Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor is likely to miss the rest of the season after suffering kidney damage at West Ham on Wednesday, the Premier League club said.
The Scotland international has been in hospital since he was sent off at Upton Park for bundling over Mohamed Diame in the 2-1 defeat.
Hull, who face Sheffield United in a FA Cup semi-final, recalled Swiss international goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic from League One side Leyton Orient yesterday.
Atalanta coach stays grounded
Atalanta coach Stefano Colantuono is playing down excited chatter about an overdue return to Europe despite watching his side rocket up the Serie A table this month.
Atalanta beat Livorno 2-0 on Wednesday to secure their fifth straight victory – their best streak since 1990-91, when they last competed in the UEFA Cup.
Catching sixth-placed Parma, and then Inter, will take some doing but in tonight’s opponents Bologna they face a struggling team short on confidence.
“Four points more and we’re in Europe? I’m not looking at it that way,” Colantuono said.
“Now we have to look at Bologna, and then Sassuolo, so we can continue along this path.”
Fans make fly-past protest threat
A group of Manchester United fans is threatening to hire a light aircraft to tow a banner over Old Trafford with the message calling for manager David Moyes to go.
The action is in response to the ‘Chosen One’ banner that is on display at Old Trafford despite calls for it to be removed in the wake of United’s troubled season under Moyes.
A United fans’ blog claimed supporters are planning to send their own message during the game against Aston Villa today.
The blog states: “A group of United fans have raised £840 in a day to fund a plane to fly over Old Trafford with a message reading ‘Wrong One – Moyes Out’. The message is a response to the Stretford End Flags banner which reads ‘The Chosen One’.”
United greats join forces at Salford
Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs and team-mates from the famous ‘Class of 92’ have agreed a deal to buy Salford City who play in the muddy and unglamorous world of English soccer’s eighth tier.
Giggs, along with Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, will complete the deal for the humble Northern Premier League Division One North club later in the year.
The former players, who were dubbed the ‘Class of 92’ after United won the FA Youth Cup that year before going on to achieve unprecedented success, will buy Salford subject to FA and Northern Premier League approval.
Dutch confirm Hiddink post
The Netherlands named two new national coaches yesterday with Guus Hiddink’s appointment after the World Cup confirmed following months of speculation and Danny Blind lined up to replace him after the Euro 2016 tournament.
Hiddink had been the front-runner for several months to take over from Louis van Gaal after the World Cup in Brazil and told reporters details of his two-year contract long before formal announcement yesterday.
However, the KNVB did surprise many by also naming Blind as Hiddink’s successor after Euro 2016, handing the former de-fender an extra two-year contract till the 2018 World Cup.
Yoshida will recover for World Cup
Southampton’s Japan defender Maya Yoshida will recover from his knee injury in time for this year’s World Cup but will miss the rest of the Premier League season, his club manager Mauricio Pochettino said.
“He will be out for six or seven weeks but his participation in the World Cup will not be threatened,” Pochettino said.
“It will be difficult for him to play in the last six weeks of this season.”
The 25-year-old central defender, who joined Southampton from Dutch side VVV Venlo on a three-year deal in August 2012, suffered a knee ligament injury in training.
Wenger hits back at Scholes remarks
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hit back at comments from former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, who claimed the Gunners were “a million miles away” from challenging for the English Premier League title.
Wenger, though, insists his squad have what it takes to compete with the best.
“If six points (from the top) is a million miles away, then I don’t know what the translation from a mile into a point is,” Wenger said.
“Everybody has opinions, people who have managed zero games have opinions and we have to accept that.
“What you live with is what you do on the pitch, and all the rest is only opinions.”