MAICON: Brazil full-back Maicon has not suffered a tear in his knee easing fears that he could be facing a long spell on the sidelines. The Inter right-back limped out of Wednesday’s 1-0 Champions League defeat at Marseille but the club confirmed yesterday that his injury is not as bad as first thought.
NO ANTHEMS: National anthems will not be played at Sunday’s League Cup final between Liverpool and Cardiff, the Football League have confirmed. It is the league’s policy not to play anthems at finals when English and Welsh clubs meet after fans booed both anthems on previous occasions.
SALIHI: Albanian striker Hamdi Salihi has signed for Major League Soccer club DC United from Rapid Vienna. The 28-year-old has played for Rapid since 2009, after joining from another Austrian side Ried.
ADLER: Bayer Leverkusen’s goalkeeper Rene Adler, 27, is poised to sign for Hamburg, the club’s sporting director Frank Arnesen said. “The decision will be taken soon, probably this week,” said Arnesen, with reports suggesting the 10-time capped international will sign a four-year deal.
OLIVERA: Ruben Olivera will be missing for Fiorentina for the next three games after his dismissal against Bologna. The Uruguayan was shown red for elbowing in Wednesday’s 2-0 upset away from home. Fiorentina will also have Mattia Cassani and Alessandro Gamberini banned for their next match.
MORRISON: West Ham mid-fielder Ravel Morrison has been fined £7,000 by the Football Association in response to a homophobic remark made on Twitter. Morrison, who completed an undisclosed switch to Upton Park from Manchester United at the end of January, is reported to have made the comment in response to another Twitter user.
POMPEY: Portsmouth are forced to make a number of redundancies to help aid their battle for financial survival. The identities of those made redundant has not been divulged, with no-one at the club available to comment on speculation chief executive David Lampitt is one of those affected.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Derby vs Leicester 0-1.