mark hughes

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes says goalkeeper Shay Given can cope with his World Cup agony. Republic of Ireland number one Given led the protests on Wednesday after Thierry Henry's handball helped France snatch a place in South Africa next summer. Hughes can sympathise, having been part of the Wales side that lost out on the 1994 World Cup because of Paul Bodin's missed penalty.

It is all a little bit raw for Shay at the moment   -Mark Hughes

 

If Mark Hughes has learned one thing in the last month, it is exactly what Rafael Benítez and Liverpool learned last season: draws can drag you down. Five draws, which is what Manchester City have just put together, is hardly an unbeaten run worth bragging about. "You always know there will be periods in a season when things don't quite run for you," Hughes says, with some feeling.

You always know there will be periods in a season when things don't quite run for you   -Mark Hughes

 

MANCHESTER CITY manager Mark Hughes may already be persona non grata on the Everton side of Stanley Park, but if the rumours viciously circling Liverpool yesterday prove to be true, he can now also consider himself a most unwelcome visitor to the other half of Merseyside as well. That is because on a day that Hughes takes his faltering City side to Anfield for a match that will have enormous implications on the future of both Hughes and opposite number Rafa Benitez, it has been suggested that Hughes is p

The significance of this match is that we are playing a team around where we are   -Mark Hughes

 

In theory it should be a treat for London to host the ATP World Tour Finals, featuring the top eight men's singles players – well, top seven plus Sweden's Robin Soderling. What makes it tricky is finding a player who isn't physically exhausted or mentally switched-off. Andrew Murray will try for an upbeat end to the year but he's in the toughest group, facing Roger Federer, who rarely goes out with a whimper, and the big-hitting leftie Fernando Verdasco.  

Mark Hughes is toying with the notion of dropping Carlos Tevez from his Manchester City team to face Liverpool tomorrow even though the player left Manchester United in the summer because he was convinced he would get more games with their neighbours. Hughes, who has been described as "wrestling with the idea," will not tell his players the team until a couple of hours before the kick-off, but the City manager has been concentrating training this week on an attack spearheaded by Emmanuel Adebayor , with  

Manchester United are still struggling defensively before their home game against Everton on Saturday (1730 GMT) with Rio Ferdinand and Fabio definitely out injured, Jonny Evans and John O'Shea doubtful and Gary Neville suspended. Manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday that Ferdinand's long-running back problem had finally been identified but that he would still be out for a couple of weeks. Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown and Patrice Evra are expected to be available.

The lads that have been in the team have been fantastic but we need that bit of extra help   -Tim Cahill

 

Everyone understands that Manchester City are incredibly ambitious, that Mark Hughes has fistfuls of petrodollars to invest in players, but if the name Fernando Torres crops up in conversation over canapés in Anfield's boardroom on Saturday, Liverpool officials are ready with a retort. "There's absolutely no way we would sell Fernando to City at any price," said Christian Purslow, Liverpool's managing director, very firmly on Friday. Not for £100 million.

There's absolutely no way we would sell Fernando to City at any price   -Christian Purslow

 

Manchester City's expensively assembled squad get another chance to show they are serious contenders for a top-four finish in the Premier League when they travel to Liverpool tomorrow. After losing five of their first 12 games, Liverpool are languishing in seventh place and are the most vulnerable of the so-called Big Four to losing their regular Champions League qualifying spot. Five straight draws mean that City only lead Liverpool by one point and one place, but victory at Anfield could lift City b

Gareth came back from the international with a little bit of soreness but it should not be a problem for the weekend   -Mark Hughes

 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is confident his side can maintain its Premier League title challenge without top scorer Robin van Persie, who is sidelined for six weeks with a serious ankle injury. After winning six of their last seven league games, the Gunners have moved up to second behind Chelsea. Although they are five points behind, the Gunners have a game in hand.

But I feel we have enough strength to compensate for his absence for a while.   -Arsene Wenger