Nicolas Anelka is ruled out of West Brom’s trip to Everton, while Sylvain Distin is a doubt for the Toffees. Andy Carroll remains sidelined with a heel injury for West Ham, Robert Snodgrass and Seb Bassong look set to return for Norwich, while Alan Pardew has more injury worries at the back for Newcastle’s home clash with the Hammers…As always on a Friday, keep an eye on our Twitter feed and Team News section as we keep you up-to-date with any breaking news:
Nicolas Anelka’s Fantasy owners are left contemplating a transfer out after the West Brom forward was granted compassionate leave for this weekend’s trip to Everton. As rumours swept the web yesterday, West Brom moved quickly to confirm his omission from the Toffees trip is due to the death of his agent. In his Friday morning press conference, however, the Baggies boss admitted that Anelka has, indeed, indicated he may be set to retire:
“I’m not going to deny that he used that word in the conversations we had with him. But we’ve given him time to go away and think about it and I don’t think we could do any more in the circumstances as they were. I don’t know (if he will return), because from the conversation we had the other day, it was really negative. But as I said, we have given him time to think about it. So I’d like to think he could play for West Bromwich Albion again. Once he gets his head clear and we can sit down and have a proper chat, yeah, sure. But at the moment this (the decision to grant Anelka compassionate leave) is the best course of action for both Nicolas and the club.”
West Ham will head to Newcastle without the services of Andy Carroll once again. In an interview with the club’s official website, Sam Allardyce was somewhat reluctant to put a date on the big forward’s return as he continues to recuperate from a heel problem – Modibo Maiga looks set to retain the lone forward role in light of his manager’s comments:
“Andy’s had an injection to finally finish off the last bit of pain he’s suffering in his heel. It’s not anything other than to shift a little bit of inflammation, the repair is complete, the specialist tells us. He just hasn’t been able to get rid of this little bit on inflammation, which has been causing him some pain. Within the next few days we’ll expect him to step up his training and then take it one day at a time from there in terms of his progression. We just go day by day based on how Andy feels and if he’s feeling good from the previous day, we step the training up and we do that each day. As long he’s feeling any pain we continue to step it up until he joins in with the lads.”
Paul Lambert is optimistic that Ciaran Clark will recover from the head wound that forced him off at Chelsea in midweek, though fellow centre-half Nathan Baker remains a real doubt after sustaining an ankle injury in Villa’s weekend win at Arsenal. New boy Jores Okore is on standby to partner skipper Ron Vlaar in the near of the back-four as the midlands outfit prepare for the visit of Liverpool.
Norwich were handed a double boost ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Hull. Chris Hughton has revealed both Robert Snodgrass and Seb Bassong will come into contention after the pair missed last week’s opener with Everton – Snodgrass has recovered from a groin complaint and will return to his regular right flank role, while Bassong’s availability is likely to see him partner Michael Turner in the heart of the back-four, with skipper Russell Martin switching to right-back at the expense of Steven Whittaker. New boy Gary Hooper remains on the sidelines with a shin injury for the Canaries, though new boy Johan Elmander offers options up top.
Laurent Koscielny’s owners were afforded a crumb of comfort by Arsene Wenger yesterday. The centre-half – who is, of course, suspended for tomorrow’s trip to Fulham – was subbed off during the Champions League trip to Fenerbahce after receiving a kick to the head; the Arsenal boss initially feared a spell on the sidelines but offered a far most positive prognosis, with Koscielny looking on course to return for the Gameweek 3 north London derby:
“He’s like a boxer who had a hard fight the night before; lots of blood around his eye and a deep cut. He is suspended for Saturday anyway but let’s hope he recovers for next Tuesday [against Fenerbahce]. It will be short because the cut is very deep. Hopefully it will be alright.”
Roberto Martinez has worries at centre-half as he prepares for his first home game in charge of Everton. Sylvain Distin is a doubt for the visit of West Brom after picking up a knock during last week’s draw at Norwich – while Martinez refuses to rule him out, the Frenchman may be replaced by Johnny Heitinga in the back-four, with Antolin Alcaraz still sidelined with a hamstring problem. The Toffees boss also revealed Darron Gibson remains “50-50” for the Goodison game, with Ross Barkley likely to retain his starting berth against the Baggies after last week’s standout display.
David Santon may return for Newcastle but Alan Pardew has more issues in the heart of his defence. The Magpies boss – who already has Steven Taylor suspended for tomorrow’s visit of West Ham – must make do without the services of Mike Williamson, who has picked up a knock. This leaves Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa to partner Fabricio Coloccini at centre-half, as Pardew revealed:
“Steven’s opened the door with that sending off, and Mapou needs to jump through and take it. That’s how the game works. Willo’s injured – he’ll train on Monday. There is no decision. Mapou will play with Colo.”
