Football Tigers

Chelsea's Joe Cole insists he is ready for England selection again after coming through his first start of the season without any ill effects.

Cole has been sidelined since damaging knee ligaments in the summer and has appeared as a substitute on just three other occasions this season.
The injury, which Cole describes as the biggest of his career, also forced him out of England's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign under new coach Steve McClaren.
England face Holland in a friendly next month and Cole's return could prove to be a timely boost for the England coach after the 2-0 setback to Croatia in their European Championship qualifier. Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing has not been a qualified success on the left flank for England and Cole could be the answer McClaren is seeking.
The 24-year-old midfielder started and scored in Chelsea's 2-0 Carling Cup victory at Blackburn on Wednesday night and he declared: "The next England game would not be too soon for me.
"I am fit for selection and will be ready for it. It is good to be back. It was such a long time out and was probably the biggest injury of my career, but the knee was fine.
"There were no twinges at all. That is probably the first day like that so I am very positive. I am looking forward to the next game.
"It was nice to score for my confidence and nice to get 80 minutes under my belt."
Cole gave Chelsea the lead against Rovers with a backheel in the 53rd minute and Salomon Kalou added a second nine minutes from time.
Chelsea now face Sheffield United on Saturday and that may see the return of Carlo Cudicini in goal following his absence through concussion.
The reigning champions have struggled to hit peak form so far this season but Cole warned the rest of the Premiership they were beginning to get back to their best.
Cole added: "We are seeing the team really pick up now. I think the lads have been brilliant in the last couple of weeks.
"There is stuff for us to work on still but we are coming into a bit of form. We are showing how strong the squad is."

Sheffield United defender Claude Davis reportedly brandished a razor during an argument with club colleague Ade Akinbiyi earlier this week.

Blades striker Akinbiyi, 32, has admitted he had a training-ground bust-up with Davis.
A report in the Daily Mail claims Jamaica international Davis, 27, approached Akinbiyi while holding a razor as a row following the defender's sending-off against Everton last week escalated. "There was a lot of argy-bargy, but that was about it," Akinbiyi said.
"There was a row lasting about two minutes in the changing room, but I'm not saying if he did or didn't pull out a razor."

Newcastle have announced a loss in revenue for the 11-month period up to June 30 this year.

The revenue of £83.1million was down from £87million from 2005, largely due to the club not playing the UEFA Cup last season.
However, following Graeme Souness' dismissal as boss, Glenn Roeder led the Magpies back into Europe's second-tier competition for the current campaign.
"This year has been a period of the transition for the club," Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd said in a statement to the Stock Exchange.
"The team performances in the first half of the season fell significantly below our level of expectations.
"However, following the board's decision to make changes at management level, the first team had an excellent run in the second half of the season, finishing a satisfactory seventh place in the Premiership and qualifying for the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto Cup."

As every week, uefa.com publish their magazine. This last number's cover story features two Madridistas: David Beckham, who made his 100th appearance in the Champions League against Steaua Bucharest, and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who scored his 50th goal in the aforementioned competition. At Realmadrid.com, we have decided to reproduce the entire article of the magazine for your enjoyment.

It was a mark of the quality of the goal that opposition fans stood to applaud. Having been dazzled by Real Madrid CF as a team on their first visit to the Steaua Stadium, Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the 25,000 crowd a moment of individual brilliance to remember the occasion. Shielding the ball under pressure from Dorin Goian after being played in on the right side of area, the Dutchman chipped delicately over the advancing goalkeeper. Carlos Fernandes, lobbed like a tennis player at the net, looked on in anguish as the ball looped high above him before dropping down just over the line.

Although it is now 10 games since Rooney last found the net, the 21-year-old has proved in recent games the first noticeable dip in form of his fledgling career is now a thing of the past.
Few would bet against the 21-year-old hitting the target against Bolton on Saturday as United look to consolidate their position at the Premiership summit.
And van der Sar feels any talk about Rooney's demise has been well wide of the mark.
"Nobody here has any doubts about Wayne," said the giant Dutchman.
"People regard him very highly and expect a lot of him but even if he was to play 55 games a season, as soon as he goes through a spell where he is not scoring or makes a couple of wrong decisions, people get on his back.
"We all know how it works in England. You just have to see past it."
Although Tomasz Kuszczak was one of the few United players to impress at Crewe in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, van der Sar is certain to return at the Reebok Stadium, where the Red Devils were one of only three sides to beat Bolton in the Premiership last term.
Three wins and a draw on home soil already this season has taken Sam Allardyce's men into the top three and the Trotters know victory, coupled with an unlikely Sheffield United triumph over Chelsea at Bramall Lane, will see them replace tomorrow's opponents at the top.
Not that anyone at Old Trafford is allowing their focus to stray from building on the momentum generated by six successive wins in all competitions following the blip which saw United lose at home to Arsenal, then fail to beat Reading a week later.
"When you look at the teams we have played and the results we have had, it is fair to say we have had the start we were looking for," said van der Sar.
"The Arsenal result was a disappointing one and the draw at Reading was frustrating but overall, we have had the start we were looking for."

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been moved to a hospital closer to his home after showing good progress this week.
Cech, 24, underwent emergency surgery after fracturing his skull in a collision with Reading's Stephen Hunt, in the first minute of Chelsea's 1-0 win at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.
He left the Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on Thursday and Chelsea released a statement on their website, which confirmed the Czech Republic international's move.
The statement read: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Petr Cech has been moved from the Radcliffe Infirmary following his successful operation for a depressed fracture of the skull.
"Petr will continue his recovery in a hospital closer to his home. Petr's condition is improving every day and he is now walking again unaided.
"Everyone at Chelsea FC, his wife Martina and his family would like to pay tribute to the surgeons and staff at the Radcliffe and Royal Berkshire hospitals for the first-class care they have provided over the last six days."

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has stepped into the row over dangerous challenges on goalkeepers and demanded that they get more protection.

Benitez was reacting not only in the wake of the rumpus over Chelsea's match at Reading last weekend, but also similar incidents in a reserve game on Merseyside which has seen both Liverpool and Everton facing FA charges and Polish keeper Jerzy Dudek facing a five-match ban.
The Spanish boss, who expects captain Steven Gerrard to have recovered from a hamstring injury to lead Liverpool at Manchester United on Sunday, has long been angered by tactics used against goalkeepers in England.
Benitez did not want to comment on the uproar following injuries to Chelsea pair Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini at Reading - in which the FA have decided to take no action against the Reading players involved.
But he insisted: "Whether there was intent is not the issue, but challenges where a knee hits a head are fouls and dangerous.
"For me it is clear, the six-yard box is for the keeper, that's how I see the laws.
"But here in England everybody is allowed into the six-yard box to push the keeper, stand in front of him, jostle him, stop him jumping. It seems anything can happen.
"We need to protect goalkeepers, sometimes the challenges are very dangerous for them."
Benitez has reviewed the video of the reserve match which saw Dudek red carded for raising his hands to Everton teenager Victor Anichebe following what the Pole considered a dangerous challenge.
And Benitez is also angry about a similar challenge on youth team keeper David Martin, after he had taken over from Dudek in the same match.
Dudek faces a three-match ban for violent conduct and potentially two more if he is found guilty following an FA charge of improper conduct for confronting the referee and failing to leave the pitch quickly enough.
Benitez said: "You saw the incidents at Reading, maybe there was no intent but the challenges were still fouls.
"I have had something similar in a reserve game. The match was against Everton last week and there has been FA charges since then for both clubs.
"There were two challenges on two goalkeepers in that same game. It was really, really dangerous.
"If you tackle a goalkeeper in the head what happens? It is a very dangerous challenge, there may be no intent but it is still dangerous.
"The two challenges in that game were amazing, very dangerous, crazy. You can sometimes understand a player's reaction when something like that happens.
"The challenges on Dudek and Martin were both bad ones."
He added: "Ten years ago players were not as big, quick and strong as maybe they are now, there was not the same chance of injury. But the rules are the same then as they are now.
"For me it is still a free-kick when a goalkeeper is fouled in the six-yard box.
"It is more dangerous now because of the strength and speed of players and the game. Ten, 20 years ago it was not the same.
"But you should still not be allowed to touch a keeper in the six yard box.
"Years ago it was a foul. Now it seems you can challenge the goalkeeper, and nothing happens to you.
"Now you are faced with 6ft 4in strikers challenging you.
"If the keeper is watching the ball in the air he cannot see the striker and does not know what is about to happen."
Benitez continued: "I have seen a few goals scored in England when the goalkeeper was about to catch the ball, a player jumps into him, and a goal is allowed.
"You cannot allow this to happen, you have to protect goalkeepers more."
Both Liverpool and Everton have until November 1 to respond to charges of failing to control their players, likewise Dudek after his charge.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard claims there is no hotter striker in Europe at the moment than Blues striker Didier Drogba.

Drogba grabbed his ninth goal of the season on Wednesday night to condemn Barcelona to their first European defeat in 19 months.
The Ivory Coast international has been in fearsome form since the start of the new campaign.
He fired a hat-trick on his previous Champions League outing, away to Levski Sofia, and scored one of the Premiership's best goals of the season with a ferocious volley against Liverpool last month.
Lampard, 28, said: "He's a fantastic striker anyway but at the moment he's in one of those really hot spells.
"If he's not the best striker in Europe, I don't know where there's a better one.
"His all-round game is fantastic. He's scoring spectacular goals. That's Didi and it's great to have a striker playing like that."
Chelsea fans expected to be watching Europe's best striker this season after the club spent more than £30million on Andriy Shevchenko but they did not think it would be Drogba.
The big Ivorian, signed from Marseille for £24million in 2004, seemed ready to quit the club when Shevchenko arrived. Last season he suffered some criticism from Chelsea fans for diving but has responded in style.
Shevchenko has struggled to find top gear but Drogba has cut down on the diving and is enjoying his best form since moving to Stamford Bridge.
Lampard said: "That's what happens when you're a striker. You have to go through the highs and the lows and Didi's on a high.
"You've got the other end of the scale with Shevchenko, who is a world-class striker for years and, at the moment, he can't get his goals."
Drogba's winner against Barcelona came in the 47th minute, when he collected a long pass from Ashley Cole, turned past Carles Puyol on the edge of the penalty box and slammed a right-foot shot into the corner of the net.
Drogba, 28, said: "We won against a big team who played very well but Chelsea played very well and now we have nine points. That's the most important thing.
"My goal gave me a better feeling than the one I scored against Liverpool but I have to say I was a bit lucky with the first touch."
Asked if he has ever played better than he is doing at the moment, Drogba replied: "Yes, I think I have, when I was in Marseille."
Victory over Barcelona was sweet for Chelsea, who were knocked out of the Champions League by the Catalans last season.
Mourinho's team top now Group A with a maximum nine points from three games and have put European Cup holders Barcelona under pressure. The rivals meet again in Spain in a fortnight.
Lampard said: "The onus is on them to beat us at the Nou Camp which I'm sure they will try to do.
"But there are too many strong teams throughout the competition to worry about putting them out.
"It's not a question of putting anyone out at the moment. It's a question of worrying about ourselves and trying to top the group.
"We know we're in a strong position but we're not there yet. It's two big away games for us now with Barcelona and Werder Bremen.
"Ideally we will get a win from one of them games, or not get beaten, and establish ourselves as the top team in the group."
The Barcelona result has been good therapy in a traumatic week for the club.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech fractured his skull during Saturday's 1-0 win over Reading and is still in hospital after emergency surgery.
Third-string goalkeeper Hilario played against Barca because Carlo Cudicini was knocked unconscious and swallowed his tongue, after coming on as a substitute for Cech at Reading.
Lampard said: "It's been a difficult time for the lads with the injury to Petr. I don't think anyone in the team has been through an injury like Petr had. It was such a freak injury.
"But I think it gave an extra dimension to our game. There was a lot of spirit among the lads and we wanted to win the game, not exactly for Petr but with Petr in mind.
"We've always had durability and spirit in the team and any top team has to have that, especially when you play a team of Barcelona's ability.
"You have to be strong and together throughout the game and we showed that in what was a top performance. You could see at the end what it meant to the team."
Chelsea staff and players have also been saddened by the death of Victoria Buchanan in a road accident on Tuesday.
Drogba dedicated his goal to the 28-year-old, who worked at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea Pitch Owners.

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher admits the Reds have been "average at best" this season and must put that right with a win at Old Trafford.

The stand-in skipper has been critical of Liverpool's shortcomings but believes things are moving in the right direction after Wednesday's win at Bordeaux.
Carragher, who captained the side in Steven Gerrard's absense, also revealed he sought out boss Rafael Benitez to discuss his concerns about his own form and that of the team after a disjointed start to the campaign.
Benitez has not been slow to demand more from his experienced players, and while Carragher rated the victory against Bordeaux as a big step in the right direction, he knows anything short of that performance at Old Trafford will all but end Liverpool's title aspirations.
Carragher said: "The boss has talked to us about our performances this season, and I have been saying the same thing myself - a lot of the players, including myself, have not been performing as well as we have the last few seasons.
"That has made it difficult for the new players to ask them to settle in quickly. The players who have been here a while have maybe not helped them to settle in by producing performances up to our own standards.
"We have got to look to ourselves, to find our own best levels, and now we have achieved a good away win at last I hope that everyone will see us back playing at our best, collectively and individually.
"We have been average, at best, and we are not even halfway towards our true form. We are probably only a quarter of the way there at the moment."
With Peter Crouch's second-half header securing Champions League success in south-west France, Carragher is now steeling himself for another searching examination.
He said: "Teams like Manchester United and Chelsea are pulling away so it is going to be very difficult. We got a good start in Europe and the Community Shield, but it did not continue like that.
"We knew that we had to get back to that form, it has not been what we would have wanted.
"United are flying at the moment and it is massive for us to go there and get something. People will start saying that if we lose we are out of it, that's maybe too early for that.
"But all we want to do is (take) one step at a time, collectively. It's a long way to go but the win in Bordeaux was a step in the right direction."
Carragher, with Sami Hyypia equally effective alongside him, produced Liverpool's best defensive performance of the season during the win against Bordeaux.
Carragher added: "We have missed players. There was no Stevie (Gerrard) in Bordeaux and we only had Momo Sissoko for a while. Bolo (Boudewijn Zenden) and Xabi (Alonso) did fine, but we do miss Stevie and Momo. The are top players, and it was great to see Momo come on and do so well.
"It was always going to be difficult to do what we did last season, that run at the end of the campaign was outstanding. We always want to reach that standard, but we would have liked to have done a bit better than we have been doing.
"We need more clean sheets, and there's nowhere better to go and produce a top performance than at Manchester United."
He added: "This season we have not done so well away, and we knew that we had to put that right in Europe before we went to Manchester United.
"We always accept that playing United is massive, so we needed a boost to our confidence before going there."

Not only did Gerrard come closest to giving England victory in the Euro 2008 qualifier with a thunderous late shot which crashed back off the bar, he also picked up a booking which rules him out of Wednesday's crucial trip to Croatia.
And, given the Zagreb encounter arguably represents the toughest test for Steve McClaren's men as they bid to overcome the first setback of their new coach's reign, Gerrard made no attempt to conceal his disappointment.
"England against Croatia is a great fixture," he said.
"As a player, you want to be involved in all the big games, so I am going home really frustrated, not just with not getting three points but also missing the Croatia game.
"I will be cheering the boys on from home. Hopefully, they will turn in a good performance and get the result."
Gerrard revealed he quizzed referee Markus Merk about the second-half challenge on Goran Pandev which earned him the second caution of England's qualifying campaign.
Amazingly, the German official agreed Gerrard had played the ball but confirmed the Liverpool player had been penalised for his follow through.
"I was really disappointed with the referee's decision," said the 26-year-old midfielder.
"I told him I got the ball and he agreed with me but said the momentum took me into the player."
Gerrard almost made amends for his misdemeanour after being teed up by Shaun Wright-Phillips six minutes from time, only for his evening to end in even more frustration.
"I need a change of luck," he said.
"I have already hit the woodwork four or five times this season.
"I hit the shot well, but maybe I hit it a little too well. Sometimes, you mis-hit them and they go in."

The often temperamental France striker, who was called into the national squad last week for the first time in over six months, has completed 90 minutes in only one of the four Premiership starts he has made this season.
And despite not featuring in France's Euro 2008 qualifying defeat to Scotland he feels he is close to his best.
"I'm still not 100% but I'm not far off full capacity," Anelka said.
"I feel good. In the league I can now nearly play a whole match in its entirety.
"My only aim is to play to take pleasure from playing. In the long term, I've grown tired of spending my life fighting with people."

Steve McClaren's side dropped their first points of the campaign when they were held to a shock goalless draw by minnows Macedonia at Old Trafford on Saturday.
It has raised the stakes against the Croatians, who have not lost a competitive game in Zagreb since gaining their independence 16 years ago - but were beaten there by France in a friendly international in 2000.
But Lampard, who won his first cap seven years ago against Belgium at the Stadium Of Light, is urging England to stand up and be counted when they confront what is likely to be a hostile atmosphere.
The Chelsea midfielder said: "Wednesday is potentially the hardest game in the group although Russia and Israel away will also be difficult.
"Croatia will test us. We have got to stand up on Wednesday to a hostile crowd, a good technical side and show what we are made of as a team. We've got to stand up and be counted.
"They always produce players from a young age who are technically good players and they have always got a bit of an edge to them. They are determined and will be desperate to beat England.
"They are tactically a clever team as well. I watched them in the World Cup and they gave Brazil a really tough game. That's the sort of players they have got.
"But I scored my first England goal against Croatia and also scored against them in Euro 2004. They are nice memories.
"It will be a nice time on Wednesday to get another one especially with it being my 50th cap."
Lampard admitted: "It seems a long time ago since I won my first cap in Sunderland.
"I then went out of the team. I was in the wilderness for a couple of years after that but I've come back.
"To get to 50 caps will mean a lot. It is a milestone. Stevie G (Steven Gerrard) got there recently and it is something I've always wanted to do.
"I'm very proud. A lot of big names have got to that milestone and I want to get there and then push on.
"It will be a nice feeling for me before the game and when walking out. But when you go on the pitch, you just concentrate on the game."
Lampard dismissed the suggestion that England should cruise through to the Euro 2008 finals in Switzerland and Austria and insisted Macedonia should be taken seriously as a footballing nation.
He said: "People who said it was an easy group weren't looking properly at the group.
"Like I said, you can't underestimate Croatia, Russia and Israel - and also Macedonia as we have seen from the way they performed against us.
"They have all got talented players and it was never going to be a group where you are going to breeze through and win every game and come top.
"There will be these certain games that are difficult. It's about qualifying.
"The draw with Macedonia is a small setback - but we have to make sure we get our heads down and try and put it right on Wednesday now.
"I don't think Saturday was a reality check. We were quite realistic in the dressing room and we understand that, as much as you want to win every game, it doesn't always work that way.
"Macedonia didn't surprise me. People and the lads in the drssing room should have respect for Macedonia.
"People say 'Macedonia' and a few years ago you wouldn't even count them as a real challenge.
"But they have got good quality players especially up front and in midfield. We half expected them to be dangerous on the counter-attack like they were.
"We expected ourselves to have that little edge more that would have put us in the lead and won the game. You are talking about the final ball and the finishing.
"The goalkeeper made a couple of decent saves. You have days where the final ball slips away or gets blocked and credit to them, they defended well at the back."