Contra injured: Romanian right-back Cosmin Contra has injured his right knee and will miss this month's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Netherlands and Luxembourg. Contra picked up the injury during a training session with his club Getafe. Romania, who lead group G with 20 points, host second-placed Netherlands in the Black Sea port of Constanta on October 13 and travel to Luxembourg four days later.

Craven Cottage: Fulham are to redevelop part of Craven Cottage and increase the capacity of the ground by 4,000 at the end of the season. In a statement, chairman Mohamed Al Fayed said the Riverside Stand would be refurbished while other ground improvements would be made. The ground, Fulham's home since 1896, has a current capacity of 24,590.

Johnson out: Birmingham City captain Damien Johnson faces a longer spell on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury in a reserve team match. The Northern Ireland midfielder missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury on his other leg and returned against Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup only last week.

Young players: Malaysia has made it mandatory for clubs to field young players in a bold bid to improve the country's struggling national team. The FA of Malaysia said elite Super League and second-tier Premier League clubs must play at least one U-21 player for the entire duration of each domestic match in the coming season. The FAM wants to develop the skills of young players for the national team, which performed poorly at this year's Asian Cup by losing all three group matches on home soil.

Fan violence: Bulgarian premier league clubs Beroe Stara Zagora and Chernomorets Burgas will play their next home matches behind closed doors as punishment for fan violence at last Saturday's match between the two teams. Violence erupted shortly after half-time when a small group of Beroe fans stole a banner from the visiting Chernomorets fans. Police used batons to restore calm. Beroe and Chernomorets were also fined 2,000 Bulgarian levs ($2,761) each for the incidents while six fans received a one-year stadium ban.

Simunek: Czech coach Karel Brueckner called up uncapped Wolfsburg defender Jan Simunek for the Group D Euro Championship qualifier against Germany on October 17. Simunek, 20, was captain of the team which lost 2-1 to Argentina in the final of the U-20 World Cup in July.

The Championship: Colchester vs QPR 4-2 ; WBA vs Stoke 1-1.

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