Arsene Wenger is thankful to have a hard week ahead. Arsenal entertain Fenerbahce in the Champions League on Wednesday and Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday. Victories in both of those will help them put the woes of the past few days behind them. Wenger's side have dropped five Barclays Premier League points in their last two matches. They threw away two in the final few minutes against Tottenham Hotspur last Wednesday and then surprisingly lost 2-1 at Stoke City at the weekend. "We have a Champions League game on Wednesday and then Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime," said Wenger. "There are no better games in which to come back, give confidence and show our quality."

 Luke Young believes Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is as quick as new England star Theo Walcott - and capable of gaining international recognition. Young said: "Is Agbonlahor the quickest in the Premier League? He has definitely got to be there or thereabouts with the likes of Theo Walcott and people like that. When Gabby is on form and flying, he is very difficult to keep up with and he is also scoring goals. He is so fast that, once he is away, you are not going to get back at him as a few defenders have already found out to their cost this season."

 Paul Ince is backing Blackburn Rovers goal hero Keith Andrews to finally make the grade at the age of 28. Ince said: "Some people tried to question it when I signed him for Blackburn. Some people were saying 'Is it an old pals act?' after working with him before. It wasn't that. You've seen what a quality player he is. You saw that against Aston Villa in midweek when he was man of the match. Those midfield players who get forward and score goals, you don't get them 10 to a penny."

 Gary Megson has urged Trotters fans to get behind the team as they aim to rise up the league table. The manager said: "They need to support the team and the support in the second half [against Manchester City], when we really had that momentum, was as good as you're going to hear. One of the senior players said that we needed something to go in off somebody's backside - but you can't rely on that."

 Luiz Felipe Scolari believes his defence could be the key to success in the Champions League this season. Scolari's side have yet to concede in the Champions League this season but they have become renowned for a new attacking style in the Barclays Premier League. Yet the Brazilian coach insists his back four could play a pivotal part in the club reaching the final of the competition for the second successive year. "I think it is very important for our team that they have confidence in our defence," said Scolari. "We know that we have very good players in midfield and in attack. I think, in the 14 or 15 games, we've only failed to score in one or two."

 Louis Saha insists there is more to come after finally opening his Everton account in Saturday's win over Fulham. "It's a relief," he declared. "It's been a long time. But it was coming. It was a very long wait but the football is the main thing and I've been working hard for that. I don't think we played well but the main thing was we kept going and we got the three points. It's a very important win. We're now up in the table and it's good to see the Club in a better position. We showed character."

 Tickets for Fulham's Barclays Premier League match against Newcastle United on Sunday, 9th November (4pm kick off) are on sale now. Tickets for this fixture are on general sale and priced from £30 for adults, £20 for concessions (over 65s and under 17s) and £10 for juniors (under 17s). To book tickets, call 0870 442 1234 (option 1) or book your tickets online.

 Midfielder George Boateng believes Phil Brown's side were guilty of being overawed for the first time this season during Saturday's 4-3 defeat at Manchester United. "We showed them too much respect in the first half, but that was because of the way they played, they have a very good team," he said. "You look at their frontline of (Wayne) Rooney, (Dimitar) Berbatov and (Cristiano) Ronaldo. That is worth around £170m. So you have to show them respect, but we did that too much in the first half. It is the first time we've done that this season, but they are not (just) a top four team, we're talking about the Premier League and European champions." 

 Rafael Benitez has called on the Anfield hierarchy to secure Daniel Agger and Dirk Kuyt on new long-term contracts. Kuyt, the Holland striker, and Denmark defender Agger both have just 18 months to run on their current deals. "Agger is very close and he is talking with the club," Benitez said. "There is no news yet with Kuyt but he is another player that I would like to get done as soon as possible. They have to be done before the new year."

 Mark Hughes has received a double dose of good news on the injury front with Darius Vassell and Benjani both coming through a reserve team outing against Liverpool. Neither man has made a first-team appearance this season. Vassell suffered a knee injury in the pre-season friendly with AC Milan, while Benjani has struggled to shake off a thigh problem. However, both came through a meeting with the Reds second string last night, Benjani sealing a 2-1 win just before half-time. 

 Michael Carrick was relieved to come out on top of a "crazy" match with a 4-3 win over Hull City, but admitted that conceding three goals took the shine off United's win. The midfielder scored the Reds' second on his return from injury but was left feeling deflated as the Tigers came back from 4-1 down to make it a nervy final 10 minutes. "Conceding three goals at home is very disappointing - we pride ourselves on defending well as a team," Carrick said. "We created so many chances and played some extremely good football. But we shot ourselves in the foot with a few errors and they took their chances. At 4-1 the game should be killed anyway, but we should have gone on from that and scored more. For it to end 4-3 was crazy."

  Gareth Southgate has urged his players to follow the example of frontmen Afonso Alves and Tuncay Sanli as they attempt to build on a promising week. He said: "If I take our two front players from Saturday [Alves and Tuncay] as an example, they are two players who have fantastic belief in themselves and who believe any game is winnable. When you have players like that in your side who can score from nothing, that should give the team huge belief as well."

  Two "very serious" contenders have emerged as possible buyers of Newcastle United. Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce and the man tasked with selling the club, said that out of a number of expressions of interest, there were now two in the running. Harris said at the FT Sport Industry Summit in London: "We have two very serious contenders to buy it." Harris would not name those involved but said he believed a sale will go through before the end of the year or early in the new year.

 Manager Tony Adams believes his players may be guilty of trying too hard to get his reign off to a positive start. Pompey slipped to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Wigan Athletic on Saturday despite dominating the match, and now have just a point from three matches since Harry Redknapp departed for Tottenham Hotspur nine days ago. He said: "They are totally behind me, so we'll be all right. I've got good players and I believe in them. I hate it when good players don't get the results they deserve. You feel like you've been robbed but you have to learn from it. They've been fantastic for me, although we might be going a bit gung-ho. Maybe they're trying too hard for me, which is a compliment." 

  Tony Pulis has hailed defender Ryan Shawcross after he bounced back from being dropped at the start of the season to sparkle in recent matches for the Potters. Pulis said: "Ryan has done smashing. I didn't think he started well at Bolton when I thought he looked a little bit nervous. Every player has to fight for his place and we have a good squad here. He has had to fight to get in and, in the last couple of games, he has done brilliantly. The important thing now is that he keeps that going, doesn't take his foot off the pedal and pushes on rather than thinking he has arrived."

 Roy Keane said he was right to play youngsters Martyn Waghorn and Jordan Henderson in Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Chelsea. Waghorn was given only his second Barclays Premier League start and Henderson made his first-team debut, coming off the bench for the second half. "I started Martyn Waghorn because he's a very good player, he was our best player in training the day before," said Keane. "If anyone has watched our reserves, they'd see these players absolutely deserved their chance, and I thought the young lads acquitted themselves well. They could be involved in our next game and there's another couple of young players who could come into contention. I wanted to give Jordan and Martyn a taste of what it's like and, trust me, they'll be better for that game. Other managers are prepared to throw young players in and I never thought twice about putting them into the side. I thought they did well."

  Roman Pavlyuchenko is keeping his feet on the ground despite being the last-gasp hero in Saturday's 2-1 win over Liverpool at White Hart Lane. "It was great to score, but the most important thing was that the team won and I am very happy at the moment because we are playing well," he said. "At the end of the day, it's my job to score goals, that's why I was brought here, so I'm pleased to be scoring them."

 Striker Ishmael Miller paid tribute to his family for supporting him through his Barclays Premier League goal drought. The 21-year-old opened his top-flight account with Albion's second in their 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers at The Hawthorns and admitted his family had played a part in ensuring his confidence did not drop. "My mum was there with all my family," he said. "And when things weren't going well this season and I was getting chances but they weren't going for me, all my family were there behind me. I was just trying to repay them for that. As a striker if you get chances goals will come. It's the law of averages. You know if you keep getting chances in a game goals will come and I always kept belief in my own abilities."  

 Hayden Mullins has spoken of the determination in the squad to return to winning ways for manager Gianfranco Zola. The Hammers ended their four-match losing streak with a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough on Saturday. "Knowing that the manager is doing his best, all the players are working so hard for him," Mullins said. "He's a brilliant manager and brings a lot to the side. We're just disappointed for everything that we've been through. The last four results have not been good enough, so that's why we wanted to come up (to the Riverside) and win."

 Defender Luke Ashworth has returned to the JJB Stadium following the completion of his loan spell with Leyton Orient. The 18-year-old signed for the O's at the beginning of October and made five appearances during his spell at Brisbane Road. However, after Tamika Mkandawire's return from injury, Ashworth failed to feature and manager Martin Ling has decided not to renew the deal for a second month. "Luke came to the club to act as cover for the centre-back position and he did an excellent job for us," Ling said. "He hasn't been getting enough bench or pitch time in recent weeks though, so it is best that he returns to Wigan so he can remind them what he is about."