Arsenal
Arsene Wenger was pleased to see his Arsenal youngsters finally deliver the performance of champions to beat Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United, but could not hide the frustrations at now having no further say in the title race. The Gunners made sure United stayed just three points ahead of Chelsea, whom they face at Old Trafford next weekend, with a second-half goal from Aaron Ramsey - only in the side because of injury to captain Cesc Fabregas - giving them a 1-0 win. It was a welcome first home League victory since the end of February, as Arsenal's hopes of a ending a six-season barren run unravelled, leaving them fighting to secure third ahead of FA Cup finalists Manchester City. "We had a good performance, with everything in it - discipline, fighting spirit and our usual passing game," Wenger said. "Until we scored the goal, I feel we controlled the game completely, then because we had not won a lot recently we tried to protect our advantage and were a bit under pressure. If you look at the age of the team, I think it is a big encouragement for the club because we had a very young midfield and were still very positive in our play.Aston Villa
Caretaker manager Gary McAllister insists his players did not take their foot off the pedal during the 2-1 defeat at West Brom. Goals from Peter Odemwingie and Youssouf Mulumbu gave Albion victory and leave Villa downbeat after their recent four-match unbeaten run effectively ended their relegation fears. McAllister said: "It was not necessarily an end of season performance. I just feel it was an opportunity to grasp three points away from home against a local rival. We got ourselves in front. The first goal was a poor goal to concede and an unneeded challenge, then we didn't defend the set-piece. Then when West Brom went down to 10 men it was a great chance for us. We stuck in a lot of offensive players with skill, pace and guile but we couldn't break down West Brom - and then we got done with a sucker punch.' Birmingham City
Aleksandr Hleb has announced his desire to return to Germany's Bundesliga at the end of the season. The Belarus international made his name at Stuttgart before earning a move to Arsenal in 2005. The 29-year-old then left for Barcelona in 2008 but the Spanish giants let him go on season-long loan deals to Stuttgart last season and Birmingham this term. The midfielder still has another year left on his contract at the Nou Camp but would consider going back to Germany in the summer - either on loan again or on a permanent deal. "I would love to be rejoining a club in the Bundesliga," he said. "The league has been making a huge progress. Schalke is a great example of that - progressing to the semi-finals of the Champions League. If my heart could decide, I would be moving back to Stuttgart. However, I am unable to decide this as I am under contract with Birmingham City and have a deal left at Barcelona until June 2012." Blackburn Rovers
Any club interested in Blackburn's brilliant young defender Phil Jones will have to pay a "massive fee" if they want to land the 18-year-old, Rovers manager Steve Kean has warned. "This is where he started, where he got his first chance and we believe we have rewarded him very well," said Kean. "He wants to play as high up the league as everybody else does and he's a star in the making. He's on a five-year contract and if we can sit down at the end of the season and discuss what players we are trying to bring into the club then hopefully we can keep the big hitters away. We want to sit down with all the younger ones and explain what we want to do as a club over the next two, three or four years and if they stay with us they are going to part of that story.If they decide they want to move on then the clubs concerned will have to pay top dollar because they are under very, very long contracts and the fees we would be demanding would be massive." Blackpool
Ian Holloway was keen to focus on the positives after his side were held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke at Bloomfield Road. The Seasiders were looking to give their survival bid a major boost in their penultimate home fixture of the season, but could not make a breakthrough against the Potters and with three matches left to play, they remain 17th, above the Barclays Premier League relegation zone on goal difference alone. The result means Holloway's team - who are still to host Bolton between daunting-looking trips to Tottenham and Manchester United - have now won only one of their last 15 matches and this was the first time they had failed to score at their own ground this term. It was also Blackpool's first home clean sheet of the campaign, though, which their manager took as an encouraging sign. "When we watched Stoke (win 3-0) against Wolves in the week, we thought `Oh dear, they are in fine form', so I think this proves that we have come out of our doldrums," Holloway said. "We have taken on a really good side at our place and kept a clean sheet. Their defence was slightly better than our attacking options, so well done to them for nullifying us. We've lost a record (scoring in every home game), but we've gained something - we've kept a clean sheet in the Premier League at home." Bolton Wanderers
Owen Coyle believes that injuries are starting to catch up with his side following their 1-0 defeat by Blackburn. The Trotters chief made four changes following their 3-0 midweek defeat at Fulham, and Martin Olsson's first-half strike gave Rovers the points. Coyle admitted his side was lacking depth, saying: "I'm frustrated. I felt the application the lads put in was terrific given again we were decimated by injury and really had a makeshift team. We started the game well and probably could and should have scored (when Rodrigo Moreno hit a post) and then we've shot ourselves in the foot with the goal we've lost. I think a lot of them acquitted themselves very well in terms of the effort, both physically and mentally. They had to given how big the last couple of weeks have been for them and coming off a tough midweek game as well. We have the smallest squad in the division and that was shown earlier in the season. And we had nobody else, we were down to 18 given injuries." Chelsea
Carlo Ancelotti admitted that his side had enjoyed two huge strokes of good fortune as they beat Tottenham 2-1. Tottenham were leading 1-0 through Sandro's first goal for the club when assistant Mike Cairns wrongly ruled Heurelho Gomes had spilt Frank Lampard's shot over his own line. That was compounded in the 89th minute when colleague Martin Yerby failed to spot Salomon Kalou was offside when netting the winning goal. The Italian admitted his side had been fortunate, saying: "We were lucky. We have to be honest to say this because looking at the [goals] on the television, we can say the decision was wrong but it was a very difficult decision. We have to accept this when things are good for us and also when things are against us." Everton
Assistant manager Steve Round admitted that his side had found the going tough as they scrapped to a 1-1 draw with Wigan. The relegation-threatened Latics looked to be on course for three much-needed Barclays Premier League points at the DW Stadium when Hugo Rodallega needlessly handled from a corner. That allowed former Wigan defender Leighton Baines the opportunity to step up and smash an equaliser from the spot after 77 minutes. Wigan had led courtesy of a fine Charles N'Zogbia strike in the 21st minute and already survived one penalty scare when Ali Al Habsi saved from Mikel Arteta. Round said: "It was a struggle. We were playing against a team that are fighting for their lives. It was always going to be tough; they were always going to go all out to win. It was important we tried to stay in the game, control it and take our chances when they came. Unfortunately, we missed a couple of chances and missed a penalty and we thought it was going to be one of those days. But credit to the lads, they showed great resolve and resilience, as Everton do." fulham
Mark Hughes hailed the composure of his Fulham side as they collected only a second away win in the Barclays Premier League since August 2009 with an emphatic 3-0 victory over injury-hit Sunderland. The Cottagers' only previous away win this season came at Stoke in December while last term their sole three-point haul came on the opening day at Portsmouth. Sunderland, who ended a run of one point from nine matches with a 4-2 win over Wigan last weekend, began the brighter at the Stadium of Light but failed to take their chances and Gael Kakuta put the visitors ahead in the 33rd minute. The decisive goal came just after the hour mark from Simon Davies and the winger then put the icing on the cake with Fulham's third 12 minutes later. Hughes said: "I wasn't too happy with the first-half performance. We were 1-0 to the good but we understood we needed to play better in the second half to ensure we took the game away from Sunderland. Thankfully we did and we saw the game out very comfortably. Obviously the second goal was key from our point of view and I never felt under pressure that we were going to lose the game." Liverpool
Jose Reina is confident the improvements made under manager Kenny Dalglish will continue to be made next season and that bodes well for his own future. There has been much speculation about the goalkeeper, with reports suggesting he was likely to be next big star out of the door after compatriot Fernando Torres' departure to Chelsea in January. However, the remarkable turnaround under Dalglish, plus the renewed optimism provided by Fenway Sports Group's sanctioning of the signings of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez with the £50m proceeds of the Torres sale - and the promise of more to come - has given Reina a different perspective. Now he is looking forward to the rebuilding of the squad as they bid to regain their Champions League status and ultimately become Barclays Premier League title challengers again. "I definitely could not see (Europe) it five or six months ago," he said. "But we kept fighting and turned the situation around. Now we need to do more to be even higher. It is down to all of us. Kenny Dalglish, Steve Clarke (the coach appointed when Dalglish took over), Sammy Lee (assistant manager) and all the staff have done a great job from January onwards. I think we want to grow and we have to grow. The owners and the people in command of the 'boat' see we have to bring in some players. We have to be right in those transfers and the players that we already have can be important for the new project. I'm very optimistic and I believe we are going to be better." Manchester City
Roberto Mancini has put talks over Carlos Tevez's future on hold until the summer. Tevez handed in a transfer request in December and despite being persuaded to stay, the City skipper may push for a move in the summer. The Argentina striker missed the FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester United with a hamstring injury and has spent two weeks receiving treatment in Italy. The 27-year-old was strongly linked with Inter Milan and Juventus but has been told he will have to wait till the end of the season to discuss his future. "We need to talk but we have time to do this," said Mancini. "For now, it's more important to know when Carlos can play. Hopefully after we win the FA Cup and get in the Champions League we can talk about it." Manchester United
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says Schalke's valuation and not reported interest from Manchester United is the main hurdle to signing Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The Bavarians are leading the chase for the goalkeeper, who has already announced that he will not be extending his contract beyond 2012, but their valuation is reportedly to be as much as six million euros less than Schalke's. Neuer won praise from United manager Sir Alex Ferguson for his display in Schalke's Champions League semi-final first-leg defeat last week and, with the Barclays Premier League side on the lookout for a replacement for Edwin van der Sar for next season, has been linked with a move Old Trafford. But Rummenigge ruled out that possibility. "Let's talk about the facts," he said. "Fact one is Manuel Neuer will not be staying with Schalke beyond 2012. Fact two is that Manuel Neuer will not be moving abroad." Newcastle United
Alan Pardew is hoping to unearth another Cheick Tiote as he prepares to reshape his squad this summer. Tiote arrived at St James' Park in a bargain £3.5m switch from Dutch club FC Twente, but has made such an impact that the club moved to tie him up on a new six-and- a-half-year deal within six months after other clubs showed interest. Pardew will hope to have the bulk of the £35m the Magpies raked in from selling striker Andy Carroll to Liverpool in January, but he admits it would be difficult to match the value for money they got when they swooped for Tiote. The manager said: "That's not easy, not for the sort of fee we paid. There are players like Cheick out there, but they are a lot more money than we paid for Cheick. It's difficult, but it's something that [chief scout] Graham Carr, myself and my scouting team are all on top of."Stoke City
Tony Pulis refused to blame Kenwyne Jones for his costly miss against Blackpool, but he admitted that his side might have won the match. Striker Jones missed the best goalscoring opportunity of the 0-0 draw in first-half stoppage time after the hosts had got in a mess at a throw-in and given away possession. The ball came to Jones, who took it around goalkeeper Matt Gilks, but the former Sunderland frontman then somehow contrived to shoot wide. "Great strikers score great goals, but they do miss chances - and chances as easy as that," Pulis said. "But he (Jones) has been fantastic for us and there will be no problems with him. Obviously it would have given us a great lift going in at half-time, but we also had opportunities in the second half which, on another day, could have dropped for us." Sunderland
Steve Bruce insists he will not change his policy as he prepares for a third summer recruitment drive. The manager's planning for a new spending mission is already well under way - he has repeatedly voiced his concerns over the fact that Danny Welbeck, Nedum Onuoha, John Mensah, Sulley Muntari and Ahmed Elmohamady are only on loan at the Stadium of Light - but he will not be tearing up his blueprint. Bruce said: "I don't think it's another rebuilding [job], but I don't think you have to work out that we have got five loan players in a squad of 23 and we might keep one or two, Elmohamady being one, that's already done. I have said on record many times that I don't think we have got any chance of getting Welbeck for next year - I think he will go back to Manchester United - so you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that we have got Asamoah Gyan and Fraizer Campbell, who is out for another year or so. You know where we will be shopping - I hope. I wanted to have only a squad of 24, 25, I think it is ample - it should be ample. I don't think I would change that." Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Redknapp plans to scour the globe this summer looking for a new striker after admitting his frontmen have let him down this season. The prolific form of Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko was key to the Londoners' success in beating Man City to fourth last year, but they have floundered in front of goal this term. The trio chalked up 31 league strikes last year, but have managed just 15 between them this season, with Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart being the main source of goals this time around. "It's been one of those years," Redknapp said. "Normally Defoe would have had 18 goals by now. He hasn't got them this year, Crouchy hasn't scored many, he's scored his goals in Europe. We're still in it without the frontmen having scored the goals they should have done." West Bromwich Albion
Roy Hodgson has set his sights on West Brom establishing themselves as a Barclays Premier League club after a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa virtually guaranteed top-flight football for another season. Goals from Peter Odemwingie and Youssouf Mulumbu enabled the Baggies to overcome trailing to an own goal from Abdoulaye Meite and the 62nd-minute sending off of midfielder Paul Scharner. Albion's first win over Villa in 26 years leaves them eight points clear of the bottom three with just three games remaining. Hodgson said: "From a selfish viewpoint, I'm going to have a wonderful weekend. It's a fantastic feeling with three games to go to have achieved our major goal of keeping West Brom in the Premier League. It means we get successive seasons at least and I'm rather hoping we will be able to build on the foundations we've laid this year. Hopefully we can find a team that can stay there year after year and not consistently have to bounce back from relegation." west ham united
Avram Grant has set a target of seven points from West Ham's three remaining matches to beat the drop. The Hammers play Blackburn, Wigan and Sunderland in the run-in. "Now we play against a team that are in our area, so we have to win this game," he said. "I thought that other teams would take more points in the last two games, so the gap stays three points. Our target is to take seven points - and we will try to take all nine - but we are playing against teams that also want the points. But we believe if we use character we have shown in past games away against top teams, we can win games."Wigan Athletic
Wigan youngster Callum McManaman has signed a new two-year contract at the DW Stadium. The 20-year-old striker is regarded as one of the club's best youth prospects having broken into Roberto Martinez's side this season. A head injury suffered in January has so far limited him to just eight senior appearances, but Wigan were keen to tie the player to a new deal. McManaman, a distant relative of former Liverpool, Real Madrid and England midfielder Steve McManaman, is now committed to the Latics until 2013. Martinez said: "Callum has continued to progress this season and we are delighted he has now signed this new contract. Callum represents a real example for every youngster at our football club. Technically, he's a very gifted player with a natural raw talent and over the last 10 months he's developed immensely, tactically and physically."Wolverhampton Wanderers
Mick McCarthy felt his side missed an opportunity to climb out of the relegation zone after drawing 1-1 with Birmingham. He said: "Our position overall has deteriorated because there is a game less to go. That is blatantly obvious. It is a missed opportunity against 10 men but they have stuck at it and not given us too many chances. If we had had loads of chances after they went down to 10 men, I might have said it was more of an opportunity squandered but we didn't. I think Birmingham are pretty adept at having two banks of four and making it hard for you to play against. We didn't have what was necessary to break the 10 men down unfortunately. But if I had looked at the four games left and thought we could get a point away from home, I'd not be unhappy and then we've got to do the job at home in the remaining games. I still think it's going to go to the last day of the season."
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