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Danny Welbeck’s injury that he picked up in the Manchester derby is not as serious as first thought, and the England forward will be fit in time to compete in Euro 2012, Mirror Football reveals.

The Manchester United attacker went down under a challenge from Nigel De Jong in Monday night’s clash at the Etihad Stadium, and it was initially feared that he could have broken a bone in his foot and therefore be a doubt for the tournament in Ukraine and Poland.

Despite having to wear a protective casing after the altercation, it is believed that Welbeck has only suffered heavy bruising and will be fit with two weeks.

Welbeck will miss United’s penultimate game of the Premier League season against Swansea this weekend, but may be fit to face former club Sunderland on the last day of the campaign at the Stadium of Light.

With Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two games of Euro 2012 and Darren Bent facing a race against time to be fit, Welbeck may well have an important role to play for Roy Hodgson’s men.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Thierry Henry’s red card and five second-half goals could not split the Portland Timbers and the New York Red Bulls in the MLS on Sunday.Dwayne de Rosario’s 94th-minute penalty – awarded after Rodney Wallace handled the Red Bull attacking midfielder’s cross inside the area – ensured the game would finish 3-3.

It was the final twist in a fascinating second-half tale at the Timbers’ Jeld-Wen Field, after the first half ended 1-0 courtesy of Austin da Luz’s fifth-minute goal for the visitors.

Designated player Henry had set De Rosario away on the left, and his pull back was dummied by the French forward to allow 23-year-old midfielder Da Luz to score past Portland goalkeeper Troy Perkins.

The scoreline lasted just two minutes of the second half, when Nowegian midfielder Jan Gunnar Solli’s clearing header only fell as far as Jack Jewsbury.

The Timbers midfielder placed his low to the left of New York goalkeeper Greg Sutton to level the score at 1-1.

Just one minute later, Portland had the lead when former New York defender Kevin Goldthwaite backheeled Eric Brunner’s knock-down past Sutton.

But while Goldthwaite’s match against his former side was to prove memorable, Stephen Keel ensured his return to Portland would be rather more forgettable when his own-goal handed the Timbers a 3-1 lead on 67 minutes.

The New York defender slid Jorge Perlaza’s cross past Sutton after the Colombian striker had beaten the off-side trap.

Henry made it 3-2 after neat interplay with Estonia international Joel Lindpere soon after, and Portland wasted a chance to sew the game up when Jewsbury hit a 77th-minute penalty against Sutton’s left-hand post.

Henry’s match soured when he was handed a straight red card for a tangle with Adam Moffat in the 92nd minute, but New York ensured they did not go home empty handed when De Rosario made no mistake from the spot with virtually the last kick of the game.

With round 14 of the Premier League beckoning some of you will already have your 11Kicks Fantasy Football teams ready for this weekend. The Premiership and thus the Fantasy Football season is now really in full swing and plenty of points have been won in the campaign so far. You will undoubtedly have some Premier League players who have performed miracles for you points-wise, whereas some of your players will be injured, suspended or just in a bad run of form and therefore you’ll be looking to replace them.

For those who haven’t confirmed your team yet, or for those who are unsure in a few key positions, here is a rundown of some key performers for the coming fixtures, which sees Tottenham travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal in the North London Derby, which is the highlight of this weekend’s Premier League action. I have gone for a 3-5-2 formation, so have covered all positions and have picked that all-important front two who will bang in the goals this weekend and earn you big points!

Click on the image below to see my Fantasy Football Team

A draw against Peterborough and a loss against Bristol City is probably every Coventry’s fan worst nightmare come true. The loss at Bristol has put us four points adrift of safety with 12 points still to play for, meaning this fight is by no means over but it has just become a hell of a lot harder. Realistically now we will probably have to get 8 or 9 points from our remaining four games which is definitely possible. If we perform like we can in our home games against Millwall and Doncaster then six points is a real possibility which will give us a hell of a chance.

However, we do know that we are going to have to rely on Bristol City’s results and looking at the fixtures for both teams, Coventry do have the easier run in especially in the next 2 games where we have Burnley and Millwall and they have Birmingham and West Ham; so there is every reason for Coventry fans to not be too downhearted just yet. After the result and disappointing performance against The Robins we can hope for some sort of response from the players in the next game and let’s just hope that the response is a positive one and shows that we are still up for the fight.

At the pivotal point in the season we are also facing a bit of a defensive crisis. With Wood, Cameron, and McPake all unavailable for differing reasons we only have two fit centre halves in Keogh and Cranie. Possibly even more worrying is that Hussey left the Bristol City game having had to come off due to injury which then leaves us with the two previously mentioned centre halves and then Clarke and Christie. After that we are down to inexperienced youngsters which could be a real problem. Hopefully though the injury to Hussey isn’t too bad and he will be ok to play on Saturday and then we just have to hope that we don’t get unlucky with anymore injuries in the remaining four games.

For me there is one player that needs to step back up to the plate and that is Alex Nimley. He has been very quiet for the last few games and his goal scoring record of 1 goal in 16 appearances for us is to say the least disappointing. He has dazzled us with his fancy footwork and ability to beat players but the question has to be asked as to why this has basically just stopped in the last few games. He clearly has the ability because it was there for us all to see when he first arrived, maybe he has become a bit complacent in that he has, apart form Keogh been the first name on the team sheet in every fans eyes. This wasn’t the case against Bristol and he had to wait until 10 minutes from the end of the game to come onto the pitch. I am hoping that this will bring out a response in him and get that motivation back to prove he is a good player and put in a real full hearted performance against Burnley on Saturday where I would imagine he would be restored to the starting line up.

Looking back at the relegation fight the majority of people would say that Nottingham Forest are now pretty much safe as they are seven points ahead of us but personally I think they are still very much in the battle to stay up. They have got Blackpool, Reading and Hull as their next three games and they are three really tough games; there is every potential that they could lose all three. They have been incredibly inconsistent all season as have all the teams down at the bottom but they have had good form recently and I feel like it is time for that form to drop again. We as Coventry fans just have to try to stay positive and keep backing the boys till the very end. It is still possible and we just have to keep believing.

PUSB!!

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Kolo Toure became ‘obsessed with his weight’, according to the English FA’s hearing into the Manchester City defender’s doping ban.Toure was handed a six-month suspension on May 26 after failing a doping test, with the 30-year-old admitting to taking his wife’s diet tablets.

Claims that Toure had received permission from Manchester City club doctor Jamie Butler were denied by a commission into the hearing, with the details released on Friday: “(Butler) never told him it was safe to use water tablets. He would have unequivocally have said such were prohibited and should not be used,” a report read.

The report said ‘the FA does not positively assert that (Toure) had an intention to enhance sporting performance or to mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance’.

But it also stated ‘there was no dispute that (Toure) was at fault’, and the committee rejected the request from Toure’s counsel Adam Lewis that the suspension should not be longer than three months.

The six-month suspension was upheld as the ‘appropriate penalty’, as was the date (March 2) it was handed down.

Toure can return to playing for City from September 2, but will be subjected to a two-year period of target testing that began in May.

Sunderland striker Darren Bent could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with the hamstring injury that forced him to miss Saturday's 2-0 win against Stoke City.

The former Tottenham forward seems certain to miss Tuesday's game against his former team with the problem he sustained in training.

To add to boss Steve Bruce's woes, John Mensah is also set for a lay-off after injuring a shoulder against the Potters.

Bruce said in the build-up to the Spurs game:"It's been a tough week mentally and we've got Chelsea away on Sunday – I might freshen things up tomorrow night.

"We've got Titus (Bramble) to come back in too (after serving a suspension) and he'll obviously come into the reckoning.

"John Mensah's hurt his shoulder and that's more bad luck for him.

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"It's a shame because he's trained fully for the last three or four weeks and was desperate to get back into the team.

"We're sending him for a scan and hopefully the damage won't be too bad."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Harry Redknapp has revealed that Tottenham have not offered him a new deal to remain at White Hart Lane. Reports in the papers this week had suggested that Daniel Levy was set to offer Harry a bumper pay rise and a £50m transfer kitty to ensure that the North Londoners can challenge for the title next season. This is all news to the Spurs boss who remained very coy about his future and links to the England job.

This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of blogs that includes Spurs most important deal in the summer; is Scott Parker fit for the long term, while the FA are right to take the softly-softly approach.

Best of FFC

Tottenham Would Be Mad To Appoint Him…Wouldn’t They?

Right to respect Tottenham by taking the softly-softly approach

Spurs Most Important Summer Deal?

Do Tottenham really need a big name?

Is Parker fit for the long-term?

WAG Weekly – Tottenham and Man United beauties fight it out

Scott Parker: Captain Marvel?

Tottenham keeping tabs on Rovers ace

Spurs and Newcastle on alert as Ajax ace talks up Premier League move

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Best of WEB

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Spurs in crisis meltdown: Demonstration planned – Dear Mr Levy

Problems pile up for Harry. – Spurs Musings From JimmyG2

Time To Hold Our Nerve –Tottenham On My Mind

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Chesney Wishes Europa League on Spurs – Who Framed Ruel Fox?

Levy Needs To Fire Arry TONIGHT – Harry Hotspur

Daniel Levy To Offer His Best Player £3.5M Golden Handcuffs – Transfer Tavern

[divider]Quote of the Week[divider]

“If people want to say I’m diving they can, but at the end of the day I’m trying to get out of the way and save myself and my career, you’ve just got to try to be a bit clever about it. I’ve got a few people sent off this year by doing that. When you have got people flying in at you all the time, it’s not really diving, you’re just trying to get out of the way of the challenges. If you stand there you’re going to get a whack. At the end of the day I would rather dive than get hurt.”

“I suppose you can take it as a compliment. They think it’s the only way they can stop you. But the best players just get on with it. If they get knocked down, they just get up again until it really hurts,” Bale speaking out against accusations that he goes down to easily.

[divider]Match Highlights[divider]

Guangzhou came from a goal down to beat Henan Jianye 3-1 on Sunday, preserving their 100 per cent start to the Chinese Super League season.Henan, second from bottom in the table, led through Leandro Netto’s 71st-minute strike.

But goals from Zheng Zhi, Jiang Ning and Feng Xiaoting, all in the final 13 minutes, turned the match around to ensure Guangzhou finished the day one point clear at the top.

Beijing Guoan moved to second after a 2-0 win at home to Qingdao Jonoon.

Portuguese striker Roberto and Honduran midfielder Walter Martinez notched both goals late on for Beijing.

Hangzhou Lucheng are third, level on points with Beijing, after they saw off the visit of Shandong Luneng 1-0, with Shen Longyuan netting the only goal in the 65th minute.

Liaoning Hongyun took fourth place, two points off the lead, courtesy of a 2-1 win at Nanchang Bayi.

Visitors Liaoning led through first-half efforts from Yu Hanchao and Yang Xu.

Zhu Baojie pulled back for the home side on 65 minutes, but Nanchang were unable to find the equaliser.

In other matches, Chengdu Blades defeated Shaanxi Chanba 1-0 away from home.

Australian striker Adam Kwasnik – on loan from A-League champions Central Coast Mariners – struck the winner 18 minutes into the match.

A 2-1 win at home to Tianjin Teda saw Shanghai Shenhua retain fifth place, while bottom side Shenzhen Ruby gained a point with a 0-0 draw away to Dalian Shide.

Jiangsu Shuntian climbed out of the relegation zone with their first win of the season, 1-0 at home to Changchun Yatai.

Manchester United set one foot in the knockout phase of the Champions League this week with a professional performance from the club’s second string in Turkey against Bursaspor. United have yet to hit top gear so far this season, but another win at home maintained the Red Devils’ unbeaten start to their Premier League campaign.

The week has not been without controversy for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men. Portuguese winger Nani hardly covered himself in glory with his contentious goal at Old Trafford last weekend, and Wayne Rooney was spotted breaking a few rules of nutrition on a boozy birthday holiday.  Ferguson will be keen for a break from the media glare after the intensity of the last few weeks.

This week’s top blogs have jumped on stories linking some of United’s old guard with big money moves to the Middle East. There are also entries concerning the potential of some of the side’s rising stars and concerns expressed about the issue of player loyalty in the wake of Rooney’s contract renewal.

We also have the best of what the web has to offer.

Featured articles of the week

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Will Nani ever fill the hole?

Is this the catalyst behind Manchester United’s title challenge?

WAG Weekly – Man United starlet scores a beauty!

A final pay day for United’s finest?

Manchester United stars set to cash in?

Ten things we have noticed from the Premier League this season

Smalling making big leaps at Manchester United

Manchester United starlet finally coming of age

Spurs, Liverpool, United…whose need for Real Madrid swoop is greater?

The Spanish solution to Arsenal and Manchester United’s pending problem

Is Wayne Rooney’s plight ultimately a blessing in disguise?

An important FACT that is lost on most Premier League players

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Click here to see the Best MANCHESTER UNITED around the Web this week

Best of the Web

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Rio has the X-Factor- The Busby Way

Carrick’s return welcome but only if it lasts- United Rant

A Salute to Sir Alex- The United Religion

EXCLUSIVE: Liverpool vs. Man United – Transfer spending comparison: 1990-2010 – Liverpool Kop

Karel Poborsky: what could have been?- The Busby Way

Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge has stated that he is happy at the club, and has praised under-fire manager Andre Villas Boas for helping him to develop as a player.

The young forward has played a key role for the Stamford Bridge this season, has admitted he is enjoying regular football and is eyeing silverware.

“The manager has helped me a lot. He’s playing me a lot so I can’t complain. I’ve not had a Chelsea manager do that for me before,” he stated to Sky Sports.

“It’s helped me so much because previously I’ve not had a chance to play week in and week out, except when I was on loan at Bolton.

“To play at one of the best clubs in the world and start every week is a dream come true. I love playing for Chelsea. Some of the stuff I’ve read about me asking for a contract is not true.

“I’ve not spoken to the club to ask for a new contract, or told them I’m unhappy. I’m just doing a job. Working hard.

“I’m not worrying about my contract. I’m committed to Chelsea.

“A successful season now would be winning the FA Cup or the Champions League. If we could do one or the other it would be great.

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“I think we’ve got to get some sort of silverware, and to get in the top four, to qualify for next season’s Champions League,” he confessed.

By Gareth McKnight

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