Roy Hodgson looks set to rotate his squad for the remainder of the season. Alan Pardew is confident of a return for Cheick Tiote this weekend, though is less certain on Ryan Taylor. Martin O’Neill has a few injury concerns ahead of this evening’s trip to Blackburn, while Roberto Mancini is set to give Carlos Tevez a bench role at the Etihad against Chelsea tomorrow night.
Roy Hodgson offered an insight into his selection strategy for the remainder of the season – a policy that won’t be welcomed by us Fantasy managers. Having navigated his side away from the trapdoor of relegation, Hodgson has expressed his intent to utilise his squad from this point on…
We’re looking upwards and I’m looking to use the whole of the squad…People can expect a few changes in the coming nine games rather than me just playing the same 11 each week because, as we saw, people like Scharner, who came in for Andrews, and people like Long, who came in for Fortune, are available.
This will likely see heavy rotation, with the midfield and attack looking particularly cloudy. The likes of Jerome Thomas, Chris Brunt and perhaps recent Fantasy favourite James Morrison could all be prone to rotation, while Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie and Marc-Antoine Fortune are all set to compete for the forward roles – with the possibility that Hodgson will continue with a lone striker strategy.
The back four could also rotate at the full-back positions, although both Gareth McAuley and Jonas Olsson look likely everpresents and are set to have their partnership restored for the visit of Newcastle this weekend.
Newcastle’s top four ambitions are set to be boosted by the return of Cheick Tiote for the visit to the Hawthorns. Alan Pardew seems confident that the combative midfielder will be in contention, having missed the narrow win over Norwich at the weekend. James Perch was drafted into central midfield for the Canaries match on Sunday in Tiote’s absence, with Yohan Cabaye moving out wide to cover the flank as a result of Jonas Gutierrez’s shift to left-back.
The Magpies boss is less confident on Ryan Taylor’s chances – the top owned FPL defender has missed Newcastle’s last two matches due to a calf injury. Pardew is hopeful of a return for Taylor against Liverpool on April 1.
Taylor’s return will be interesting, given that Pardew has shuffled his resources of late. The decision to hand Gutierrez the left-back berth against Norwich was a major surprise, as Davide Santon dropped to the bench. Taylor could well see a return to left-back then, with Hatem Ben Arfa perhaps cementing regular starts on the right-flank, competing with Gabriel Obertan. Santon’s potential as a Fantasy asset currently looks far from guaranteed.
North-East rivals Sunderland are reportedly set to go into tonight’s trip to Ewood Park with doubts surrounding the fitness of both Phil Bardsley and Seb Larsson; Kieran Richardson is also thought to be a major doubt with some reports suggesting he is ruled out.
Bardsley’s rib injury, sustained in the cup tie at Goodison on Saturday, is set to hand a debut to Sotirios Kyrgiakos, with John O’Shea likely to shift to right-back. Larssson’s possible absence could open the way for a return for David Vaughan, who came off the bench in the 1-1 with Everton. Stephane Sessegnon will serve the last of his three-match ban in tonight’s game, while Lee Cattermole will complete his suspension in the home clash with QPR at the weekend.
Blackburn will go into tonight’s game with just Vince Grella on the sidelines. Steve Kean has been boosted by the return to fitness of both Bradley Orr and David Dunn and the duo could be line to start against the Black Cats.
Carlos Tevez is set to make the bench for City’s Etihad clash with Chelsea tomorrow evening. Reports today state that striker has impressed in training with Roberto Mancini ready to turn to the Argentine to help revive the title challenge. Joleon Lescott is reportedly poised to return to to bolster the City backline – the centre-half is hopeful of a return to full training today, after being sidelined with a groin problem for a fortnight. Both Gareth Barry and Pablo Zabaleta are expected to be available, as the injuries ease ease for Mancini. Unfortunately for the City boss, Vincent Kompany is set to miss out tomorow.The Belgian has undergone intensive treatment on a calf injury but has failed to recover in time, with question marks also raised against the likelihood of his availability for the weekend game against Stoke. If Lescott makes it for tomorrow, Mancini will be set to choose between Stefan Savic and Kolo Toure in the heart of the City defence, with a newly confident Fernando Torres possibly lining up in opposition.
