Manchester United news and links

GOALSCORER Dimitar Berbatov claimed that winning was all that mattered as Manchester United beat Blackburn to stay within two points of Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea.


The Reds spurned several chances to make the result more comprehensive at Old Trafford, but the Bulgarian scored a fine opener before Wayne Rooney made the game safe.

FIND out how we rated the United players for their performance in the 2-0 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.

Perhaps it’s the swine flu, but Blackburn continue to make a pig’s ear of defending, and Manchester United were able to win with something to spare and without ever playing as well as they can. Two high-class goals, from Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney, were gems amid more dross than Old Trafford is prepared to tolerate, and the crowd were voicing their disapproval by the time the stalemate was broken, 10 minutes into the second half.

Berbatov’s stunning goal out of nothing came with a rider. The Bulgarian had spurned straightforward chances before he scored, and the home crowd were starting to get on the back of the £30m man, tempted to join in the visitors’ cries of “What a waste of money”, until his fourth of the season went in.

Earlier results had given United little cause for satisfaction. Despite last week’s defeat at Anfield, they do not view Liverpool as genuine title rivals, so the old enemy’s latest setback, at Fulham, was regarded as of lesser consequence than the emphatic victories by Chelsea, who stay top, and Arsenal, who briefly moved into second place.

Blackburn mustered only one attack of consequence, and that was delayed until the 87th minute, but it left Sam Allardyce with genuine cause for complaint. When Benni McCarthy’s shot came back off an upright, Nikola Kalinic tucked away the rebound, only to be penalised for offside, which he wasn’t. Allardyce said: “I’m not suggesting we’d have gone on to make it 2-2, but it’s wrong that we had that opportunity denied us. It should have been a goal, and with four minutes to go, who knows? People will say it’s Sam moaning again, but I like to moan when I’m right.”

United were without both their regular centre-backs, but it mattered little in the context of the match, and while Nemanja Vidic will always be missed, Rio Ferdinand’s form has been of mounting concern – former England manager Graham Taylor claimed before the match that Ferdinand had “lost his legs” – and the calf injury which put him out was not the blow it would once have been. Wes Brown and Johnny Evans were more than capable deputies.

Blackburn’s problems go far deeper and are easy to identify. They are shipping goals at an alarming rate – 15 in their past four matches – and are not scoring enough. David Dunn leads the way with four. Nobody else has contributed more than one. It is no great surprise that they are missing Stephen Warnock, Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire, sold for £25m to keep the bank manager happy.

Michael Carrick, with his metronomic passing, did his considerable best to prompt United into incisive action, but half an hour elapsed before they created a decent chance, Valencia crossing accurately from the right for Berbatov to get in a firm, bouncing header which had Robinson fully extended in tipping over the bar. It was a chance missed.

Berbatov again tested Robinson with a resounding shot from the edge of the D, which the Rovers keeper was happy to turn round his left upright, and when the Bulgarian did manage to get the ball in the net, after 39 minutes, the celebrations were curtailed by an offside flag. A fourth opportunity presented itself just before the interval, but Berbatov was horribly profligate, shooting high and wide.

Relief for United came from the most unexpected source, given what had gone before. The danger appeared to be minimal when Evra’s mis-hit shot flew towards Berbatov who, from near the penalty spot, turned in a blur and volleyed the ball low into Robinson’s right corner. One always seemed likely to be enough, but Rooney added an expertly taken second from Anderson’s pass.

Even Allardyce did not dispute the outcome, but United will need to play a lot better than this to dislodge Chelsea from the top of the table when they meet at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

The Fans’ Player Ratings And Verdicts

Shaun O’Donnell, Observer reader

You expect a couple of frights on Halloween, but the first half was a real horror show. If you’d brought a kid for the first time, he or she would have wanted to go home at half-time. Blackburn came to defend, but we were very poor in the first half. Second half was better, but we still can’t provide service to the front men. Nani was awful – he could be gone by the end of the season. When you have to grind out a result at home against Blackburn, it’s not good. I don’t think Ferguson knows his best midfield, but Hargreaves will move us up a gear.

The fan’s player ratings Van der Sar 6; O’Shea 6, Brown 6, Evans 6, Evra 7; Valencia 6, Carrick 6, Anderson 6, Nani 5 (Obertan 63 6); Rooney 6, Berbatov 6 (Owen 79 6) Subs not used Scholes, Da Silva, Fletcher, Kuszczak, De Laet

Paul McGarry, Observer reader

If you look in the dictionary for routine victory you’d find a report of this game. We defended OK, but we showed virtually no ambition – not even when we conceded. It’s difficult to draw anything from the game other than there’s a huge gap between the top few teams and everybody else. The bigger picture for Rovers is whether we have got a weak team or is it that we’re not playing with any ambition? We look nowhere near any of the top teams, but I think we’ll be OK because there are a few teams who are worse than us.

The fan’s player ratings Robinson 5; Chimbonda 5, Samba 5, Nelsen 6, Givet 6; Emerton 5, Nzonzi 6, Andrews 5 (Pedersen 57 5); Diouf 5; Dunn 5 (McCarthy 83 n/a); Di Santo 6 (Kalinic 76 6) Subs not used Grella, Hollett, Salgado, Brown

If you want to take part in the Fans’ Verdict, email fans.premier@observer.co.uk

MANCHESTER United big guns Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney fired as the Reds defeated Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.


Sam Allardyce’s men were proving stubborn opposition until Berbatov’s acrobatic volley 10 minutes into the second half broke the deadlock, and Wayne Rooney’s stylish finish late on sealed the victory.

Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov scored the goals as Manchester United saw off Blackburn Rovers

Well, well, well. What a day it’s been in the Premier League. It kicked off at 12.45pm, where Spurs were lucky to get away with a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Arsenal, Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a 4-0 win at Bolton, while nine-man Liverpool went down 3-1 at Craven Cottage, losing their sixth match out of seven in all competitions.

At the other end of the table, Hull lost against Burnley in what will almost certainly be Phil Brown’s last match in charge, while Portsmouth put four past Wigan without reply, in a match that was most notable for Arune Dindane socring a hat-trick despite showing no evidence that he could hit a cow’s arse with the proverbial banjo in recent weeks.

Elsewhere, there were draws between Everton and Aston Villa, Sunderland and West Ham, and Stoke and Wolves on an afternoon that card-happy referees sent off eight players: Degen and Carragher (Liverpool), Samuel (Bolton), Geovanni (Hull City), Bilyaletdinov (Everton), Cuellar (Everton), Jones (Sunderland) and Kovac (West Ham).

And if all that’s not bizarre enough for you, Wolves centre-half Jody Craddock went from scoring one goal in five years to two in 20 minutes, as he notched both his side’s goals in their draw with Stoke City. Get your money on Blackburn to win this match despite Gary Neville’s hat-trick to put the cherry on top of a remarkable afternoon’s Premier League football.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Brown, Jonathan Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Owen, Scholes, Fabio Da Silva, Fletcher, Obertan, De Laet.

Blackburn: Robinson, Chimbonda, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Nzonzi, Emerton, Dunn, Andrews, Diouf, Di Santo.
Subs: Brown, McCarthy, Grella, Pedersen, Kalinic, Hoilett, Salgado.

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)

Pre-match niceties: There’s no Ferdinand, Vidic, Scholes, Fletcher or Giggs for Manchester United, with Messrs Evans, Brown, Anderson and Nani making rare-ish starts. For Blackburn, striker Jason Roberts has gone down with swine flu, cancelling out Christopher Samba’s recovery from the virus. On-loan-from-Chelsea striker Franco Di Santo comes in for Roberts. David Dunn has recovered from the illness and starts in midfield, while manager Sam Allardyce has also risen from his sick-bed to take his place in the dugout.

Punting corner: Following my earlier Arsenal/Arsenal success in the HT/FT market, I’ve gone for a Draw/Man Utd bet here.

1 min: Blackburn kick off, playing into the Stretford End. Both sides are in their customary home strips: United in red shirts, white shorts and black socks; Rovers in blue and white halved shirts, white shorts and blue socks.

1 min: Blackburn win the first corner of the game after a simple free-kick into the box is headed down by Samba and goes out off Evans. Nothing comes from the inswinger.

2 min: Blackburn have lined up with four across the back and Steven Nzonzi patrolling the space between them and the midfielders: Dunn in the centre, with Emerton to his right and Andrews to his left.

4 min: David Dunn goes on a surging run into the penalty area and goes to ground under pressure from Evans. He neither appeals for nor gets a penalty.

5 min: Moments before that Blackburn attack, Nani had gone galloping down the left wing, cut inside Pascal Chimbonda and tried a shot from distance that went well wide.

6 min: “Just like Cannabis, LSD and Ecstasy, which team should now be reclassified?” asks John Martin. “Which team is without its potency, and which team has had its potency exaggerated and will anyone resign as a consequence?” Well, Liverpool should obviously be downgraded from a Class A side, but it’s too early to tell whether they should be reclassified as a Class D or E drug. Their fans certainly aren’t experiencing the euphoric highs once associated with their team, although fans of other teams are definitely buzzing nicely off them.

8 min: “Charlie Brooker’s Screen Burn today conjures the delightful image of ‘a 64-year-old man with a nose like a thumped glans’,” writes Paul Dixon. “Could he and Sir Alex Ferguson by any chance be related?”

10 min: Antonio Valencia slaloms down the right wing and sends in a cross that’s intended for Wayne Roney, but his delivery is horribly wayward.

12 min: Standing in the inside right channel, Berbatov sends the ball over two Blackburn defenders and into the path of Antonio Valencia with a flick of his right boot. The Ecuadorian winger snatches at his shot from 14 yards and sends a feeble effort wide.

14 min: Blackburn are doing well so far, containing Manchester United fairly easily by trying to force them to attack down the centre, where there’s safety in numbers. They’ve certainly silenced the crowd in Old Trafford.

15 min: Nani tries to dink the ball past Chimbonda on the right touchline and is tripped. Free-kick for United. Nani sends the ball into the penalty area where it’s headed clear by Ryan Nelson.

16min: “This makes no sense,” writes Jon Cummins, who could be talking about anything. “I’m a Man Utd fan, and I was pretty worried about this game … until I saw the teamsheet. Amazingly, seeing Jonny Evans and Wes Brown at the back, with Anderson in midfield, filled me with confidence. A sad indictment on the recent form of Rio, Vidic and Scholes, and perhaps my judgement.”

17 min: Blackburn win a free-kick just inside their own half. Paul Robinson launches the ball into the night sky and it drops for the back-pedalling Christopher Samba in the Man Utd penalty area. He pushes his marker, John O’Shea in the back to make room for himself and heads wide when he should really have hit the target.

19 min: “I still have £10 burning a hole in my bet365 account from the England-Ukraine match,” writes David Wall. “Do you know what the odds on Rafa Benitez being sacked before Phil Brown are this season?”

20 min: Twenty minutes gone and it’s a pretty even game. Manchester United are dominating but haven’t looked much like scoring, while Blackburn are defending well.

21 min: Another long ball from the back by Robinson. Steven Nzonzi leaps highest and flicks the ball behind him, where it bounces between John O’Shea and Wes Brown on the edge of the United penalty area. Each of them leaves it for the other, prompting El Hadji Diouf to dash between them and try to pounce. Luckily for United, Edwin van der Sar just beats him to the loose ball.

24 min: Manchester United win a free-kick wide on the right, which is swung in for Paul Robinson to punch towards the left touchline. The ball is pinged towards Nani, who gets needlessly shoved in the back by Chimbonda. Another free-kick, from which United win a corner.

26 min: Nani takes the corner, but his delivery is poor and he fails to clear the men at the near post. Wayne Rooney attempts to backheel the ball goalwards but succeeds only in sending the ball harmlessly wide.

27 min: Great tackle by Chimbonda, who dispossesses Nani with a perfectly timed tackle as he charged through the right-hand side of the Blackburn penalty area with the ball at his feet.

28 min: The atmosphere in Old Trafford seems very flat, as does the performance of the home side. They’re dominating possession, but creating nothing in the final third.

29 min: No sooner do I report that Man Utd are creating nothing in the final third than they waste two opportunities in quick succession. A move that saw Blackburn’s defence carved open ended with Berbatov five yards out with the ball at his feet, only to have his shot blocked by a heroic lunge from Givet. Moments later, the Bulgarian rose unmarked and got on the end of a Valencia cross, only to head the ball straight into the ground from six yards.

32 min: ESPN’s girl on the sidelines, my close personal celebrity chum and one-time Setanta colleague of James Richardson, Rebecca Lowe, reports that Sam Allardyce is getting more and more upset at his team for defending too deep. The Blackburn midfield and defence are on top of each other and they’re really struggling to get the ball out of their own half.

34 min: United go forward again. Rooney lays off for Berbatov, who shoots from distance. His shot is on target and heading for the bottom right-hand corner, but Robinson gets down to save.

36 min: Blackburn midfielder Brett Emerton gets booked for spotting Edwin van der Sar off his line and attempting to lob him from distance … after the referee had blown for a foul elsewhere.

38 min: Free-kick for United, a couple of yards outisde of the penalty area on the left-hand side. Rooney blasts it high and wide.

39 min: United get the ball into the Blackburn net after Nani had played the ball down the left channel for Rooney, who squared it for Berbatov to prod home into an open goal. The linesman flags correctly for offside - it turns out Nani hesitated just a mili-second too long before delivering a perfectly weighted ball for Rooney.

40 min: Only four minutes to go until half-time but I’ll be astonished if my Draw/Manchester United HT/FT bet is still live at the interval. Blackburn are clinging on by their fingertips here and it’s only a matter of when, not if Manchester United score. Here’s hoping they can hang on until the second half. I have to walk through Brixton dressed as a zombie later tonight - so I’ll need money in my pocket to pay the hospital bills after the inevitable assaults.

43 min: Oh christ! Another heroic lunge from Givet stops Rooney from scoring, then Nani completely misses a free header with the goal at his mercy.

45 min: Now Berbatov shoots wide when he should have scored - Blackburn have been getting absolutely battered since I put the full stop at the end of the sentence saying Manchester United were creating nothing in the way of chances. The home side should be about 5-0 up by now.

45+1 min: It’s half-time. Blackburn and my bet - £20 to make a potentially night-changing profit of £78 - is somehow still alive. Now that the hard bit is done, expect United to either draw or lose.

Half-time

Half-time chat: “Are you going as a slow classic zombie or a fast zombie (think Dead Set or 28 Days Later)?” asks James Wells. Well James, I’m from the Simon Pegg/Shaun of the Dead school that insists zombies can’t run. But if I’m being pursued by 20 trick or treating kids who’ve decided to kill me, I may throw the rulebook out the window in the interests of self-preservation. You can see exactly how ridiculous I’ll be looking here.

Gary Naylor writes in with a very good idea: “Re: Liverpool’s game in Lyon on Wednesday,” he begins. “Can someone find a Lyon fan discussion board (or board de discussion pour les fanatiques or something) and tell them to sing, to the lilting melody of Guantanamera, the most damning of all football chants: ‘Sacked in the morning/You’re getting sacked in the morning/Sacked in the morning/You’re getting sacked in the morning‘?” That would be tres amusing. If anyone knows any Lyon fans, get them on the case please.

Second half: Manchester United kick off, attacking the Stretford End. One incident I forgot to mention towards the end of the first half was the harsh booking of Pascal Chimbonda for challenging a 50-50 ball with Nani.

46 min: United attack, O’Shea tries to swing the ball into the Blacburn penalty area from the right wing and Nzonzi heads clear. He’s a fellow I know very little about - Blackburn bought him from an Amiens team that had just been relegated to the French third division, I think - but he’s been very impressive tonight.

48 min: On the right-hand side of the Blackburn penalty area, a poor first touch results in Berbatov getting the ball stuck under his feet as he tries to make room for a shot. As he digs away at it like a pig rooting for truffles, El Hadji Diouf ghosts in behind him and steals the ball.

49 min: “Do they make the full figure zombie costume in your size, big man?” asks Iftikhar Khan. Just about, Iftikhar. Just about. Incidentally, if anyone else wants to buy one (I know it’s unliklely but you never know), don’t go to that website I flagged up - they charge more than twice what I paid for mine.

51 min: Just inside his own half, Valencia intercepts a sloppy pass from Emerton and goes on a surging run forward. On and on towards the Blackburn penalty area he goes, with Rooney and Berbatov both ahead of him in support. With the Blackburn defence in all sorts of bother, he gets caught in two minds as to which of his team-mates to pass to and ends up picking out neither. His delivery is woeful.

GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Blackburn (Berbatov 54) Valencia went charging down the right wing, laid the ball off to O’Shea, who crossed. The ball was cleared as far as Evra, who tried a shot from ridiculously far out. With his back to goal about 16 yards out, Berbatov blocked the ball, teeing it up with his first touch, before swivelling and rifling home a volley with his second. Great finish.

56 min: Anderson tries a shot from distance. Wide. Blackburn substitution: Keith Andrews off, Morten Gamst Pedersen on.

59 min: “What with Football Weekly ‘Vloding’ the podcast next week, i was wondering whether the minute by minute might be following the same route,” writes Martin Fleet. “I’d sure love, along with the the tens of other readers, to see Barry Glendenning sat in his underwear on his sofa vigorously tapping away on his laptop.” There are other websites where you can see that for a small consideration, Martin. But don’t get me started on that live video podcast abomination. “If it ain’t broke, break it,” seems to be the motto in some parts of this building. I can’t possibly see what good can come of such needless meddling.

63 min: Manchester United substitution: Gabriel Obertan on, Nani off. Despite looking about 47, I’m assured Obertan, United’s man of the match against Barnsley during the week, is only in his 20s. He’s a very quick, very direct winger that United acquired from Bordeaux and this is his league debut. Good luck to him.

65 min: The debutant is put through on goal, only to be collared by Ryan Nelson and pressured into shooting straight at Robinson. Maybe he’s not that quick after all.

67 min: “I’ve always thought that Nani looks like Zombie Michael Jackson from the Thriller video,” writes Iftikhar Khan, riffing on his Halloween theme. “Obviously Wayne Rooney famously looks like Shrek, Berbatov has the widow’s peak and general ’something of the night’ quality about him, so loads of players for United wouldn’t need to spend much on costumes tonight.
I also think AC Jimbo would make a good Nosferatu.”

68 min: Personally, I’d like to slice the top off Jimbo’s head, scoop out what little I’d find inside, replace his brain with a candle and use him as a lantern. At least then he’d have a useful function.

69 min: Inside the centre-circle, Rooney takes the ball from Samba and gallops towards the Blackburn goal, setting a scorching pace. Unselfishly and probably unwisely, he plays the ball through the centre for Berbatov to chase, but Nelson does well to get himself between ball and Bulgarian to avert the danger. If Rooney had kept going himself he’d almost certainly have had a scoring opportunity.

71 min: Christopher Samba goes down with cramp and Berbatov does that foot-flexing thing you sometimes see opposing players to do each other to help alleviate the pain of those pesky build-ups of lactic acid. It’ll be interesting to see if Samba goes the distance tonight. He’s just back from a dose of swine flu and is said to have lost 10 pounds in weight in the past week.

73 min: Blackburn are showing no ambition here and are looking perfectly content to lose 1-0, probably because it’ll look better on Big Sam’s CV than the 5-0 gubbing that might ensue if they actually try to throw some men forward, score a goal and nab a point. With Manchester United in as bad a state as they’ve been in recent years, Allardyce’s paucity of ambition does him no credit.

75 min: Blackburtn substiution: Nikola Kalinic on, Franco Di Santo off. The loanee from Chelsea looks delighted to see his number come up and sprints for the touchline. It’s the fastest he’s run all night. He’s barely got a touch all evening and on one of the very rare occasions Blackburn got the ball out of their own half and looked like scoring, he was lying on the ground pretending to be injured. With an attitude and work ethic like that, he should fit in well at Chelsea.

78 min: Manchester United substitution: Dimitar Berbatov off, Michael Owen on. I could be tempting fate here, but even though they’re only one goal down, Blackburn look like they could play here until midnight and still not score a goal.

80 min: Patrice Evra does well to get a cross in from the byline, but there’s a bit too much welly on it and there’s nobody at the back post to get on the end of it. Blackburn don’t clear and after terrific build-up play, the ball drops nicely for Obertan who shoots tamely wide when he should have buried it from about 12 yards. To be fair, his shot was quite tentative as Owen was standing very close to him and he may have been intimidated by the mere presence of put off by the great man.

83 min: A mention of Michael Carrick’s name by the ESPN commentator prompts your humble reporter to do a double-take and see who the midfielder was sent on to replace . Amazingly, it seems he’s been on from the get-go.

86 min: Blackburn win a free-kick just inside the United half. Emerton launches the ball into the penalty area, where Van der Sar gathers. He needn’t have bothered - the ref had blown for an infringement.

GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Blackburn Rovers (Rooney 87) A good finish, but Blackburn’s marking was dismal. Obertan had the ball down on the left wing. For want of anything better too do, he rolled it towards Anderson, who drove it across the Blackburn penalty area, where Rooney volleyed it diagonally into the bottom right-hand corner from about 14 yards out. Another great finish - although not quite as spectacular as Berbatov’s.

89 min: There’ll be four minutes of injury-time. I’m not sure why. Some of us have Halloween booze-ups to attend and I’m sure Blackburn’s players are as uninterested in playing it as Manchester United’s are.

90 min: Blackburn pull a goal back but it’s incorrectly ruled offside. Benni McCarthy shot from the edge of the penalty area, Van der Sar saved and Kalinic slotted home the rebound only for the linesman to raise his flag. He shouldn’t have because the Blackburn substitute was not offside.

90+3min: “Do you think there is any chance that sam allardyce told his players to lose because he’s scared of losing his only friend?” asks Jonathan Greer. “I can’t imagine that he would have many.”

90+4min: Michael Owen shoots wide from a great position after being teed up by Valencia. Robinson takes the goal-kick and the referee blows for full-time. Here’s your league table, I have to dash. Thanks for your time and your emails and enjoy the rest of Halloween night.

• Favourites Chelsea travel to Blackburn
• Portsmouth play Aston Villa

Last year’s finalists Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will face each other in the Carling Cup quarter-finals.

In the other standout tie from today’s draw, Arsenal’s youngsters, who beat Liverpool 2-1 in the last 16, will travel to Manchester City.

Meanwhile, 10-3 favourites Chelsea – who saw off Bolton to reach the last eight – will travel to Blackburn while Portsmouth will host Aston Villa.

The matches will take place in the week beginning November 30.

Full quarter-final draw

Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

Portsmouth v Aston Villa

Manchester City v Arsenal

MANCHESTER United have been drawn at home against Tottenham in the Carling Cup quarter-finals.


The game will be a repeat of last season’s final, which United won on penalties.

SIR Alex Ferguson has launched a strenuous defence of under-fire Rio Ferdinand, insisting: “Why would I drop him?”


But the United defender, who is suffering a crisis of form, could still miss the clash with Blackburn after suffering a mysterious calf injury.

Blackburn’s manager takes his side to Old Trafford and has enormous admiration for his Manchester United counterpart

Roberto Martínez may be squirming with embarrassment over what he is reported to have said about Sir Alex Ferguson and his friends within the Premier League, though in implying Sam Allardyce will be having a convivial drink with his old pal whatever the result of Blackburn Rovers’s visit to Old Trafford this evening the Wigan Athletic manager was not exactly revealing a state secret.

“Yes, I’m a Fergie lover,” Allardyce can exclusively confirm. “A loyalist, an admirer, call it what you like. Why wouldn’t any manager in the English league look up to the best in the business, probably the most successful manager this country has ever seen? He’s built six or seven great sides, won two European cups and 11 titles, so why shouldn’t a manager like me admire that?

“What Roberto said is not really a problem for me, but I think he has just learned a harsh lesson about life in this league. If you start departing from your own club’s business, for whatever reason, to talk about other matters, it can easily rebound on you. I don’t know quite what happened and what exactly was said but I don’t need to. Roberto has apologised to me and I have accepted his apology.”

The fact that Ferguson and Allardyce have long been buddies was demonstrated last season, when following Rafael Benítez’s attack on the United manager, Ferguson did not fire back directly but later accused his Liverpool counterpart of being disrespectful to Allardyce with seemingly little cause. Martínez’s somewhat clumsy attempt to lend support to his increasingly isolated compatriot on Merseyside only ended up reinforcing an older north-west allegiance.

Ferguson is in regular contact with Allardyce by phone and the pair meet often at charity lunches and functions and regard each other as allies, perhaps because, in his capacity as Bolton and now Blackburn manager, Allardyce has long been in Ferguson’s neighbourhood without being parked on his lawn. The Manchester United manager is never going to be bosom pals with the City manager, for instance, or find it particularly easy to call up whoever is in charge at Liverpool for a chat. Allardyce is more likely to socialise with younger managers such as Steve Bruce and Peter Reid, though in a professional context he and Ferguson are close.

Martínez possibly feels most sheepish about appearing to suggest Allardyce is lining himself up for Ferguson’s job, though he has only given today’s opponents something else to chuckle about in their post-match get together. And Bruce too, who will be there in spirit. As if to confirm Martinez’s suspicions that the three are in cahoots Allardyce revealed he had spoken to Bruce following Sunderland’s impressive performance at Old Trafford earlier this month, when they had to settle for a 2-2 draw but were close to claiming all the points.

“Brucey said they caught them on an off day, Sir Alex was having to pick a team with one eye on the league game and another on the European match in midweek, and that’s going to be the situation again today,” he said. “Sunderland nearly took full advantage and that’s what we’ll be hoping to do. Possibly this is a good time to be playing United, but if you look at our league record you will also see it is a good time to be playing Blackburn. We haven’t picked up a single point [away from home] yet, so unless we can improve on that fairly quickly it doesn’t really matter what form Manchester United are in. I didn’t get any specific tips from Brucey, we all know what we have to do when we go to Old Trafford. Most of the time will be spent trying to stop them playing.”

Allardyce was an Old Trafford winner in his time at Bolton, describing the feeling of beating United on their own turf as one of the best days of his life, though he goes into today’s game on the back of heavy defeats away to Arsenal and Chelsea, as well as an outbreak of swine flu. “When we get the United match over we will have three of the big boys out of the way for the rest of the season, at least away from home,” he said. “October was a pretty heavy month for us but we have some winnable games coming up in November. At the moment, if I am honest, I think Chelsea is the most daunting ground to visit, even more daunting than Old Trafford. Everywhere is daunting for a team with an away record like ours, of course, but Chelsea made mincemeat of us last week. They are in great form at the moment and United are not quite at their best If you were making an assessment now you would possibly say Chelsea look more like title contenders, but it is much too early to be writing off United. They know how to pace a season, and unlike Chelsea, they will not be losing key players to the African Cup of Nations in January.

“All you can safely say at the moment is that United have lost a little of their old ability to kill a game with the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. Some players are capable of winning a game on their own, sometimes with a single act. That is exactly what Fernando Torres did at Liverpool last week. Very few other players would have scored that goal, maybe Steve Gerrard could have done it, but I don’t know. The point is that when you lose players of that calibre, they are hard to replace. Ronaldo and Tevez were both like that, they could just come up with something to stun you, and United presently lack something they had last season. Antonio Valencia is a good player, no doubt about that, but he is not going to pop up with those sort of goals. Dimitar Berbatov might, but United are still waiting for him to turn into that kind of player.”

Ronaldo scored just such a goal in the 2-1 win over Rovers in the corresponding fixture last season, though Allardyce thought the referee was at fault in not awarding his side a penalty. He has not been studying Ferguson all these years for nothing. “A 2-2 draw was taken away from us,” Allardyce said. “Mr Webb failed to be brave enough to give us a penalty at Old Trafford. It is not unusual.”

• ‘I put it down to the modern culture of humiliating people’
• United manager has doubts over Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic

Sir Alex Ferguson has blamed the media for Rio Ferdinand’s loss of form this season. Criticism of the central defender intensified following the ease with which Fernando Torres swept past him for Liverpool’s opener in their 2-0 win last Sunday but yesterday Ferguson said: “I don’t know where it is coming from. I just have to put it down to the modern culture of humiliating people. That is your opinion and it may well be wrong.”

Ferguson’s outburst came despite the manager having suggested a fortnight ago that Ferdinand, who is approaching his 31st birthday, needed to “step up” or run the risk of losing his place for both Manchester United and England. “He has to get good form – that’s an important issue for the coach to pick the right team,” Ferguson said at the time.

Yesterday, though, when invited to discuss the centre-half’s displays ahead of the home game against Blackburn Rovers, Ferguson bridled. “I’m not going into that,” he said, “because I read the stuff in the newspapers and I hear he is going to be dropped and all this but I don’t think any of you have access to my mind. Any of you. You can try and pick my teams but you will never pick my teams, you can try as much as you like.”

Ferdinand, who has Jonny Evans breathing down his neck, has suggested he needs a run of 10 full matches to regain fitness after being troubled with a thigh injury, groin problems and persistent back trouble so his cause was not helped by the announcement that he is doubtful for today’s match with a calf problem.

His fellow central defender Nemanja Vidic is also struggling with a calf problem though Ferguson hoped that any defensive weaknesses would be offset by the recent return of the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to his starting XI, after he finally recovered from the hand injury he suffered in pre-season.

“Neither of them have trained since the [Liverpool] game,” Ferguson said of his central pairing. “Vidic has a little problem with his calf. We have sent him to a specialist and hopefully we can correct that but he has been struggling a little bit with it. I think the key to us is having Van der Sar back, he’s a fantastic goalkeeper. It’s incredible to think that at 39 he’s retained his fitness and motivation to play all the time. That will make a difference. That will settle the defence.”

Ferdinand’s agent, Pini Zahavi, meanwhile, has suggested that the defender had made “a big mistake” in playing when not fully fit.

“He has had a lot of bad luck with injuries this season,” said Zahavi. “He has had about four injuries, and because of his desire to do well for Manchester United he will turn out even if he is not 100%, and for him that has been a big mistake, because it has affected his form. But don’t worry, Rio is the same player, with the same abilities, and he will show it the minute he is back fully fit again.”

With nine Premier League matches taking place today and just one tomorrow, the league table tonight will give a good indication of the early pacesetters but Ferguson remains unconvinced that anyone but the usual big four of United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will still be in line for the title when the business end of the season approaches.

“I think you’re seeing early-season syndrome,” he responded when asked if this year’s title race will be even tougher than usual. “Teams lose points early season but when you get to the second half of the season it will be the same ones battling it out.

“Chelsea, Arsenal and us have all lost two games and Liverpool have lost four. Teams are all revved up at this time of the season, there’s challenges everywhere, everyone is optimistic and we’ve had three international breaks. It doesn’t settle down until we get into the Christmas period.”

Expect damage limitation from Blackburn as they seek to avoid a fifth straight away defeat in the league. Any hopes of exploiting a depleted United back line have been dented by the loss of Jason Roberts to swine flu while Christopher Samba is still not fully recovered from the illness. Pascal Chimbonda and David Dunn should make a welcome return, but they face a daunting task to prevent the home side reasserting itself after last week’s poor performance at Anfield. Allardyce will hope that United plumb similar depths in this match. Alex Derber

Venue Old Trafford

Tickets £27-49 (0161 868 800)

Last season Manchester United 2 Blackburn Rovers 1

Referee P Dowd

This season’s matches 8 Y31, R4, 4.38 cards per game

sportingbet odds Man Utd 3-20 Blackburn 12-1 Draw 11-2

Manchester United

Subs from Foster, Kuszczak, J Evans, Rafael, Fabio, Brown, Scholes, Tosic, Macheda, Giggs, Owen, De Laet, Obertan

Doubtful Ferdinand (calf), Giggs (knee), Vidic (calf)

Injured Fletcher (ankle, 8 Nov), Welbeck (knee, 8 Nov), Park (knee, 21 Nov), Hargreaves (knee, Dec)

Suspended Neville (first of three)

Form guide LWDWWW

Disciplinary record Y17 R2

Leading scorer Rooney 6

Blackburn

Subs from Brown, Samba, Salgado, McCarthy, Reid, Hoilett, Doran, Olsson, Van Heerden, Giannakopoulos, Kalinic

Doubtful Chimbonda (calf), Samba (virus)

Injured Grella (thigh, 7 Nov), Roberts (virus, 21 Nov)

Suspended None

Form guide LWLWLW

Disciplinary record Y14 R1

Leading scorer Dunn 4

Match pointers

• Manchester United have taken 16 of a possible 18 points from their last six meetings with Blackburn, conceding only three goals in the process

• Blackburn have let in a goal from 37.3% of shots that they have faced – the worst record in the Premier League

• Referee Phil Dowd has given more red cards against the hosts (five) than any other side

• Manchester United have only lost once at home to Blackburn in the Premier League era – 2-1 in September 2005

• Chris Samba has made the most blocks (five) and had the most shots (17) for Blackburn

Watch video from Sir Alex’s press conference as he previews Rovers visit to OT.

MANCHESTER United’s most decorated player Ryan Giggs believes the Barclays Premier League is tougher than ever - but he is relishing the challenge.


The champions are aiming to bounce back, after losing to Liverpool, when they face Blackburn at Old Trafford.

MANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic recover from injury in time to face Blackburn - so they can make up for the defeat at Liverpool.


A 2-0 defeat at Anfield saw champions United stay in Chelsea’s slipstream at the top of the Barclays Premier League table.

FC United can get their season back on track with a win at Lancaster in the FA Trophy second qualifying round, according to manager Karl Marginson.
 
The Rebels travel to the Giant Axe on Saturday following successive defeats to Northwich and North Ferriby, but Marginson believes his side can progress despite their recent blip.
 
“We conceded a poor goal early on at North Ferriby but then controlled the game,” said Marginson.

HYDE United boss Neil Tolson is urging his troubled Tigers not to let their heads drop as they prepare for tomorrow’s Ewen Fields showdown with fellow Blue Square North strugglers Vauxhall Motors, writes TONY GLENNON.


Having recently saved themselves from extinction by raising £35,000 in less than a week, Hyde face yet another battle for on-field survival after winning just one of their last 10 games.


But Tolson, whose ailing side are three points above the drop-zone in the wake of Tuesday’s 2-0 reverse at Eastwood, is adamant they will claw their way to safety providing his players don’t lose confidence and keep giving 100 per cent.

• Central defensive pair have calf problems
• Ryan Giggs also a doubt for Blackburn match

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is facing defensive problems ahead of the Premier League match against Blackburn at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are both doubtful with calf problems and Gary Neville is suspended. Ryan Giggs also has a knock and Danny Welbeck, who scored in the Carling Cup victory against Barnsley in midweek, is sidelined with a knee injury.

“We have some doubts for tomorrow,” Ferguson admitted. “Ryan Giggs is a doubt but we hope he’ll be OK. Ferdinand and Vidic are both doubts – we’ll see what they’re like today. Gary Neville is suspended of course. Hopefully we can get one or two fit for tomorrow but we’re facing an uphill fight.

“Vidic has had a calf problem for a few weeks now. We’ve seen a specialist about it so we’ll see what he’s like today. Rio and Vida both want to play after the disappointment of last Sunday [the 0-2 defeat at Liverpool].”

Ferguson added that Park Ji-sung’s knee injury is a cause for concern, after the midfielder developed some swelling during a recent flight back from Korea. “We think he’ll be out for a couple of weeks yet,” said the manager.

Darren Fletcher, however, is back in training, having been out since the 2-2 draw with Sunderland at the start of the month. “[He] started training yesterday,” said Ferguson. “He won’t be fit for tomorrow but hopefully we’ll get him ready for the Chelsea game. He’ll get 10 days’ training before that.”

MANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is facing a defensive headache ahead of the Barclays Premier League match against Blackburn at Old Trafford.


Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are both doubtful with calf problems and Gary Neville is suspended.

Dimitar Berbatov’s stunning second-half volley helps Manchester United on their way to beating Blackburn.

• Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand doubtful for Manchester United
• Boaz Myhill injury adds to Hull’s problems

Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur

Manuel Almunia could be set for a recall to Arsenal’s starting line-up for tomorrow’s derby with Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsène Wenger is likely to make several changes from the young side who beat Liverpool in the Carling Cup in midweek but Lukasz Fabianski (thigh), Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott (both knee) miss out.

Samir Nasri made his first appearance of the season against Liverpool after recovering from a broken leg and is likely to be on the bench tomorrow.

Tottenham’s striker Jermain Defoe serves the final part of his three-match suspension and will miss the match.

Aaron Lennon (ankle), Giovani dos Santos (ankle) and Luka Modric (fractured leg) are also out but Peter Crouch has recovered from a groin problem.

The goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini (knee) and centre-backs Jonathan Woodgate (head) and Ledley King (illness) should be available and Niko Kranjcar is back after being cup-tied.

Arsenal (from): Mannone, Clichy, Gallas, Vermaelen, Sagna, Eboué, Song, Fábregas, Diaby, Arshavin, Van Persie, Almunia, Eduardo, Vela, Gibbs, Silvestre, Wilshere, Ramsey, Bendtner.

Tottenham (from) : Gomes, Cudicini, Button, Hutton, Naughton, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, Bale, Woodgate, King, Bassong, Dawson, Huddlestone, Jenas, Palacios, Kranjcar, Bentley, Keane, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko.

Birmingham City v Manchester City

Maik Taylor will make his first Premier League appearance of the season against Manchester City at St Andrew’s on Sunday. Taylor was Birmingham’s No1 last season and played a major part in their promotion campaign.

He lost his place when McLeish signed Joe Hart on a season-long loan from Eastlands, but his ineligibility to face his parent club gives Taylor a rare chance to remind McLeish of his ability.

Birmingham’s left-back Grégory Vignal is back in contention after overcoming a hamstring problem, but he may have to be content with a place among the substitutes given the impressive form of Liam Ridgewell who has been converted from a central defender into a full-back.

The winger Keith Fahey is again doubtful because of an ankle problem.

Mark Hughes expects Kolo Touré and Martin Petrov to be back, having missed the midweek Carling Cup win over Scunthorpe with minor injuries.

Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy, both rested on the bench for that fourth-round tie, are also likely to be back in the side. Hughes has virtually a fully-fit squad to choose from, with only Nedum Onuoha and Robinho still recovering from injuries. Both are close to returning.

Birmingham City (from): Taylor, Carr, R Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Parnaby, Queudrue, Vignal, Larsson, Tainio, Ferguson, Bowyer, McFadden, Carsley, Doyle, Jerome, O’Connor, Phillips, Benítez, D Johnson.

Manchester City (from): Given, Richard, Zabaleta, Lescott, Touré, Bridge, Kompany, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Bellamy, De Jong, Barry, Sylvinho, Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Tevez, Taylor, Weiss, Johnson.

Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea

Gary Megson has an almost fully-fit squad to pick from. The striker Johan Elmander made his return to first-team action after a hamstring injury when he came off the bench against Chelsea in the Carling Cup tie between the two teams on Wednesday night.

Only the long-term absentees Joey O’Brien and Sean Davis, who both have knee problems, remain on the sidelines.

The Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is expected to bring back the first-team players rested in the midweek Carling Cup tie although there are doubts about Branislav Ivanovic and Salomon Kalou. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho all return.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Al Habsi, Ricketts, Steinsson, Knight, Cahill, A O’Brien, Samuel, Robinson, M Davies, Basham, Muamba, Cohen, McCann, Gardner, Taylor, K Davies, Klasnic, Lee, Elmander.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Turnbull, Belletti, Alex, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Deco, Ballack, Malouda, Sturridge, Kalou, J Cole, Essien, Lampard, Drogba, Bruma, Borini, Matic, Anelka, Terry, Carvalho.

Burnley v Hull City

Owen Coyle will give his goalkeeper Brian Jensen “every chance” to recover from the injury he sustained in last weekend’s home defeat to Wigan Athletic.

X-rays revealed that Jensen, who has yet to resume full training, had suffered only slight ligament damage to his ankle so Diego Penny is on stand-by for tomorrow’s meeting with Hull should he be needed. Stephen Jordan suffered a thigh strain in the same game but is expected to recover in time.

Burnley are still without long-term absentees Martin Paterson, Chris McCann (both knee) and Jay Rodriguez (ankle).

Troubled Hull will be without their goalkeeper Boaz Myhill tomorrow. The Wales international injured his medial knee ligaments in the closing stages of last weekend’s goalless draw with Portsmouth and will sit out the match, though the under-pressure manager Phil Brown is hopeful he will not prove a long-term absentee.

The midfielder Jimmy Bullard did not train with his team-mates yesterday due to a shin injury and a decision is still to be made on his participation at Turf Moor.

Burnley (from): Jensen, Caldwell, Mears, Eckersley, Duff, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, Fletcher, Elliott, Blake, Thompson, Eagles, Penny, Kalvanes, Gudjonsson, Edgar, Easton, Nugent, Guerrero.

Hull City (from): Warner, Duke, McShane, Kilbane, Sonko, Dawson, Barmby, Marney, Zayatte, Geovanni, Hunt, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Ghilas, Mendy, Altidore, Bullard, Gardner, Mouyokolo, Olofinjana, Cousin, Halmosi, Boateng, Fagan, Garcia, Cooper, Atkinson, Featherstone.

Everton v Aston Villa

Everton could be without 10 senior players against Aston Villa tomorrow. However, the defender Leighton Baines is poised to return from a calf injury, while striker Louis Saha, who has a similar problem, will be given time to prove his fitness.

Ayegbeni Yakubu is in contention for a place in the starting XI after overcoming his heel problem to play against Tottenham on Tuesday, while Joseph Yobo, who did not feature, could return after suffering concussion.

The Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel could make his 200th successive Premier League performance tomorrow. Friedel is likely to replace Brad Guzan even though his fellow American made three penalty shoot-out saves in the midweek Carling Cup win over Sunderland.

Stephen Warnock is battling to overcome an ankle injury suffered at the Stadium of Light and Nicky Shorey could deputise if he is ruled out.

The striker Emile Heskey and the midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker picked up knocks but the Villa manager, Martin O’Neill, is hopeful of having them available. John Carew and Steve Sidwell, who made way for the pair at Sunderland, will be in contention for a recall to the starting line-up.

Everton (from): Howard, Hibbert, Heitinga, Distin, Neill, Coleman, Gosling, Rodwell, Cahill, Jô, Saha, Fellaini, Nash, Duffy, Agard, Baxter, Wallace, Akpan, Yakubu, Baines, Yobo.

Aston Villa (from) Friedel, Guzan, Cuéllar, Beye, L Young, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Sidwell, Reo-Coker, Delph, Gardner, A Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Heskey, Delfouneso, Clark.

Fulham v Liverpool

The Fulham striker Andy Johnson will be absent for tomorrow’s match with a lingering groin problem with the club hoping to have an update on his condition on Monday.

The midfielders Simon Davies (foot), Dickson Etuhu (knee) and Danny Murphy (knee) remain out but could be back for Thursday’s Europa League trip to Roma.

Steven Gerrard will miss his third successive Liverpool match tomorrow with the groin injury he picked up playing for England in Ukraine earlier this month. Liverpool will also be without England full-back Glen Johnson (calf) at Craven Cottage.

The Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani, who made his first-team debut as a substitute at Arsenal in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, has picked up a virus and will not be in the squad while Rafael Benítez will give a late test to Fernando Torres (groin) but expects him to be available.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Zuberbühler, Konchesky, Pantsil, Hangeland, Baird, Smalling, Kelly, Hughes, Dempsey, Gera, Andranik, Duff, Riise, Greening, Kamara, E Johnson, Nevland, Seol, Zamora, Elm

Liverpool (from): Reina, Aurélio, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Insúa, Babel, Lucas, Mascherano, Benayoun, Kuyt, Torres, Voronin, Ngog, Plessis, Spearing, Dossena, Cavalieri, Degen.

Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers

The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has defensive problems ahead of the match against Blackburn at Old Trafford tomorrow. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are both doubtful with calf problems and Gary Neville is suspended.

Ryan Giggs also has a knock and Danny Welbeck is sidelined with a knee injury. Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-sung remain absent with groin and knee injuries respectively.

Jason Roberts has become the latest Blackburn Rovers player to come down with suspected swine flu. Roberts is unlikely to be available for the trip to Old Trafford after showing symptoms of the virus.

The Blackburn manager, Sam Allardyce, who has suffered with the illness himself in the last few days, said that he and most of his squad had recovered after an outbreak in the camp last week but confirmed that Roberts was being seen by a doctor.

Allardyce revealed on Monday that three of his players had contracted swine flu. One of those was thought to be David Dunn, who looked in good health when he came off the bench against Peterborough in the Carling Cup on Tuesday. Another was Chris Samba, who Allardyce said was back in training but still feeling weak.

“We’ve just got Chris Samba back, who seems to have been affected the most by the symptoms,” Allardyce said. “He’s been left pretty weak, I think he has lost about four or five kilos.We’ll run him through training today and see where we go from there.

“[Pascal] Chimbonda is fit from injury, Vince Grella is back in training for us but it might be a bit too soon for him.”

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, O’Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Brown, J Evans, Evra, Anderson, Rafael, Carrick, Scholes, Valencia, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov, Nani, Owen, Macheda, Obertan, Fabio, Tosic.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Chimbonda, Salgado, Givet, Nelsen, Diouf, Andrews, Pedersen, Dunn, Brown, Jacobsen, Nzonzi, Emerton, Hoilett, Kalinic, McCarthy, Olsson, Jones, Di Santo.

Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic

Portsmouth welcome back Kevin-Prince Boateng, Jamie O’Hara, Mike Williamson and Tommy Smith tomorrow. The four were cup-tied for Tuesday’s Carling Cup win over Stoke City.

Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Hermann Hreidarsson (foot tendon) are still recovering and will not feature against the Latics.

Wigan will be without Maynor Figueroa as the Honduran full-back recovers from a knee injury. He is expected to be sidelined for up to seven weeks after suffering the setback in the victory against Burnley.

Paul Scharner is doubtful with a hamstring injury while the goalkeeper Chris Kirkland remains troubled by a dislocated finger.

Portsmouth (from): James, Kaboul, Mokoena, Mullins, Kanu, Basinas, Belhadj, Vanden Borre, Piquionne, Ben-Haim, Yebda, Dindane, Finnan, Webber, Brown, Wilson, Ashdown, O’Hara, Boateng, Williamson, Smith.

Wigan Athletic (from): Kirkland, Bramble, Scharner, Gómez, Melchiot, Boyce, N’Zogbia, Diame, Thomas, Scotland, Rodallega, Koumas, Sinclair, Pollitt, Cho, Kapo, Kingson, McCarthy.

Stoke City v Wolverhampton Wanderers

The Stoke City manager Tony Pulis is expected to recall his goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen to the line-up following the Dane’s late withdrawal at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend with flu.

Steve Simonsen stepped in and performed heroics to secure a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane, and was again in the side that lost 4-0 at Portsmouth in the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

Pulis also has to decide whether to bring Mamady Sidibe into the reckoning after the striker’s return to action at Fratton Park following a knee injury. Tuncay also performed well at Portsmouth and could force his way into a side still missing the suspended Robert Huth.

Wolves welcome back the striker Stefan Maierhofer after the Austrian served a one-match ban. However, the manager Mick McCarthy is poised to name an unchanged starting line-up, with Maierhofer on the bench as Kevin Doyle and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake continue in attack.

The on-loan Chelsea central defender Michael Mancienne is available again after missing the last two games through illness.

Stoke City (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Faye, Collins, Delap, Whelan, Whitehead, Diao, Etherington, Beattie, Tuncay, Fuller, Higginbotham, Cort, Lawrence, Kitson, Pugh, Simonsen, Sidibe.

Wolves (from): Hennessey, Hahnemann, Zubar, Stearman, Berra, Mancienne, Craddock, Elokobi, Hill, Kightly, Halford, Henry, Milijas, Surman, Castillo, Edwards, Jarvis, Ebanks-Blake, Iwelumo, Keogh, Maierhofer, Doyle.

Sunderland v West Ham United

The Sunderland striker Darren Bent is facing a race to be fit tomorrow as he battles to overcome a knee problem.

The forward missed Tuesday’s Carling Cup penalty shoot-out defeat by Aston Villa but is rated as better than 50-50 for the Hammers clash, after returning to training yesterday.

His fellow striker Fraizer Campbell is a doubt after suffering a knock against Villa, while Phil Bardsley (shoulder) and George McCartney (hip) are also touch-and-go. The midfielder Bolo Zenden and the centre-back John Mensah are ruled out. Lee Cattermole is a long-term absentee with knee ligament damage.

West Ham will be without their midfielder Scott Parker, who was sent off towards the end of last Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal and serves a one-match ban, so the Czech midfielder Radoslav Kovac comes in.

Kieron Dyer has suffered another setback and faces three weeks out with a hamstring problem picked up in training. Alessandro Diamanti is pushing to start following his game-turning performance as a substitute against the Gunners.

Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, Da Silva, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, Turner, Richardson, McCartney, Reid, Malbranque, Cana, Henderson, Campbell, Jones, Bent, Healy, Murphy.

West Ham (from): Green, Ilunga, Tomkins, Upson, Gabbidon, Noble, Faubert, Behrami, Kovac, Collison, Cole, Diamanti, Kurucz, Spector, Da Costa, Stanislas, Jiménez, Franco, Hines.

United have a host of injury concerns for Saturday’s clash with Blackburn.

Sir Alex confirms that Gabriel Obertan could be in Saturday’s squad.

Paul Scholes warns the rest of the league United’s best form is yet to come.

SIR Alex Ferguson has issued a veiled criticism of the Football Association’s decision to schedule England’s friendly international against Brazil in Doha next month.


Fabio Capello’s team will embark on a 6,500-mile round journey to play Brazil in Doha on November 14 - a date that falls between United’s trip to Chelsea six days before and the visit of Everton to Old Trafford a week later.

TOTTENHAM have been linked with an audacious swoop for Manchester United centre back Rio Ferdinand.


The Reds defender has suffered a poor start to the season with injuries and a loss of form putting him in the spotlight.

Today’s gossip is hoping you all phone up and vote for it …

It is with an extra sense of liberty that the Mill picks up its quill on this bright and cheery autumnal morning, safe in the knowledge that nobody will be reading because they are all outside the X Factor house, too busy even to access the page on their iPhones as they jostle to be in the best position to see those twins with big quiffs walk out of the door, climb into a car with darkened windows and drive off down the road to be interviewed on Tragic FM over an hour and a quarter of premium drive-time.

It’s as if Ground Zero for the British game has relocated a few miles from Wembley to the exclusive north London enclave of Hampstead (though it’s more Golders Green really). This is the new football. It’s glamorous. It’s on television much more often than you’d like. The stars are just pale imitations of the old greats. It’s troubled by crowd violence.

Crowd violence? Why yes – just like on the terraces in the bad old days, only with teenage girls and flashing breasts instead of middle-aged men and flashing blades. “I got punched in the back of the head yesterday,” one fan told the BBC. “It’s really aggressive, but I love it. It makes you want to come down even more.”

And there’s crowd congestion too. “When they appear everyone screams and runs,” says another. “It does get a bit dangerous. Someone got pushed over and people were climbing over the fences. I think the atmosphere’s a bit mad, really.”

It’s basically indistinguishable from football in the mid-80s, but for the relatively minor roles played by feet and balls. Before you know it they’ll be playing fixtures across the country before pumped-up crowds of partisans. Oh.

Incidentally, did you hear that the Chinese ambassador, Madam Fu Ying, has apparently made an official complaint because of all the noise made by teenage girls outside the X Factor house, which happens to be next to her own? Apparently she’s Fu Ming.

Is that joke acceptable? It’s so hard to tell these days.

One man who used to have the X Factor, but so far this season has been showing more of the P45 Factor, is Rio Ferdinand. Things have got so bad for the Manchester United centre-back, magazine publisher and movie mogul that he has been linked with a summer move to Tottenham Ruddy Hotspur, whose manager Harry Redknapp is “monitoring the situation closely”. United, meanwhile, think Everton’s Jack Rodwell is right up their street. But so do Arsenal and Liverpool.

Talking of Arsenal, their Carling Cup hero Fran Mérida, out of contract in the summer, is straying dangerously close to the crosshairs on Atlético Madrid’s sharp-shooter’s scope. “He’s a player that interests us,” says their president, Enrique Cerezo. “The decision rests with the kid because he is free in June.” Apparently on his way into the Emirates is Torino’s Italy Under-21 defender Angelo Ogbonna. “I know exactly what I want and I am not closing the door on anything,” he says.

Puzzling quote of the day comes from the Gunners’ Samir Nasri, on the subject of his first start in three months against Liverpool on Wednesday. “I had appetite,” he says. “I wanted to eat the pitch.” Eh?

X Factor United twins John and Edward have shaken hands with someone who since found out he has swine flu, so now they might die.

Phil Brown has two games to save his job. But if Hull lose the first – at Burnley tomorrow – he might not get the second. So it’s one game to save his job, really. Except the Mail says he’ll be sacked even if he wins it. So he’s done for, basically. Reading’s Brendan Rodgers has also been given two games to save his job, although whether this means one, none, or three it’s hard to make out.

Birmingham want a striker, but can’t decide whether to go for Seville’s £8m-rated Arouna Koné, perhaps on loan, or Salzburg’s Austrian international Marc Janko. Or both. And Celtic’s Aiden McGeady. Cripes. You’d have thought the club had a wealthy new backer or something.

And now our Championship rumour special! You can skip this paragraph if you want, as it doesn’t mention Manchester United at any point. QPR are the latest club to think that if you pay Nathan Ellington enough money he might be as good as he was at Wigan all those years ago, and won’t find anyone at Watford putting up much of a fight to keep him. Ipswich want the Celtic captain Stephen McManus, Derby are planning a swoop for Plymouth’s Jamie Mackie and Swansea want Sheffield United’s David Cotterill.

And the Mill has been linked with a move from its desk in Mill Towers to the No82 bus to Golders Green, though the double-decked suitor will have to fight off a rival bid from the No13.

• Alan Wiley reportedly made offer to Keith Hackett
• Ferguson praised for accepting Gary Neville red card

Alan Wiley reportedly offered to resign after the criticism levelled at his fitness by Alex Ferguson following Manchester United’s draw with Sunderland.

The 49-year-old official said that if the referees chief Keith Hackett did not think he was fit enough to take charge of Premier League games he would resign, according to the Daily Star.

Hackett, general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, told the paper that people in football should show more understanding of the pressure referees faced. “What football needs to realise is these guys have to walk down the street and into shopping malls and this was public pressure,” Hackett said.

However, Hackett was pleased with the Manchester United manager’s acceptance of Gary Neville’s dismissal in the Carling Cup tie at Barnsley on Tuesday. “That helps enormously,” he said. “It’s been a good season so far. Red cards are down because of the dialogue between us all.”

In what has already been a lively season for refereeing controversies, Hackett added that he had apologised to the Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez over the award of Sunderland’s beachball-deflected goal in the match at the Stadium of Light earlier this month and felt Arsène Wenger was poorly treated during Arsenal’s defeat at Manchester United in August.

“When I rang Benítez about the beach ball he was excellent about it,” Hackett continued. “I don’t go around saying sorry all the time but I do when I think it is necessary. It was a rule and should have been known.” The referee at that match, Mike Jones, was demoted the following weekend.

Hackett said the Arsenal manager’s sending-off in the last minute of their defeat at Old Trafford brought bad publicity for his profession. The fourth official Lee Probert and the referee Roger Dean were both reprimanded and Hackett contacted Wenger to apologise: “Why not just say to Arsène, ‘There are seconds to go, come on, settle down’?”

The referees chief also reiterated his support for goalline technology in the light of events this season. “This season we had an incident when Crystal Palace scored a goal at Bristol City and it wasn’t given. We could eliminate that mistake in seconds. Hawk-Eye technology could be a huge friend to football. We are not in an age of guesswork anymore.”

MANCHESTER United striker Wayne Rooney has been shortlisted for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.


Rooney has spearheaded the Reds attack admirably since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and also impressed for Fabio Capello’s resurgent England side.

SIR Alex Ferguson looks set for another collision course with Rafael Benitez over Valencia star David Villa.


Both United and Liverpool have been alerted to the fact that the Spanish international could be made available during the January transfer window.

• Wigan manager rings round bosses to apologise
• League Managers Association offers its full support

Roberto Martínez is being offered the full investigative support of the League Managers Association in a bid to prove he did not make the controversial comments that have forced him to apologise to Sir Alex Ferguson, Steve Bruce, Sam Allardyce and Rafael Benítez.

Reports in Spain at the weekend claimed the Wigan manager had accused Ferguson of heading up an anti-Benítez alliance, backed up by chief foot-soldiers including the Blackburn Rovers manager, Allardyce, and Sunderland’s Bruce.

It prompted Martínez to issue a rapid denial of the quotes before also referring the matter to the LMA, who are standing by their man. A full investigation is under way, with the LMA seeking to clarify with Martínez his version of events before deciding on future action.

“We are discussing it internally to see how best we can address the situation to ensure this does not happen again,” its chief executive, Richard Bevan, said yesterday. “Until we have concluded our investigation and spoken to Roberto we really have nothing else to inform you of,” he added.

Martínez explained that he has sought the intervention of the LMA simply because he is too inexperienced to know where else to turn in such a scenario. “I’m 36, 10 games in the Premier League, I’ve never been in this situation before,” he said. “They’ve got the advice and expertise, and we’ll try to get to the bottom of it and see the best way to deal with it.”

Martínez was not happy with the way he had been forced into making a ring-around to smooth out the situation with his fellow Premier League managers. “I spoke to Sir Alex and Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce but also Rafa Benítez as well because I felt it was just as disrespectful to him. I don’t think he needs anyone to defend him.

“It’s fortunate that for 14 years I’ve been talking to the British media, everyone knows me and I have no problem talking about any issue or any subject that concerns me or the club, but we need to understand the Spanish media is very different. People who know me know I am not a disrespectful person. I don’t feel I have the right to discuss this or feel I have done anything in the Premier League yet to talk about other football clubs.”

• Sir Alex Ferguson says Brazil game motivated by ‘nice trip’
• ‘You have the intrusion of a friendly in some unknown country’

Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his frustration about the scheduling of England’s friendly matches and accused the Football Association of arranging games as money-making exercises when, to his mind, possibly even Fabio Capello does not want them. England have a friendly against Brazil in Qatar on 14 November and Ferguson believes there are times when the FA’s directors are more interested in a “nice trip” on a “sunny day” than the needs of Premier League managers.

The FA is being paid a reputed £400,000 to stage the match in Doha despite it meaning a 6,500-mile round trip for the players and two flights of almost seven hours. Ferguson did not refer to the Qatar match specifically but is known to be dismayed by its timing and the demands it will put on the players who will be involved from Manchester United.

“It’s a coach’s nightmare, especially if you are in the middle of a European campaign and going for cups and titles,” the United manager said. “You have all these fixtures and you have the intrusion of a friendly international game in some unknown country, so that is a definite thorn in everyone’s flesh.

“Unfortunately you can’t do anything about it. It’s always a grey area between coaches of the league teams and the English manager. All the international managers have their jobs to do and we support that, particularly when it comes to the issues of competitive games such as the European Championship or the World Cup. You want them to play in the important international games; it’s the friendly matches that are the problem.

“I don’t think that any [league manager] agrees with them whereas international managers have a situation that they find themselves in. I think that some of them actually could do without the friendly games themselves, but the football associations from every country warn them that sometimes it’s a nice day for them, a nice trip for them, a sunny day, and in some cases it creates good revenue for them. So you can understand it.”

Ferguson is notoriously reluctant to let his players be involved in international friendlies, particularly when it requires a long trip and the potentially sapping effects of jet lag. His primary concern, however, is the fitness of his players and, to cite one example, Neil Webb tells the story of being instructed to make up an injury to get out of an England friendly against Czechoslovakia in 1992. However, the United manager now says that, with age, he has stopped worrying so much about players picking up injuries on international duty.

“When I first came to United I used to worry about the players all going away, and I remember one case when we were playing Arsenal in the fifth round of the [FA] Cup at the old Highbury stadium [in February 1988], and Bryan Robson got injured in the international game on the Wednesday before and missed the Cup tie, and we lost 2-1.

“I would have thought that if Bryan Robson had been there we’d have been OK. But I no longer worry about it. I accept it as part of the international scene. I no longer focus on every match that is going on because there are so many players all over the world, so I no longer get myself in a twist about it.”

A succession of England managers may doubt that, but Ferguson insisted that he was generally happy for his players to be picked for their countries.

“There are occasions when I’m hoping a player gets picked, For psychological reasons, to give the player a boost, because he’s maybe been overlooked before,” he said. “For instance, Michael Carrick has not been a regular in the England team, and he’s a very, very good player but, with Lampard and Gerrard, players of that calibre, competing with him then sometimes I’m very hopeful that he’ll get picked and show his true self. You have at times a good strong feeling that this could be good for your player.”

Sam Allardyce’s men have conceded fives and sixes… could you cash in?

• Fábio booked for trip Rafael had made against Barnsley
• FA regulatory commission to consider case next week

Sir Alex Ferguson admits he struggles to tell them apart and now it appears that referees suffer from the same problem. Fábio and Rafael da Silva helped United to secure a place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals in Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory against Barnsley but now the club have submitted a claim of mistaken identity to the Football Association.

When both Da Silva twins challenged Barnsley’s Jamal Campbell-Ryce in the 83rd minute, resulting in the Barnsley substitute being tripped, Chris Foy showed a yellow card to Fábio. Later television replays showed Rafael to be the offender. The FA confirmed it has been approached by United and the submission will be heard on Tuesday by a regulatory commission.

“We are in discussions with the FA over this matter,” confirmed a United spokesman. “We have pointed out that the referee made a mistake on the night and we obviously want it to be corrected. We will be asking for further advice on how best to rectify the situation.”

Foy sent off United’s Gary Neville in the 63rd minute of that match, a decision Ferguson later admitted was the right one. The United manager found more common ground with the referee with his previous admission that he can only tell the difference between the 19-year-old Da Silva twins by the wedding ring that Fábio wears.

Fábio, whose shirt number is 20, was sent off in United’s third-round Carling Cup victory over Wolverhampton. Rafael, who wears 21 on his shirt, was playing his first match for United this season against Barnsley after returning from shoulder surgery in the summer.

Manchester United submit a claim of mistaken identity to the FA after Fabio da Silva was booked for a foul, rather than his twin brother Rafael.

MANCHESTER United are breaking Michael Owen in gently at Old Trafford following his surprise free transfer move from Newcastle in the summer.


Owen marked his return to the starting XI at Barnsley, after being on the bench against Liverpool, with his third goal of the season in the Carling Cup victory.

Former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson retires from football after a career spanning two decades.

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has phoned Sir Alex Ferguson to explain remarks attributed to him in a Spanish newspaper.


Martinez has also contacted Steve Bruce, Sam Allardyce and Rafael Benitez after they were all implicated in the article.

• United say Rafael da Silva should have been booked not Fábio
• FA will hear the case in a regulatory commission

Manchester United have submitted a claim of mistaken identity to the Football Association after Fábio da Silva was booked by Chris Foy against Barnsley in the Carling Cup.

Instead the offender – for a challenge on Jamal Campbell-Ryce – was his twin brother, Rafael.

The FA confirmed they have been approached by United and the submission will be heard on Tuesday by a regulatory commission.

The Brazilian twins helped United secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition thanks to a 2-0 victory. However the holders finished the game with 10 men after Foy sent off Gary Neville for clattering into Adam Hammill.

MANCHESTER United have submitted a claim of mistaken identity to the Football Association after Fabio da Silva was booked by referee Chris Foy against Barnsley in the Carling Cup.


Instead the offender - for a challenge on Jamal Campbell-Ryce - was his twin brother Rafael.

Reds’ next league opponents put five past Peterborough in the Carling Cup.

Welbeck and Owen reflect on a successful trip to Barnsley.

All the information you need to know ahead of Saturday’s clash with Rovers.

Peterborough United sign Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos on a one-month loan.

INDULGE me for a moment because I need to get this question off my chest. Do you have to be an expert spitter to play professional football?


Watching a player gob out a mouthful of his bodily fluids on to the pitch - or on to an opponent - is disgusting enough as it is.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez contacts Sir Alex Ferguson and other managers to explain remarks attributed to him in the Spanish media.

NORTHWICH Victoria have hit the jackpot with their FA Cup first round clash with Charlton being televised live on ITV1.


The club, which went into administration for the second time in five years in May, will net £67,500 television money.


Add to that the prospect of a sell-out crowd against League One opposition and a potential £18,000 prize money should they win the tie, and it is the answer to the cash-strapped club’s financial prayers.

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has phoned Sir Alex Ferguson to explain remarks attributed to him in a Spanish newspaper.


Martinez has also contacted Steve Bruce, Sam Allardyce and Rafael Benitez after they were all implicated in the article.

MICHAEL Owen must be wondering where the next threat to his international ambitions will come from.


The United striker is desperate to force his way into Fabio Capello’s World Cup plans - but everywhere he turns another challenger enters the fray.

GIVEN the manner in which he was left red-faced by Fernando Torres, you might think the Liverpool striker would rank highly among the hitmen most feared by Rio Ferdinand.


But aside from Real Madrid forward Raul, the other men singled out by the United defender, might surprise a few. The names of John Hartson and Kevin Davies wouldn’t be top of most Reds fans’ lists when it comes to their ideal frontman.

Sir Alex Ferguson should let his team do the talking – we’ve all heard enough

The day will come, attended by trumpets and glorious sunshine piercing the clouds, when Sir Alex Ferguson admits that righteousness exists outside Old Trafford and the confines of his own mind. He came close this week when he said of Gary Neville’s tackle on Barnsley’s Adam Hammill: “I think he followed through and caught the boy. It wasn’t high, just above the ankle, but in the present climate I think the referee was correct.”

Above the ankle as in just under the knee. Probably correct as in dead right. But, you know, it’s a start. We ought to be used to it, but we are obsessed with the man. He probably knows it, as well – which might be why he comes out with such nonsense.

It would be sensible, I suppose, to ignore him. And how would he handle a reverse boycott? How would Ferguson exist in a world where the only people listening to what he had to say were his team, his wife and the poor folk at MUTV? But that is harder said than done when Manchester United are so central to everything that moves on Planet Football.

Help is at hand, though. Another eccentric Scot, Gordon Strachan, has reappeared in our lives to sprinkle slightly less acidic wisdom. Strachan’s return to football management at Middlesbrough was marked by his trademark gnomic observations on life, and how welcome they were.

There is something life-affirming about a manager who turns up at a new club and announces that, all things considered, he’d still rather be driving around the west coast of Ireland in the rain – and then lets it be known, surreptitiously on a piece of paper, that there are nine players he wants to sign, including United’s Federico Macheda and Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere. You can almost hear the teacups rattling the walls in Manchester and London.

Strachan’s view of football and life is somewhat removed from that of Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, and long may it be so. When he was at Southampton years ago, he told me that, apart from the coaching and running around, football management was a bit of a bore. “I don’t really like the day-to-day nonsense,” he said. “I love football, but I’m not obsessed with it.”

Partly that might be due to the fact that Strachan was still doing the business as a player for Leeds United in his late 30s and for Coventry at the age of 40. He left the playing field sated.

Earlier he played under Ferguson at Aberdeen, and what wonderful days they were as they broke the Old Firm nexus in Scotland and went on to conquer Europe.

But how their careers diverged after that. Ferguson went on to define his career – and his life – as a manager, probably the finest these islands have produced. Strachan chose to extend his playing career until he reckoned the bones and muscles weren’t up to it any more.

United paid £500,000 for him in 1984 and it started pretty well, as Strachan played his part winning the FA Cup the following year. Thereafter, he struggled – and Ferguson sold him to Leeds for £200,000 in 1989. There appeared to be no rancour, but Strachan seemed determined to prove Ferguson wrong by going on just a little bit longer than the United manager reckoned he was capable of. To the astonishment of many, he played some of his best football at Elland Road.

Apart from his time at Celtic, Strachan always seemed the most reluctant manager, someone who wandered into the job for the lack of alternatives. And so it came across at Middlesbrough this week, when he was brought back from semi-retirement to replace Gareth Southgate.

Strachan does not lack for passion. In fact he has a burning desire to return to Scotland one day and help restore the game there. For now, his job is saving Middlesbrough.

It will be some time before he shares a touchline with Ferguson. Indeed, it might never happen. But, if it does, I think the banter on Strachan’s patch will be some way more entertaining – and entirely less predictable – than in the United box.

Dingo v Rocky – a battle that’s more OAP than WBO

I’m not sure what this says about the state of Australian boxing (or the sport in general) but the gloriously named Dexter “Dingo” Dunworth, 53, from Sydney, who claims to be the oldest professional fighter in the world, has challenged Sylvester “Rocky” Stallone to a fight.

This, you might assume, would be for the world heavyweight championship of sadness.

No, it is proposed as a bout to decide the hitherto little-known Mid-American heavyweight title – which is wholly appropriate for a fighter whose 10 ring appearances have been restricted to Arkansas, in venues as modest as the Old High School Gym in Ozark, the Washington County Fair Grounds in Lafayetteville, and the LV Williams Boys and Girls Club in Russellville.

To be fair to Dingo, he has won nine of those, by stoppage, retirement or knockout. To be even fairer, the other guys – one of whom revels in the ring name Mitch “Hold My Beer” Hicks – would struggle as opponents for SpongeBob SquarePants, let alone Rocky.

Dingo told the Sun-Herald, “I’m old enough to be the father of many of my opponents … and I hope, if nothing else, I can inspire others to get out and have a go.” He has. A story from Germany says Stallone, 63, is going to make Rocky VII.

Americans could teach us all a lesson in honesty

Bite down on this, but we’ve still got a lot to learn from the Americans about sport and telling it like it is.

“We aren’t good right now. That’s it. Period.” – Browns quarterback Derek Anderson. “I don’t think we could have beaten an Oakland high school team today.” – Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour. “It’s embarrassing to come out and play like that. I tip my hat to their whole team.” – Bears defensive end Alex Brown, after losing by 35 points to the Bengals.

And here?

“Liverpool were the better team, they deserved to win the game, but there were so many controversial things that happened we have to feel aggrieved at some of them.” – Sir Alex Ferguson. “The crowd got Vidic booked, and that put the ref under pressure but this atmosphere is hard to handle for a referee. Whether he had enough experience or not, I don’t know, but he will certainly learn from it.” – Ditto. “It is a fantastic result, and maybe it was the perfect game.” – Rafael Benítez.

Zamora gets himself in another fine miss

OK, everyone can miss a goal from 15 feet out, but how long before the old Brighton & Hove Albion classic is revived at Fulham: “When you’re sat in Row Z, and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora”? Just a thought.