Football news

Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan is banking on striker Mark Viduka to get the goals to steer the club away from the relegation zone.

Newcastle have a crunch fixture at Birmingham City on Monday and Viduka is expected to play having appeared for only 24 minutes since Keegan returned to manage the club in January because of a calf strain.

"It's a massive bonus having him back for the last 10 games," Keegan told the club's website.

"You always want your best players available but when it's a striker who can score you goals and win you matches, you need them especially."

Spurs eyeing the future

The remaining 10 league games will be ideal for Tottenham Hotspur to start building for next season, assistant coach Gus Poyet said.

Tottenham are virtually safe from relegation, and European football has been secured following the League Cup triumph at Wembley, giving a perception of there being little to play for. They play Man. City tomorrow.

Poyet said: "The target for us now is that we keep improving and that means we have to win as many games as possible. We are going to start building for next season starting with Sunday (tomorrow)."

Fiorentina set to sign Melo

Fiorentina are set to complete the signing of midfielder Felipe Melo from Almeria. The 24-year-old Brazilian is regarded as a huge talent for the future and was also a target for Lazio, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Fiorentina seem to have secured his signature by acting first and are ready to pay around £10m.

"I am very happy with the way my career is going," Melo said.

"I had other offers but they were inferior to Fiorentina's."

Gretna assemble squad

Gretna's league match against Aberdeen will go ahead despite the club entering administration. The club's future is in doubt after benefactor Brooks Mileson withdrew his backing following illness.

Gretna's administrator David Elliot said on Thursday only 10 players were willing to play today. But the club said that a full squad would travel to Aberdeen. A spokesman said U-19 players would feature at Pittodrie.

Real cannot afford to relax

Real Madrid have an eight-point lead over second-placed Barcelona with 11 games left in the season but cannot afford to ease off, Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder has warned.

"We have been knocked out of the King's Cup and the Champions League so we have to fight hard to be champions, and need to treat each game like a final now," he told sports daily AS yesterday.

Real travel to face Deportivo La Coruna today with Sneijder likely to start, and Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro back from injury. Striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is a doubt while defender Sergio Ramos is suspended.

Robson... a United ambassador

Manchester United confirmed plans are in place for Bryan Robson to become an ambassador for the club. Manager Alex Ferguson believes his former captain, who left his post as Sheffield United manager last month, would be ideally suited to the role.

Robson, 51, made 461 appearances for United in a 13-season spell between 1981 and 1994.

Ferguson said: "I cannot say anything official at the moment as it has not been finalised but there are plans to involve Bryan as an ambassador. I think he is the right type of person to be involved in Manchester United."

Big earnings for German clubs

The 36 clubs in Germany's top two leagues earned a record total of €1.75 billion last season, up 15 per cent from the previous campaign.

The clubs benefited from a combined extra income of around €50 million from the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Attendances also rose for the sixth successive season, up to a record 16.3 million. Borussia Dortmund, the only Bundesliga club listed on the stock exchange, said last month it posted a net loss in the first half of 2007-08.

Bothroyd joins Stoke on loan

Stoke City have signed Wolves striker Jay Bothroyd on a month's loan ahead of today's trip to Watford. The 25-year-old joined up with his new team-mates at their Hertfordshire hotel on Thursday night.

Bothroyd has scored four goals in 25 appearances for Wolves this season but he has not featured since February.

The former Coventry and Blackburn striker could make his debut at the weekend as Stoke striker Mama Sidibe has a hamstring strain.

Mancini gets assurances

Roberto Mancini has made a series of demands to Inter boss Massimo Moratti in a fiery meeting on Wednesday, reports said. He threatened to quit after the Champions League exit, but later reversed his decision.

It seems Mancini's change of heart was related to a number of assurances given to him by Moratti. The coach was involved in a spat with Luis Figo who refused to come on as a sub against Liverpool and may have asked for action to be taken against the winger.

It is also believed that Mancini has asked for Adriano and Alvaro Recoba to be allowed to leave the club permanently.