Dunne returns for City. Van Persie ruled out by Wenger. Hughes optimistic on Samba fitness. A virus puts Mellberg’s home farewell in doubt. Davies returns to lead the line for Bolton. Oh yeah, Derby’s Stubbs goes under the knife.

As per usual for Thursday night, the team news section has had a refresh to bring you all the early fact and speculation for the weekend. It’s highly likely that this will get a another pass tomorrow evening after more news breaks and just before I take the plunge with my picks.

Alex Ferguson has indicated that Wayne Rooney will be fit to play a part in the weekend clash with West Ham, although he appears a little more cagey over the prospects of Nemanja Vidic being available.

Both missed last night’s victory over Barca but Ferguson has remarked that Rooney’s hip injury should repair in time for him to play a role against the Hammers.

“He will be a lot better in a few days and involved on Saturday somewhere along the line,” remarked the United boss.

Vidic meanwhile is still apparently under supervision of medical staff following the nasty clash with Drogba’s knee. If I recall, the conditions of a concussion related injury apparently force a player to sit out 7-days so he looks unlikely to make Saturday’s game.

The notes form last weekend’s games emerge from a sea of packing boxes and bubble wrap, benefiting from a some additional thoughts following United’s progress to the Champions League final tonight.

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Evening all. At the risk of turning the site into one of those fascinating diary blogs, this is just a quick post to offer reassurance that I am very much alive and now successfully installed in my new abode. I’m still surrounded by packing boxes, each with an hour of my time allocated to them for tomorrow. Today though, I had to get the Sky and Broadband up a running - it’s all about priorities.

Getting back to business - I’ll steal time to put some belated and probably abridged, weekend notes together at some point tomorrow. For now, I’ll do some spring cleaning around the site before the after effects of shifting 50 boxes up two flights gets the better of me.

Thanks for all those who kept the previous post ticking over and for your patience as always.

Surrounded by boxes and with a house move in he offing, the weekend picks have been delayed tonight. Belatedly then, refresh your screen for this week’s lineup and read on for the why’s and wherefores…

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I’ve done a full pass over the team news to bring you the very latest juice from around the Premiership grounds. Here’s some of the more notable of the fresh pickings…

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My early thoughts on the weekend team news has been poured into the site tonight. It’s the usual 70-30 mix of fact and speculation, with a dash of uncertainty courtesy of Mr Wenger and Mr Benitez.

I’ll do my best to stiffen this concoction throughout the day tomorrow, as more news on knocks and scrapes rise to the surface.

Get the early stuff here.

The plot is thickening down at the Emirates - and it’s not looking good for fantasy managers. Wenger has announced today that he has now lost Diaby for the rest of the season after he ruptured a tendon in his thigh in a reserve outing on Monday. He joins the suspended Hleb on the sidelines [source]. Worse still, Wenger has hinted at a rotation policy for those players involved in Euro 2008.

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Ronaldo carefully places his spot-kick into the top right-hand corner of the frame behind the goal and United return to Old Trafford with a draw. The return leg will be another squeaky affair but with the Premiership in the balance, Ferguson won’t be free to tinker this weekend. Here’s my notes on another night in Europe…

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It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated my player rankings (read player recommendations) for the month to come. With less than a month left I’ve decided to update them. If that makes little or no sense, just wait until you read this lot…

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Alex McCleish will welcome back Sebastian Larsson for the visit of Liverpool at the weekend. Larssson suffered a knee injury against Everton on April 12 and missed the mauling at Villa on Sunday. Jerome took his place wide on the right in that game but McCleish will recall the Swede should he be fit.

“Seb did a fair bit of running on Monday and Tuesday and the physios were pleased with his progress,” said McLeish.

“He is scheduled to join us tomorrow morning for training. We are optimistic about his chances of being fit for Saturday.”

Larsson has been a popular budget purchase this season and has arguably been Birmingham’s one major success story. He is still owned over 150,000 managers in the FPL game, a fact that has seen his modest initial value rise from 4.5 to 4.9 million. He has rewarded investors with five goals and four assists. With Liverpool likely to field a “weakened” side at St Andrews and Birmingham fighting for survival, he could well add to that tally on Saturday.

Everton seem likely to be boosted by the return of both Arteta and Osman for the visit of in-form Villa at the weekend. Arteta is currently in Spain receiving intensive specialist treatment for what have been stubborn stomach and groin injuries, but is reportedly winning his battle to be available for the crucial clash with O’Neill’s men [source].

Osman meanwhile has missed the last two games with a hip injury but started training on Monday. Moyes appears to be confident that he’ll also be available to him.

The return of the midfield duo would likely see Fernandes and Hibbert make way, with Neville returning to a right-back role. The creative influence they bring could well hand Yakubu some much needed ammunition as he seeks to improve on a dismal run of just one goal in nine games. Sunday’s encounter is suddenly looking good for a few goals.

United have worries over the fitness of both Vidic and Brown for tonight’s clash with Barca. Both missed training yesterday, with Vidic apparently hospitalised with a stomach problem.

It is believed that Vidic returned to the United hotel yesterday evening after seeking treatment for the illness. However, he remains a serious doubt for tonight’s game. Pique took the role of centre-back in yesterday’s training session, while O’Shea filled in at right-back while Brown sat out.

The feeling is that both will turn out in tonight’s game, and while neither are likely to get the opportunity to rest come the weekend with the trip to Stamford Bridge looming, their fantasy owners will need to monitor tonight’s lineup and their performance in particular.

Kuyt’s first half-goal is cancelled out, as Cech keeps Liverpool at bay for Riise’s stooping blooper to hand Grant’s men the advantage. Now it’s time to brace yourself for some nasty weekend rafatation. Here’s the notes…

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