Injury Update 23/10/09

Injury news from football365.com (will be updated as it appears)...

Let's begin with the news from Old Trafford.

Although Patrice Evra is fit for Manchester United's game at Anfield, 'worryingly there are still doubts over Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher's fitness.'

"I can't really give you a clear picture," said Sir Alex Ferguson. "We still have doubts about Rooney and Fletcher.

"Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs will be fit, but we'll have to see how Rooney and Fletcher progress over the next day or two.

"Wayne is always deserpate to play, that's the nature of the boy. But you can't allow that to cloud the realistic part of the situation, which is 'how fit is he?'. How Wayne does in training on Saturday will be very important in determining whether or not he's fit."

The news could present Michael Owen with the chance to start against his former club while Ferguson may opt to deploy Dimitar Berbatov as a lone striker should Rooney miss out.

As for Liverpool, the word in The Times is that 'Fernando Torres has recovered sufficiently from a groin strain to be almost certain to take his place in Rafael Benítez's starting line-up' but that 'the chances of Steven Gerrard being fit for action only five days after he trudged off the Anfield turf with a recurrence of his abdominal problem are considered remote.'

Glen Johnson should also be passed fit to start.

Arsene Wenger is expecting Eduardo to return for Arsenal's trip to West Ham on Sunday but Tomas Rosicky and Nicklas Bendtner are rated as 50-50.

"Rosicky and Bendtner are 50-50 but Eduardo should be back," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online. "I would say only Walcott is definitely out."

Wenger also suggested that Samir Nasri would continue his comeback in the Carling Cup next week rather than against the Hammers, and reported that "Denilson should be available in four weeks and Johan Djourou will be March."

For Chelsea, Jose Bosingwa (knee) is out while midfielder John Obi Mikel and defender Alex are not deemed match fit after recovering from injury.

Yury Zhirkov (knee) is on standby to replace Ashley Cole, though the full-back is expected to shrug off a knock.

Man City manager Mark Hughes had bad news on Thursday about Robinho, who will be out of action for at least another couple of weeks, but there's more hopeful updates on Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy with Hughes saying it is possible both of them will return for Sunday's game with Fulham. Emmanuel Adebayor faces the dreaded late fitness test after his ankle injury vs Wigan.

Everton's problems are on the increase with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov the latest casualty with a thigh problem. Joseph Yobo (head), Leon Osman (ankle) and Leighton Baines (calf) remain doubtful after sitting out the game after being injured following the draw against Wolves at the weekend

Elsewhere, Birmingham's defensive duo of Franck Queudrue and Stuart Parnaby are fit for the clash with Sunderland, but Wigan may be without Chris Kirkland and Paul Scharner for their trip to Burnley. Scharner has a thigh problem while

Kirkland dislocated a finger against City last weekend and has yet to train this week.

For Sunderland, Lee Cattermole is out with a knee ligament injury and John Mensah (calf) is also out, but Kenwyne Jones, who was carried off with a twisted ankle on Saturday, trained on Friday and is expected to be fit, as are Bolo Zenden (hip) and Andy Reid (calf).

Hull's record signing Jimmy Bullard could make his first Hull start in Saturday's Premier League clash against Portsmouth at the KC Stadium.

Defender Anthony Gardner is also back in contention after two months on the sidelines with a knee injury while captain Nick Barmby has overcome a calf problem.

With Richard Garcia nearing fitness after a knee injury, Ian Ashbee (knee) is Hull's only major casualty.

For opponents Portsmouth, Papa Bouba Diop and Richard Hughes remain absent with hamstring and hip problems respectively, despite turning out for the reserves in midweek.

The Adebyaor news really test my faith. If Bellamy, Santa Cruz & Tevez are fit then there's no reason for Hughes to risk him, surely?

Cheers,
AM