Since the conclusion of Gameweek Nine, there’s been plenty of news rolling out of Premier League sources and it’s often shared common ground. Managers, and players alike, are taking the opportunity to sing the praises of their team-mates while others are left lamenting their luck with injuries as the BUPA insurance premiums take a battering…

In the wake of him taking the largest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points haul this gameweek, unsurprisingly Arsene Wenger has taken the time to sing the praises of his mercurial french talent Samir Nasri…

“He is becoming more efficient. I think he has become stronger physically and you judge a player with his numbers…He is quite a complete player because he can run with the ball, he is quick and he is a clinical finisher now. I believe we have a great player in him now…At 23 years old your career starts at the top level.”

Clearly enthusiastic words from the Frenchman on his compatriot and certainly not without merit either. Samir Nasri put in an imperious performance with his seventh goal in seven games, and on the back of it, with two promising home games in a row on the horizon, his investment will likely rocket in the coming days too. It will be interesting to see if Nasri’s rise will temper early investment in Cesc Fabregas who is of course back firmly on the radar following his start at Eastlands.

Across the way at West Ham, Avram Grant will be crossing his fingers on two of his key figures as both Matthew Upson and Frederic Piquionne await a prognosis on recent ailments. The centre-back was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury and Piquionne, a key figure for West Ham to date, also purportedly picked up a knock of his own at the weekend.

After McCleish’s employment of him at the tip of a new diamond formation managed to flummox Blackpool at the weekend, early news yesterday indicated that Alexander Hleb would be an early injury doubt for the coming week. That train of thought has been quickly dispelled and the on loan Belarus international is now looking good to make the derby game with Aston Villa…

“We think he had a bit of cramp as well and that shows that he’s not fully match fit yet. But he showed great signs of his ability at the weekend with some great runs forward and some deft change of feet and he’ll be an asset to us if we can get him in that kind of form. He’s not going to make the cup tie but he should be okay for the Villa game.”

Aston Villa, the opponents in the aforementioned Birmingham derby, have however been less lucky on the injury front and were rocked by the news that their captain Stiliyan Petrov is predicted to be out for at least two months, not good news. This however will open up the opportunity for one of Steve Sidwell, Steven Ireland or Marc Albrighton to step into the void in the Villa XI, perhaps aligning themselves alongside a revitalised Nigel Reo-Coker.

Staying in our second city still and we got a few updates on the state of affairs in the West Brom squad, as well as the chance for manager Di Matteo to single out one of his midfielders for praise. Starting with their Nigerian striker, he had to say…

“”We want Peter back as soon as possible but we don’t want to rush him back and then lose him for a long time. We want him to be back in training this week. That is our aim but we will know more later this week.”

With Odemwingie taking to the Premier League like a duck to water upon his arrival, Baggies fans will want to see him back as soon as possible. Though with the player still as of yet not even back in training and with the words of caution above, he has to already be marked as a clear doubt once more ahead of the trip to Blackpool next Monday. Chris Brunt however will likely be around for this fixture if all goes to plan, and he remains a key figure with Di Matteo lavishing praise his way…

“He has become a tremendous asset for us. He’s the kind of player that every week gives you an eight out of ten performance. He is somebody you could go to war with at your side.”

40 FPL points (6,5,6,5,11,7) in his last six gameweeks (including a missed penalty too) are certainly a level of proof on the eight out of ten performances as Lieutenant Brunt dished out the corporal punishment on his opponents. Di Matteo also confirmed that Jonas Olsson (achilles) and Marc Antoine Fortuné (ankle) are to undergo scans on injuries picked up against Fulham forcing them to both leave the field after 53 minutes.

Also lasting a little over fifty minutes at the weekend was Carlos Tevez who picked up a knock in Man City’s 3-0 defeat at home to Arsenal at the weekend, the formative news provided after the final whistle by his manager was positive, as we await a full diagnosis hopefully to come later in the week…

“We don’t think it is a bad one, he took a knock in a muscle in the second half but it should be OK”

Young Irish midfielder James McCarthy has been ruled out for 8-10 weeks after picking up ankle ligament damage in the game against Bolton at the weekend. His absence over the coming months will likely open up a spot for one of Mohammed Diame, fellow Hamilton graduate James McArthur or Tom Cleverley to fill the breach. Emmerson Boyce has also been confirmed out for the next two weeks or so, with Ronnie Stam likely to get the nod in his absence.

Simon Mignolet has been playing out of his skin according to manager Steve Bruce, who has warned Craig Gordon that he may yet still have a long wait to regain his place as Sunderland’s number one if the young Belgian keeper can carry on as he has been doing. The same can be said for the likes of John Mensah, Cristian Riveros and even £13m signing Asamoah Gyan, who have all had pitch-time restricted lately due to the form shown by the current Sunderland starting XI.

And finally, not long after picking up their point at White Hart Lane on Saturday the early news rolling out of the Everton camp was that absentee Mikel Arteta “will probably be fit” for the visit of Stoke this coming Saturday. David Moyes also confirmed that Jack Rodwell is set to return to training soon while he expects a boost from getting another full weeks training in the bag for recent returnee Louis Saha.