A round-up of today's other stories in brief
McPhail in battle to make Wembley
REPUBLIC of Ireland international Stephen McPhail is in a race against time to be fit for the League Cup final after suffering a recurrence of Sjogren’s Syndrome.
The luckless Cardiff City midfielder missed the Welsh side’s 3-1 Championship defeat to Blackpool last Saturday and is set for a further spell on the sidelines.
McPhail has been struck down by the Syndrome, which affects the eyes and mouth, in pre-season and in December, when he was out of action for three weeks.
And Cardiff boss Malky Mackay has been left hoping the 31-year-old can recover from the latest setback to make the Wembley clash with Liverpool on February 26th.
Mackay said: “Stephen’s virus and syndrome has flared up again. It happened on Friday afternoon so he is unavailable.”
McPhail, who has won 10 caps for his country, skippered Cardiff in their semi-final penalty shoot-out win over Crystal Palace.
Frimpong suffers cruciate rupture
WOLVES’ on-loan midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong will return to parent club Arsenal after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Saturday’s Premier League match at QPR.
Frimpong limped off in the 24th minute of the 2-1 win at Loftus Road and a scan has revealed the worst for the 20-year-old, who was on a season-long loan at Molineux. He suffered the same injury to his left knee in 2010.
No action over Barton's Terry tweets
JOEY BARTON will not face any legal action over his pointed observations about the John Terry racism case.
In the immediate aftermath of Terry being stripped of the England captaincy by the FA on Friday, Barton made a succession of robust comments on Twitter.
Although Barton defended them on the grounds of free speech, others felt he was dangerously close to being in contempt of court, something that has yet to be applied to comments made on Twitter.
However, the British Attorney General’s office yesterday confirmed the QPR midfielder is in the clear, while warning of the dangers of committing contempt in the Terry case, which is due before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 9th.
Terry has always denied racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
Abramovich and Villas-Boas talks just normal - Chelsea
CHELSEA yesterday denied claims owner Roman Abramovich held “showdown” talks with manager Andre Villas-Boas before the club’s breathtaking 3-3 draw with Manchester United.
The Blues confirmed Abramovich spoke to Villas-Boas during a rare visit to the club’s training ground on Saturday before attending Sunday’s Premier League game at Stamford Bridge.
But they insist the Russian billionaire remains fully behind the 34-year-old’s project, following a report he had become frustrated with results under the Portuguese.
A spokesman said: “Roman likes to get down to Cobham and watch training whenever he can. He was able to visit on Saturday and he and Andre had a good chat after the training session, which is normal.”
Abramovich spent 35 minutes casting his eye over the session before spending another 20 speaking with Villas-Boas. He also spent half an hour talking to players in the dressingroom after Sunday’s game.
Celtic handed another road trip
CELTIC have been handed yet another away tie in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
The holders have travelled to Peterhead and Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the previous two rounds and now face a trip to Dundee United.
Peter Houston’s side lie seventh in the Premier League table this season but have finished fourth and third the last two years.
SCOTTISH CUP – quarter-final draw: Hearts or St Johnstone v St Mirren or Ross County; Ayr United or Falkirk v Hibernian; Dundee United v Celtic; Motherwell v Aberdeen or Queen of the South. Ties will be played on March 10th or 11th.
TONIGHT’S FIXTURES
(7.45 unless stated)
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS – semi-finals: Zambia v Ghana (4.0), Mali v Ivory Coast (7pm).
ENGLISH FA CUP – Fourth round replays: Sheffield Wednesday v Blackpool, Southampton v Millwall.
ENGLISH LEAGUE – Championship: Birmingham v Portsmouth. League One: Stevenage v Oldham, Bournemouth v Exeter. League Two: Crawley Town v Cheltenham.
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE – Dunfermline v Kilmarnock.
