengthen his strikeforce this summer, with Dindane one of a number of options, but high on the list after failing to sign him in the January transfer window. The Ivory Coast forward now finds himself in limbo as one further appearance for Pompey will activate a clause whereby they must sign him permanently, which they cannot do given their financial crisis. “We almost signed him on transfer deadline day, but was a little too late,” confirmed Allardyce. “But he’s played in the Premier League which is a good indication he can play at that level, and he’s scored a few goals. All in all we would be interested depending on what the financial situation is.”
bolton wanderers
Johan Elmander has been cleared to play in Saturday’s Barclays Premier League match with Aston Villa. Elmander required six stitches in a head wound after being floored by Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic last weekend. But the forward has suffered no lasting effects according to manager Owen Coyle, who said: “He had six stitches, and we had to nurse him a little bit at the start of the week. But he is fit to play, available, and I’m sure he will look to do his best.”
burnley
Brian Laws believes Steven Caldwell’s energy and drive could galvanise the team in their bid to beat the drop. The club captain will be part of the squad to face Manchester City on Saturday at Turf Moor following a lengthy absence with groin and abdominal problems. Caldwell, 29, proved his fitness with a full match for the reserves on Monday and is eager to get his career back on track. Laws said: “Steven has had a full game in the reserves and it just shows the manner of him, he has declared himself fit for Saturday and is ready to go. He wants to play. That is so encouraging from my point of view. It is great he wants to be part of the team after being out for four months. That is the enthusiasm we need. He will certainly be part of things for sure. He is an exceptionally good player, a great leader and a good talker. Will he start? That will be a difficult one. The fact though he is in and around us is a big bonus.”
Chelsea
Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that striker Didier Drogba will start the crucial Barclays Premier League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday. The Ivory Coast international was an unused substitute for last weekend’s home match with Aston Villa, when the Blues made light of their top-scorer’s absence to smash seven past Martin O’Neill’s side. There had been suggestions that Drogba could miss the vital encounter with their title rivals due to his knee problem, but Ancelotti has moved to allay those fears. Ancelotti said: “Drogba had a little problem at the start of the week and was out for two days because he had kick on his knee. He was on the treatment table with (Yuri) Zhirkov but they have trained today very well. We don’t have a problem with the other players. We have trained very well this week, we have had all the week to train. The team is fit.”
everton
Tim Cahill says the whole Everton squad are supporting Dan Gosling a cruciate ligament has ruled him out for nine months. “It is going to be a lengthy lay off for him but there are a lot of us here who have had similar injuries,” said Cahill. “It gives you a time to reflect so you try to learn about your injury and also learn about life in general. Dan will have a lot of great support from all the lads. “He is only young so he has got plenty of years of football left in him so he just needs to be professional and try to learn from this experience.”
Fulham
Roy Hodgson believes the Europa League is a far tougher competition to be successful in than when he was rampaging across Europe with Inter Milan. In 1997 Hodgson guided Inter to the final of what was then the UEFA Cup before losing on penalties to Schalke. “Ten months is a long time to be playing,” admitted Hodgson. “These will be our 16th and 17th games in this competition. When I got to the final with Inter, which was a double-headed final, we played 12 games. Now we’ll have ended up playing 17 even if we go out, so it’s half the season longer. That shows what we have achieved, and in reaching that final at Inter we did not encounter anything like the standard of opposition that we have had to meet here.”
Hull City
Nick Barmby hopes the Tigers can put their away woes behind them and triumph at Stoke City this weekend. “Our away form hasn’t been great, but with seven games to go this season that goes out of the window now,” said Barmby. “Points are vital, it doesn’t matter whether they come at home or away. It’s a clean slate and we’ll be going to Stoke with a positive attitude and looking for a positive result.”
Liverpool
Winger Albert Riera has committed his future to the Reds after a move to Spartak Moscow collapsed. He said: “Negotiations with Spartak Moscow are stalled… my intention is to decide my future in the summer. I want to continue my career at Liverpool because it is one of the best clubs in the world. The feeling is spectacular, we have a great stadium and I feel very good at Liverpool. I speak with Fernando Torres and (Jose) Reina and agree on the greatness of Liverpool.”
Manchester City
Stephen Ireland has been ruled out of Manchester City’s Premier League trip to Burnley with an ankle injury. The midfielder missed Monday’s victory over Wigan but Roberto Mancini hoped he would be fit in time to feature at Turf Moor. However, Ireland has not made the progress Mancini hoped and has already been ruled out.
Manchester United
Nemanja Vidic is confident Manchester United can cope without Wayne Rooney, who is reportedly set for a two-to-four week spell on the sidelines with an unconfirmed sprained right ankle. Vidic said: “We showed this season, we play as a team. It is not just about one man. Definitely Wayne Rooney has had a great season. He is unbelievable, one of the best in the world. But sometimes big players are missing, and others need to be ready.”
Portsmouth
Aaron Mokoena says the Barclays Premier League’s bottom side will carry on battling for points until the end of the season. Pompey are all but guaranteed to be playing Championship football next term as they are 14 points adrift of safety with just 18 left to play for. But Mokoena said: “We want to win as many matches as possible, so we certainly haven’t given up. We have passionate fans who still want to see us win games, so we have to carry on until the last game.”
Stoke City
Tony Pulis believes Ricardo Fuller’s willingness to become a team player has caused his scoring ratio to dip. That’s why Pulis hopes his striker gets his reward in the last seven matches and improves his tally with Hull City their opponents on Saturday at the Britannia Stadium. Fuller scored only his second league goal of the campaign – a superb winner last weekend against West Ham United at Upton Park – after stepping off the bench. Pulis said: “Ric had a little bit of food poisoning before the game but you know when the game opens up he can kill teams. He does the type of things the only top players can do. The biggest complement you can pay him is that he can beat people and can create things by himself. He doesn’t need any help. He is a very exciting player and a very committed player. It is the way he likes to play. To be honest you just do not know what you are going to get from Ric from day to day. He is that type of player. The disappointment is he has only two league goals, seven altogether if you include the cups, when he’s had a better season. He has become more of a team player. I know in the last seven games he will be looking to improve that tally.”
sunderland
Chairman Niall Quinn is hoping to fill the Stadium of Light as he builds for sustained success. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s deadline for season ticket renewals, Quinn said: “I have been tremendously heartened by the level of support we have had this season, through the great results and the lean times. That’s the measure of our supporters – they give their absolute all for the team no matter what, and that’s what makes this club the force that it is. The vast majority of Sunderland fans have really bought into our vision for the club, and it’s my aim for next season to see capacity crowds at the Stadium of Light. I know that we can take this to the next level, but everyone has to play their part and come to the party.”
Tottenham Hotspur
Niko Kranjcar is targeting a fifth straight win away to Sunderland as Tottenham Hotspur aim for a fourth-placed finish. “To win five on the trot at this time of year is massively important, and we’ve done it despite injuries to key players – so you couldn’t ask for more,” he said. “We’re talking players who have clinched games for us throughout the course of the season, yet we’ve kept on winning, which is a great achievement. But I think we’re calm and we all know that we need to be focused on the next game, which in this case is Sunderland away.”
west ham united
Phil Jagielka has been surprised at West Ham’s struggles this season but he is still wary of what Gianfranco Zola’s side can produce on their day. The Merseysiders host the Hammers on Sunday with the visitors firmly entrenched in a relegation battle. “I have been surprised that West Ham have been in a relegation fight this season,” said the centre-back. “The squad they have got is still good and they have some great players but I think the main word for their season is consistency. They haven’t put four or five good results together that would see them climb up the table. I think there has been a lot of talk off the pitch about them having to sell their best players and reports that the club wasn’t financially stable. Those off the field activities haven’t really helped them.”
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic will not appeal against Gary Caldwell’s red card in Monday’s Barclays Premier League defeat at Manchester City. Caldwell was dismissed for a challenge on Carlos Tevez early in the second half at Eastlands.
wolverhampton wanderers
Mick McCarthy admits his side face a difficult task to stop title-chasing Arsenal on Saturday. “I don’t know how to stop them – I haven’t got an answer to that,” said McCarthy. “If we want to take Arsenal on purely at football, we’ll get beat because they’re better than us. If it’s end-to-end and they have a chance and we have a chance we’ll get beaten because they’ll take their chances better than we do. We’ve done alright in March but we’re not the finished product by any stretch of the imagination. So we’re going to have to defend and be solid, but within that you have to be sensible with the ball, you’ve got to keep it and you’ve got to manage the game, if you can. But there are always certain things that are unmanageable that can happen – moments of brilliance when sometimes you look back and think: ‘We could have stopped that’ – well actually you couldn’t because it was just magnificent.”
“Ricardo has become more of a team player” – Tony Pulis
Credits: PremierLeague.com
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