A handful of World Cup Qualifying matches involving Premier League regulars took place yesterday evening. As always, we kept a keen eye on the proceedings, with Chris Samba and Yaya Toure amongst the goals for Congo and Ivory Coast respectively. Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson offers reassurance on Glen Johnson’s absence against San Marino and Chris Coleman pledges to keep Gareth Bale under cotton wool as Wales prepare for Tuesday’s vital meeting with Croatia.

Back on the domestic front, Martin O’Neill hints at a first-team return for Phil Bardsley as speculation mounts on a long lay-off for Steven Fletcher, while Norwich’s John Ruddy reckons it may be “a few weeks” before he’s back in first-team contention.

Ivory Coast 3 Gambia 0
Five Premier League stars were involved for the host side. Yaya Toure, Cheick Tiote and Gervinho all played the full 90 minutes, while Arouna Kone and Kolo Toure climbed off the bench with 14 and 11 minutes remaining respectively. A foul on Gervinho inside the box led to the Ivorians’ first, while Yaya Toure found the net just before the hour mark in an easy win as he returned to action having missed City’s 2-0 defeat at Everton with a migraine.

Cameroon 2 Togo 1
Spurs left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto played the full 90 minutes as his nation moved to the top of Group I with a narrow win. Emmanuel Adebayor was omitted from the Togo line-up, with initial reports suggesting he had failed to turn up in time for training the previous day.

Nigeria 1 Kenya 1
Chelsea duo John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses were both named in the home side’s starting XI. Mikel played the entire 90, while Moses was subbed off with a minute left on the clock as Nigeria grabbed a last-minute draw to stay atop their qualifying group. With no other game on their agenda, the pair now fly back to London ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Southampton next Saturday afternoon.

Congo 1 Gabon 0
QPR new boy Christopher Samba proved the difference between the two sides yesterday afternoon. The centre-half played the full 90 minutes and warmed up for his next appearance – away to Fulham a week on Monday – by notching the only goal of the game.

Senegal 1 Angola 1
Demba Ba and West Ham’s Mohamed Diame both started for the hosts, while Papiss Cisse replaced his former Newcastle team mate with 13 minutes left on the clock in an unexpected draw.

In Other News
Chris Coleman has offered Tottenham and Gareth Bale’s Fantasy owners further reassurance that the winger will be handled carefully ahead of Wales’ qualifier with Croatia on Tuesday. Bale was withdrawn after 45 minutes of the 2-1 win in Scotland, with the player himself revealing that a recent stomach bug was behind his early substitution. Coleman had this to say on the situation ahead of the Croatia clash…

“We only had Gareth for 45 minutes, and albeit a jaded Gareth Bale. He has been ill and had a knock on his ankle, but he wanted to play. He said he felt fine so that’s why we started him. He had another knock after 30-35 minutes on the same ankle so we had to bring him off. I don’t know if he will be OK. I’m not sitting on the fence, but the next 24 hours will be crucial. All we can do is wrap him up in cotton wool. If he is not ready then we can’t risk him. We won’t, because we have to be fair to Tottenham. They never stand in his way and he always comes along. Gareth likes to come along but we have to look after him.”

In the England camp, Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Liverpool’s Glen Johnson will be fit for Tuesday’s qualifier against Montenegro, despite missing Friday’s rout of San Marino. Hodgson confirmed that the right-back is suffering from a recurrence of a toe injury but suggested that he was kept out of the action merely as a precaution:

“In the Euros he had a slight toe problem which we had to look after. All of a sudden it has occurred, although not to the same extent. There is no doubt he could have played (against San Marino). We could even have had him on the bench. But it would have meant an injection and I preferred to continue the treatment so he didn’t have to put a boot on.”

Back home, Martin O’Neill has talked up the first-team prospects of Phil Bardsley over the remainder of the campaign. Hampered by injuries, the right-back has managed just six starts for Sunderland this season, with his last appearance in the first XI back in Gameweek 16, but his manager has revealed he has finally recovered and could be set to bolster the Black Cats’ bid to battle the drop:

“Phil’s had a tough old season. When you’re someone like him, who was injured on his second day back in pre-season, it’s hard to get back to the pinnacle. But his fitness is improving and with that will come confidence…But we rate him as properly fit now and the more players we have at our disposal, the better it will be at a time in the season when we need everyone at the club pulling together to get good results.”

With United, Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton in the following four, the upcoming schedule looks more than tricky for the Wearside outfit. While their defensive prospects will hardly entice Fantasy managers to invest, Bardsley’s potential return could allow O’Neill to move Craig Gardner into a more advanced midfield berth as he looks for extra firepower.

Gardner has been preferred to Bardsley at right-back for the vast majority of the campaign but his eye for goal could be more crucial than ever if Steven Fletcher is ruled out with the injury which saw him stretchered off in Scotland’s match with Wales on Friday. While O’Neill has yet to comment on Fletcher’s situation, fears are growing that the forward is facing a spell on the sidelines – reports in the Mail suggest the former Wolves man could be out for six weeks with the problem.

With Stephane Sessegnon also on the treatment table after pulling out of Benin’s World Cup qualifier with Algeria with a reported groin problem, O’Neill certainly doesn’t have his troubles to seek right now. Certainly, Gardner’s versatility offers a potential solution; he’s adaptable enough to tuck in behind Danny Graham in a 4-4-1-1 formation and with his spot-kick duties harvesting four goals in the last eight Gameweeks, a possible move further up the pitch could be one to look out for.

Norwich City’s number one John Ruddy has afforded an insight into his recovery from a thigh injury as he closes in on a comeback. The keeper has been out for over four months and has revealed:

“I’m back in training on Thursday, I’ll play a couple of games for the U21s to make sure I’m match sharp and then it is down to the manager. I really want to get back, I have worked very hard. My physio at the club – Stuart Wardle – has been fantastic with me. He has really pushed me to get back as quickly as I have. It is fairly quick for a goalkeeper to be back from this type of injury. With the amount of kicks and the distance I am kicking every game, that is the main aspect we have been focusing on. I am eager to get back and hopefully that will be in a few weeks.”

With Mark Bunn set to serve a one-match ban in the upcoming trip to Wigan, the Canaries’ third-choice stopper Lee Camp will be handed a rare first-team appearance for the DW clash. Bunn has been sold by 7,000 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers since the end of the previous Gameweek after he was red carded in the goalless draw at Sunderland but judging by Ruddy’s remarks, it seems the latter is not quite ready to return. While acquiring Bunn at this point wouldn’t be the wisest of moves, then, getting rid right now may be jumping the gun, with Ruddy clearly still to prove himself for the Under 21 side on at least a couple of occasions before Chris Hughton is prepared to welcome him back to the first-team fold.