Kolo Toure denies complacency was to blame for Arsenal's 2-1 defeat by Hull City after claiming he was scared to face the Barclays Premier League newcomers. "I was scared to play the game," said the centre-back. "Sometimes people, not the players, play the game before it's started and that's a problem because there are no small teams in the Premiership."

 Curtis Davies believes it is very important that Ashley Young signs a an improved long-term contract for Aston Villa after hailing him as the club's "most important player". "It is crucial that he signs a new deal. We've managed to get a good core of young English players together and, if we can get Ashley to sign on for another few years, it is going to be a massive boost." 

 Goalkeeper Jason Brown was delighted to make his first Premier League start for Blackburn in the 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Saturday. Brown, deputising for the injured Paul Robinson, said: "It was unbelievable, it was the first time in a game that the hairs on the back of my neck have stood up. It was great experience for me, it was a shame for Robbo that he has his calf injury, but I've come in and I just want to do the best I can." 

 Gretar Steinsson insists the club's season starts now after successive defeats to Arsenal and Manchester United. "If you take away the first 25 minutes against Arsenal when we conceded the goals, but include the second half of that game and the first half against Manchester United, you can see how good we are and how we can play," he said: "We can play with the ball in possession, we can play counter-football, we are physically strong and we just need to stick together and start our season now."

 The first team squad departed for the Champions League match against Cluj in Romania without Joe Cole who is still struggling with injury. He has a small tear in the muscle around his hip but should return to training on Thursday. Ricardo Carvalho and Deco are still out with knee and thigh injuries respectively.

 Everton manager David Moyes has admitted a Football Association charge of improper conduct, the Merseyside club have confirmed. The charge related to Moyes' reaction to a decision made by referee Alan Wiley during the Toffees' Barclays Premier League match against Stoke on 14th September. Moyes has requested a personal hearing, but no date has been set for this at present. The Scot was angered by Wiley's decision not to award a penalty for what he felt was a handball by Stoke defender Leon Cort.

 John Pantsil has admitted the defeat to former club West Ham United on Saturday has hit him hard. The Cottagers were beaten 2-1 at Craven Cottage, and the Ghanaian said: "It's a big disappointment to the entire team and especially our fans; we couldn't make them happy. This is part of football; we're going to learn from our mistakes. We are very down about the defeat but we must now look ahead and get more points to get back up there."

 Phil Brown thinks his bold team selection for the win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday paid off. The Tigers manager included an attacking line-up of Marlon King, Daniel Cousin and Geovanni in his starting line up with the latter two scoring the goals that fired Hull to a memorable 2-1 victory. He said: "We decided to pick a team to come to the Emirates and cause Arsenal one or two problems. Arsenal are a great side, there is no doubt about that. People might have said it was suicidal to play Geovanni. Our front two were key to the way we played against Everton last week and I was always going to stick with them."

 Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hoping Ryan Babel will soon be able to have an effect from the start. Forward Babel has found himself often employed as a substitute since his move to Anfield, but Benitez insists there is more to the Dutchman than a "Supersub" tag. "Our view of Ryan is a player who starts games and has an impact from the beginning, not just as a sub," Benitez said. 

 Mark Hughes felt the tempo of the match did not help his Manchester City side as they were beaten 2-1 by Wigan. Antonio Valencia and Amr Zaki`s penalty - either side of Vincent Kompany`s goal - gave the Latics the spoils and Hughes felt his side should have done more. "We are disappointed - we expected to get something out of the game," he said. "We had enough possession but didn't have enough tempo to our passing in the second half, or a cutting edge." 

 Portuguese legend Eusebio is certain Cristiano Ronaldo will scoop the FIFA world player of the year prize in December. The 23-year-old has only just returned from ankle surgery but already he has shot to the top of United's goalscoring charts, netting against Middlesbrough before taking advantage of Rob Styles' generosity by converting the Red Devils' controversial penalty in Saturday's win over Bolton at Old Trafford. "Officially, the best player is Kaka," Eusebio said. "However, I believe that Cristiano is the best without any doubt."

 Gary O'Neil has urged his Boro team-mates to start taking their chances in front of goal. Missed opportunities were rued after the Teesiders suffered their fourth defeat of the season at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. "We missed a lot of good chances and I probably had the best one," admitted O'Neil. "This was a game we had to win, but there are a lot of games to go. I would not say it is a crisis, we are creating a lot of chances, everyone needs to tighten up and stop giving away sloppy goals. We need to start taking our chances. Everything else is there."

  The Nigerian consortium looking to buy Newcastle have instructed Chris Nathaniel to look at managerial possibilities, including Kevin Keegan, while their bid is being considered. Nathaniel, chief executive of NVA Management, has been liaising with a group of entrepreneurs and an official bid was lodged on Friday. Joe Kinnear has been appointed interim manager and Nathaniel's priority is to find a suitable permanent manager, with Keegan's standing among Newcastle supporters acknowledged by the potential buyers.

 Harry Redknapp was delighted with his strikers after both scored in Portsmouth's 2-0 win over Spurs. Redknapp said: "It was nice to see Jermain score. He's been very sharp and so has Crouchie who also did well. "The pair of them dominated Spurs' two centre-backs (Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson) who are both very good players."

 Stoke's Liam Lawrence is an injury doubt for his side's weekend meeting with Portsmouth after tripping over his pet dog. The former Sunderland winger suffered the bizarre injury to his ankle this morning, leaving Potters manager Tony Pulis with a potential selection headache for Sunday's match. Pulis said: "He has stepped over his dog on the stairs and his ankle just gave way and he went over on it. The initial scan has shown no break but we have sent him back for another X-ray to make sure."

 Roy Keane admitted his Sunderland side paid the penalty for "sloppy" defending during the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. The Black Cats led through Djibril Cisse's second goal of the season but Ashley Young and John Carew struck before half-time. Keane said: "You've got to put the ball in the back of the net and, for all our decent play and good possession, particularly in the second half, we didn't test the 'keeper enough. We felt there was definitely something there for the taking so we are disappointed with that side of things. But we know Villa are going to be pretty decent at set-pieces. Their record would suggest that, the number of goals they have scored over the last couple of years. The first goal was very sloppy, a needless tackle, and the wall could have done better. For the second one we were in decent possession and gave it away. If they had opened us up and scored some goals against us, then you hold your hand up, but we invited the trouble on and they took full advantage so credit to Villa for that. We felt we did enough to get a result but in the final third did not produce that bit of quality that you need to get something in a Premier League game."  

 Winger Charlie Daniels has returned to Spurs after deciding not to extend his loan spell at Gillingham. The 22-year-old has made five appearances in his month at Priestfield - scoring once - and manager Mark Stimson was keen to keep the player for longer.

 Manager Tony Mowbray has revealed the initial signs from Do-heon Kim's scan on his injured knee are positive. The midfielder was stretchered off after less than 60 seconds in Saturday's 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium after twisting his leg. He is expected to be out for at least six weeks and Tony Mowbray is hoping it is nothing worse than medial ligament damage. "The initial signs from Kim's scan are quite positive," said the Baggies manager, "but we will have more of a definitive picture once a specialist has looked at the scan."

 Wales coach John Toshack has named West Ham's Craig Bellamy and James Collins in his squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers. Wales have Group Four qualifying matches against Liechtenstein in Cardiff on 11th October and the trip to face Germany in Monchengladbach on 15th October. An FA of Wales spokesman said: "We have spoken to both Craig and James in recent days, and both say they are ready for action."

 Manager Steve Bruce likened Zaki's style to that of his former Manchester United team-mate and current City manager Mark Hughes. "He is that sort of type, he has the same physique as Mark," Bruce said. "He is a throwback - and that is no disrespect to the old-fashioned centre-forwards. Zaki played with enormous appetite, he is as strong as a bull, and both Richard Dunne and Micah Richards know they have been in a game."