
Premier League Saturday Team News
All the team news and previews of Saturday night's Barclays Premier League matches.
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur
Bolton striker Johan Elmander is out of Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Spurs at the Reebok Stadium.
Elmander sustained a hamstring injury in Monday's reserve game that will keep him sidelined for at least 10 days, thereby also probably ruling him out of Sweden's World Cup qualifiers with Denmark and Albania next week.
Manager Gary Megson has no other concerns as his side seek a third successive victory.
Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe was back in full training on Friday and manager Harry Redknapp will decide on Saturday whether to pitch him in wearing a protective dressing on his two dislocated fingers.
Ledley King is still recovering from a hamstring injury while Roman Pavlyuchenko (Achilles) is back in full training but will not feature at the Reebok.
Luka Modric is no longer wearing the protective boot on his fractured fibula and has begun active rehabilitation, while Jonathan Woodgate (groin) hopes to return to training in two weeks' time.
Teams:
Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Al Habsi, Ricketts, Steinsson, Knight, Cahill, A O'Brien, Samuel, Robinson, M Davies, Muamba, Cohen, McCann, Gardner, Taylor, K Davies, Klasnic, Lee.
Tottenham (from): Cudicini, Corluka, Huddlestone, Bassong, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Bale, Jenas, Palacios, Kranjcar, Keane, Defoe, Crouch, Gomes, Hutton, Bentley, Naughton.
Burnley vs Birmingham City
Burnley have lost yet another player for an extended period after Jay Rodriguez was ruled out for three months with a fractured ankle ahead of the Clarets' Barclays Premier League match against Birmingham on Saturday.
Striker Rodriguez becomes the third of Owen Coyle's players to be ruled out until Christmas in the last fortnight, with Martin Paterson and Chris McCann also both on the sidelines with knee injuries.
Fernando Guerro tweaked his hamstring and Kevin McDonald sustained a knee problem in a midweek reserve game, leaving both looking doubtful.
But club captain Steven Caldwell is in contention for a place in the starting line-up after playing for an hour in the same match.
Birmingham are resigned to being without striker Christian Benitez at Turf Moor.
Benitez is back home in Ecuador after being given compassionate leave after his father was injured in a car crash. Garry O'Connor is likely to deputise as the lone striker with Kevin Phillips on the bench.
Blues boss Alex McLeish is optimistic that Stuart Parnaby, Franck Queudrue and
James McFadden will be available after injury, while Cameron Jerome should return from an ankle problem after the international break.
Teams:
Burnley (from): Jensen, Caldwell, Mears, Eckersley, Duff, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, Fletcher, Elliott, Blake, Thompson, Guerrero, Eagles, Penny, Kalvanes, McDonald, Gudjonsson, Edgar, Easton, Nugent.
Birmingham (from): Hart, Taylor, Carr, Parnaby, Johnson, Dann, Vignal, Queudrue, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey, McFadden, Carsley, Tainio, O'Connor, Ridgewell, Phillips, Espinoza, Johnson, O'Shea.
Hull City vs Wigan Athletic
Hull will again check on the fitness of defender Anthony Gardner ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash against Wigan.
The former England international has missed the Tigers' last four league games with a knee injury.
Centre-back Liam Cooper, who made his league debut at Liverpool last week, is a slight doubt with a hamstring strain but fellow defender Steven Mouyokolo has overcome an injury to the same area.
Record signing Jimmy Bullard has been earmarked for a possible return at Fulham on October 19.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will assess all his options before selecting his squad.
Having beaten Chelsea last weekend the Spaniard could be tempted to stick with the same starting line-up.
However, he has plenty of choices as everyone is fit, including young midfielder James McCarthy, who came off with a minor groin problem in Monday's reserve team match against Bolton.
Teams:
Hull (from): Myhill, McShane, Cooper, Sonko, Dawson, Geovanni, Barmby, Kilbane, Hunt, Ghilas, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Mouyokolo, Gardner, Mendy, Olofinjana, Boateng, Zayatte, Cousin, Halmosi, Marney, Altidore, Duke, Warner.
Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, N'Zogbia, Thomas, Diame, Koumas, Gomez, Rodallega, Edman, Boyce, Cho, Scotland, King, McCarthy, Pollitt.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Portsmouth
Defender Steve Finnan came through a reserve match against West Ham in midweek and could make his debut in Portsmouth's Premier League clash with Wolves on Saturday.
Finnan has been struggling with a hamstring injury since his summer switch from Espanyol and is yet to make a first team appearance.
Papa Bouba Diop has stepped up his training but is still suffering with a hamstring injury, along with Herman Hreidarsson.
Wolves will be without injured midfielder Segundo Castillo at Molineux.
The Ecuador international sustained a hamstring injury during the 5-2 defeat by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and was substituted at half-time.
Castillo's replacement, Michael Kightly, could make his first ever Premier League start against Paul Hart's side.
But midfielder Dave Jones is ruled out for two months after undergoing knee surgery after already missing the clashes with Manchester United in the Carling Cup and the Black Cats.
Teams:
Wolves (from): Hennessey, Hahnemann, Halford, Mancienne, Zubar, Hill, Foley, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi, Edwards, Henry, Milijas, Jarvis, Keogh, Doyle, Kightly, Ebanks-Blake, Maierhofer.
Portsmouth (from): James, Kaboul, Mokoena, Mullins, Utaka, Kanu, Begovic, Basinas, Belhadj, Vanden Borre, Piquionne, Smith, O'Hara, Brown, Prince-Boateng, Ben-Haim, Williamson, Yebda, Dindane, Finnan, Webber
Manchester United vs Sunderland
Ben Foster will return to the Manchester United starting line-up for Saturday's Premier League encounter with Sunderland.
The England keeper sat out the Champions League win over Wolfsburg but has been assured on his place to face the Black Cats by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Michael Owen (groin) is out, while Edwin van der Sar (broken finger) and Rafael Da Silva (shoulder) are nearing full fitness after missing the entire season so far.
Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole could face the league leaders after returning to match fitness.
The 21-year-old was withdrawn at half-time during Sunday's 5-2 victory over Wolves having trained for just one day in the previous two and a half weeks because of a heel injury.
Central defender John Mensah is struggling with a calf problem, but full-back Phil Bardsley, who was sent home with a virus at the weekend, has recovered.
Teams:
Man Utd (from): Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O'Shea, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Valencia, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Gibson, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov.
Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, McCartney, Ferdinand, Turner, Nosworthy, Da Silva, Mensah, Cana, Cattermole, Richardson, Reid, Malbranque, Henderson, Bent, Jones, Campbell, Murphy, Healy.
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