Today's other stories in brief

Scholes banned

Uefa have confirmed Paul Scholes will serve a one-match ban for his dismissal during Manchester United's Champions League defeat to AS Rome at the Stadio Olimpico. Scholes was only one booking away from a suspension when the midweek game began and when he returns for the semi-final, should United progress, he will still be one caution away from another ban.

Keane wins again

Sunderland's Roy Keane has won a second successive Coca-Cola Championship Manager of the Month award.

Keane landed the accolade in February and has claimed it again after guiding his side to an identical run of four wins and a draw which has taken them to third place in the table.

Kroenke's move

The American billlionaire Stan Kroenke is expected to attend Arsenal's London derby with West Ham at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow after he purchased ITV's 9.9 per cent stake in last season's Champions League finalists.

It will be interpreted as the next step in a deal that makes Kroenke's takeover of the north London club a near certainty. Should that transpire it would put ownership of all the Premiership's "big four" - Manchester United, LIverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea - in "foreign" hands.

Cork's difficulty

Cork City manager Damien Richardson says there is a "serious possibility" the club will be unable to pay Colin Healy and Gareth Farrelly for the next three months.

Fifa has prevented the two former Republic of Ireland internationals from playing until July 1st as they have already played for two other clubs this season.

"There is a serious possibility that the club will find it extremely difficult to pay the players salaries for a prolonged period of three months, when they are unavailable for selection," he said.

In brief. ..

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez expects Fabio Aurelio to return for pre-season following a successful operation on an Achilles tendon. The Brazilian full-back was stretchered off against PSV on Tuesday night and there were fears he could be out for four months, making him a doubt for the start of next season.

Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol expects to be out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in Tuesday's 2-2 draw at AC Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals.