A quick-fire Scribbles on a busy afternoon sees Andy Carroll looking for more Liverpool starts, with his fitness on the up. Kenny Dalglish awaits news on his injured skipper’s ankle, Robin Van Persie talks goals and Steve Bruce hints at a change of formation….
Andy Carroll’s goal at the Hawthorns on Saturday evening means the Liverpool forward has scored and picked up maximum bonus points in each of his last two away games. The big-money buy from Newcastle admits he’s been doing a little extra in training in order to keep his place in the first-team and admitted he’s perhaps not been at the level expected:
I have been working hard to get my place and I think I have earned it. I played well last week and getting a goal as well this weekend was even better. It is disappointing when you are sitting on the bench but it only makes you work harder the next day in training to get your place back. I am working hard in training every day to get my fitness up. I can only say I am working my hardest to get back the way I was. I just need to keep getting my name on the starting sheet every week and see what happens from there.
Robin Van Persie’s extraordinary run of form shows no sign of letting up and, with a favourable run of fixtures on the horizon for a number of gameweeks, the Dutchman seems set to clock up the Fantasy points at an alarming rate. Speaking yesterday, the Arsenal skipper admitted he feels unstoppable right now:
I feel I can score every time I go out on to the pitch. For me it’s just the best feeling to have. It doesn’t really matter against who we play, we always create chances so that means I always have a go. Then it’s up to me to score. I’ll miss chances, but I’ll score them as well. To have that feeling is one of the best things in life.
Sunderland’s first-choice keeper Simone Mignolet has this morning undergone surgery on the broken nose that forced him from the field in Saturday’s home draw with Aston Villa. The Belgian suffered the injury after colliding with Emile Heskey and the club confirmed he will undergo further tests to establish the expected length of absence- Kieren Westwood looks set for a spell between the sticks for the Black Cats in the meantime.
Bruce suffered more defensive woes after John O’Shea suffered a hamstring injury in the Villa game. According to the Black Cats boss, it’s a recurrence of the same problem that plagued the Irishman in pre-season and looks almost certain to keep him out of Saturday’s visit to old club Man United, with Phil Bardsley a ready-made replacement.
Further news from the Stadium of Light concerns Sunderland’s recent change of formation. The Black Cats have moved to a 4-4-2 shape in recent games but Bruce warned he may alter the formation once again, with Connor Wickham looking like the one to drop out, going by Bruce’s comments:
Against Villa we can play two strikers and score two goals but in the game itself and the second half in particular Villa caused us all sorts of problems because they had that extra man in midfield. They had more of the ball, even though they haven’t done a lot with it. It denies us time on the ball and leads to frustration in the crowd. Connor can expect a decent run in the team and when we have unleashed him it has been at the right time. He is far better now than four months ago. Connor is physically a big, strong boy, but he is a boy and we have to protect him. There will be a time when he runs out of juice and at that stage he will have to come out but we are very, very pleased with him at the moment.
Liverpool are anxiously awaiting news on Steven Gerrard’s ankle problem after reports suggest an extended lay-off could possibly be on the cards. Having only just returned from a long-term groin problem, the skipper had started the homes games with Man United and Norwich before picking up what initially seemed an innocuous cut to his ankle in training ahead of the game at West Brom. The injury deteriorated significantly and, despite having the ankle drained, Gerrard awaits further prognosis on the problem.
Roberto Martinez has been scathing in his assessment of Fulham’s tackling after Momo Diame lasted just twelve minutes in Saturday’s home loss to the Cottagers. Diame had been in strong form, firing two goals in the previous four matches, but a couple of strong challenges saw him sidelined with an ankle injury.
The injury to Momo was really disappointing. He had two horrific challenges in the space of about 30 seconds, really early in the game and it was just something where I don’t think the referee gave any sort of protection. We’re hoping it’s just a twisted ankle, after a really bad tackle.He’ll have a scan to discover the real damage and if it’s a ligament tear as well. If it is, it’s going to be a really long period.
Rafael could be set to step up his recovery from a shoulder injury by returning to reserve action against Everton on Thursday. The right-back has failed to feature in the league so far for United and his availability would be a considerable boost for Sir Alex Ferguson, with Chris Smalling reportedly out for a month with a toe problem. United also today confirmed Darron Gibson is back in training after a metatarsal injury.
