Danny Welbeck is struggling to make Unitedβs final two games with a badly bruised ankle. Tony Pulis blames squad fatigue as Stoke stumble towards the finishing line. Kenny Dalglish admits his host of changes against Fulham may have been an error, Alex McLeish rules out hopes of a Darren Bent comeback, while reports suggest Alan Pardew may switch to 4-4-2 against Chelsea this evening.
Reports suggest Danny Welbeck could be sidelined for Unitedβs final two games of the season. The forward left Old Trafford wearing a protective boot on his ankle on Monday evening, following a challenge by Cityβs Nigel De Jong and was sent for scans yesterday to ascertain the damage. While the prognosis was positive, itβs thought that Welbeck has suffered heavy bruising to his ankle, making him a doubt for Sundayβs game with Swansea and the final day trip to Sunderland. Javier Hernandez looks poised to replace him in the first XI, with fit-again Michael Owen set for a call up to the first-team squad.
Kenny Dalglish has shouldered some of the blame for Liverpoolβs dire home defeat by Fulham yesterday evening. Having watched his side hammer Norwich last weekend, the Reds boss made nine changes to his first XI with the hope of offering squad players a chance to impress before Saturdayβs FA Cup Final with Chelsea, but his side failed to hit their stride and fell to a fourth defeat at Anfield in the last five. With a league clash at home to Chelsea next week, Dalglish slammed last night’s display and application, admitting his raft of changes were, upon reflection, not the best idea:
Their attitude was not right and if you get a bad attitude you are going to get a bad performance and that is what we got. I am culpable as well as I changed a lot of players to try to give everyone an opportunity to get in the frame for Saturday. I suppose by doing that it was a contributory factor to what happened but you can only be fair. I tried to be fair and give everyone an opportunity – maybe I was wrong. We cannot play at that tempo, we have to play at a quicker tempo than that. We deserved nothing.
Tony Pulis has admitted his Stoke side are suffering from fatigue as the season draws to a close. With his side 1-0 down midway through the second half in last nightβs game with Everton, the Potters boss threw on three substitutes and within two minutes, Stoke had drawn level. Pulis revealed post-match that the switch, which saw him replace front pair Peter Crouch and Jon Walters, was purely down to tiredness amongst his first-team regulars, with the clubβs European exertions starting to take their toll on certain individuals:
I just felt Crouchy and one or two of them looked tired tonight. It was always a case of giving Rory an hour and then bringing him off because he hasn’t played for a while. I just felt it was right to do. Jon Walters has had a long season. This is 54 games now.
Angel Rangel hopes to recover from a freak hamstring injury in time for Swanseaβs trip to United this weekend. The right-back missed out last Saturday in the 4-4 draw against Wolves after sustaining the injury while carrying his 18 month-old son down the stairs but revealed he hopes to return to training today ahead of Sunday afternoonβs visit to Old Trafford.
Reports in the local press have suggested that Newcastle may switch back to 4-4-2 for tonightβs trip to Chelsea. With defeat at the Bridge, coupled with a Spurs win at Bolton, likely to end their chances of a fourth place finish, Alan Pardew is allegedly contemplating the idea of pairing Papiss Cisse with Demba Ba once again, in order to get more from the latter. Ba has now gone eleven games without a goal and is clearly ineffective on the left, though Pardew revealed he is relaxed about the worst scoring drought of the forwardβs career:
He is a strong person. Thereβs nothing I can do (about his goalscoring). The chance will come and Demba will either take it or he wonβt. I do know one thing, and that is that he was a big player in the second half for us on Saturday. In all fairness, we should have scored two goals in the second half and I was pleased with him. However, I cannot determine how he is going to score a goal.
Pardew may also have a selection dilemma at right-back to deal with. Danny Simpson is still struggling to overcome the knock that saw him subbed off towards the end of Saturdayβs defeat at the DW β Simpson has been an ever-present at right-back this term; if he fails to make it, Ryan Taylor or James Perch are on standby to fill in.
Alex McLeish has revealed Darren Bent is out of Villaβs final couple of matches as the club battle to beat the drop. The forward has failed to feature since Gameweek 26 due to an ankle injury but McLeish admitted that, although Bent is on the mend, heβs still a while away from full fitness:
I said “Are you ready to go on the bench at the weekend?”. He said: “No, not quite, but I’m making good progress, so boss it might be too soon”. I don’t believe there is a chance of him playing again for Villa this season. The doc thinks he’s got a chance for the Euros though, so he’s talking about four or five weeks.
The Villa boss also went on to reveal that James Collins is a doubt for this weekendβs home game with Tottenham. The centre-half was on the bench for last Saturdayβs trip to West Brom but has failed to train due to a groin problem β with Richard Dunne back to partner Carlos Cuellar, though, McLeish is happy with cover in central defence, with Villa chalking up two clean sheets in their last three.
Nigel Reo-Coker is winning his fitness battle to overcome a leg problem ahead of tonightβs visit of Spurs. The Bolton midfielder was forced off towards the end of last weekendβs draw at Sunderland with the injury but has responded well to treatment and is in line for a return. The Trotters are sweating on the fitness of Chris Eagles, though; the former Burnley man was taken off just after the hour mark at the Stadium of Light with a hamstring problem.
