Victory over Chelsea will count for nothing with Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas if his men do not go on to repeat the performance against the rest of the Barclays Premier League. "We showed a different attitude and that is what we want to do from now on," Fabregas said. "We have a new momentum, but if we do not do the same, then it is not worth it. We want to be competitive again in every game and see where we can go until the end of the season. We have shown we can do it, to beat the big teams, so we can have no excuse with not doing it against the rest of the teams."

 Stiliyan Petrov says Villa must follow the lead of the Barclays Premier League big guns and "step up a gear" as they look to get back on track. Petrov insists there is no time for 'doom and gloom' after the frustrating goalless home draw against Fulham because matches are coming thick and fast. He said: "We had enough chances to win but we couldn't put the ball in the net. But we must look at the positives and that was our third clean sheet in a row. But the key is keeping our heads up. We are still up there near the top of the league, we are very close and in touch and we just need to keep going. It's a long season and other teams will make mistakes as well. Games are coming thick and fast now and we have to keep going. We haven't got time to put our heads down and think about this game."

 Paul Ince bemoaned the same old story after Rovers' defeat at Portsmouth, saying his side deserved something from the encounter. After bossing the first half but failing to score, Rovers were to regret those missed chances when Crouch and Defoe fired the home side in front. Ince's side showed great spirit to come roaring back thanks to strikes from Matt Derbyshire and Tugay. Derbyshire had a second chalked off, before Sean Davis fired home the winner from close-range. Ince said: "I think we deserved all three points, I think on the balance of play and the way we played and the chances we had. It is frustrating and disappointing. In the first half I felt we were by far the better side and had two great chances, one from Roque and one from Stevie Warnock that we should have stuck away. We then lost our shape after that and before we know it we were 2-0 down. But no-one can question the spirit of the team and the players, they are willing to die for each other and get us out of where we are."

 Alex McLeish will soon assess Nicky Hunt's future at Birmingham City but has hinted he hopes to extend the on-loan Bolton defender's current deal. Hunt has enjoyed a successful spell at St Andrews since agreeing a one-month loan move at the start of November. The right-back, who had to come off in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers due to a hamstring injury, has one more match left of his current agreement. And when asked whether he is looking to tie Hunt down for a longer period of time, McLeish said: "We'll have to look at that because Stephen Kelly is still a wee bit away from fitness but Stuart Parnaby is 100 per cent fit again. We have to be thinking about keeping Nicky around. He looked great (against Wolves), he brought his Premiership experience to the team and he was a threat going forward and it was such a shame to lose him. It (his hamstring injury) was serious enough to take him off but hopefully it's not too bad for Nicky, he's got another game left for us." 

 Chelsea have reached an agreement with Norwegian club Lyn Oslo in their dispute over the transfer of John Mikel Obi. Chelsea issued a High Court claim against Lyn and their former chief executive Morgan Andersen in October in an effort to recoup the £16m transfer fee they paid for the Nigerian. A statement on Chelsea's official website on Monday read: "Chelsea Football Club and FC Lyn Oslo have resolved all matters between the two clubs with regard to John Mikel Obi. The terms of the agreement will remain confidential. There will be no further comment."

 Steven Pienaar has summed up Everton's disappointment after Ayegbeni Yakubu was ruled out for the rest of the season - admitting the team will sorely miss him. South African midfielder Pienaar, who scored the winner at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday on his return from a knee problem, revealed how upset Yakubu was after suffering his Achilles injury. Pienaar said: "It is a huge blow to lose Yak and we are all so sorry for him. We know the quality he has got and the type of person he is. I spoke to Yak at half-time and he was really down."

  Roy Hodgson described Fulham's draw at Villa Park on Saturday as "a great fighting effort" and praised his team's defensive performance after the Whites recorded their second consecutive clean sheet away from home against two teams vying for Champions League positions. "We knew with the formation they play and the players they possess Aston Villa are a very dangerous team," Hodgson explained. "They are strong and solid at the back and enormously hard working in midfield. We were looking relatively dangerous but what disappointed me a bit in the second half was when there were some counter attacking chances we didn't produce good enough passes. The runs were there but we couldn't do as much as I thought we might have been able to do.The games we've lost away from home, even last season, we've always been in the game. This season we've had three odd-goal defeats and the opinion has been that we've always been unlucky. The performances have outweighed the results this season, except in the last two games."

 Marlon King says Saturday's point from the draw against Stoke was a valuable one and keeps the positive mood within the squad going. King's fourth goal of the season had given the Tigers a half time lead, but Ricardo Fuller's penalty saw the points shared in a 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium. "We probably should have seen the game out," said King. "But credit to Stoke. They are a strong physical side and they put us on the back foot a lot of times in the game. Not a lot of teams will come away from Stoke with anything and a point is better than nothing. Obviously we're disappointed not to get all three points, but then again we could have come away with nothing."

 Jamie Carragher says there are plenty of reasons to be positive after the Reds went one point clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League with a goalless draw against West Ham United at Anfield. Despite missing the opportunity to go three points clear of Chelsea at the summit, the vice-captain believes Liverpool can take confidence from results going in their favour. "I think the positive thing to take is the fact that we have qualified for the next stage of the Champions League and we are top of the Premier League. To do that when we are not playing well and going through a rough patch is really positive," Carragher said. "You are always disappointed when you don't win your home games, and obviously in the last three games at home we have not played as well as we could. We would have liked to get the three points and we certainly tried to get that but normally when you are not playing too well you go down the league. Instead we are going up the league when we are not at our best."

 Robinho does not feel Manchester City will win anything until they change their small-time mentality. "City have good players but the mentality of a small side," Robinho said. "They are content with just finishing fifth or sixth. They are content with little, thinking just a draw might be good enough. They lack the mentality of champions. I have learnt that being second is worthless so I want to inspire a winning mentality. You can only be content with winning. You need to want to beat Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. Maybe I have changed this a bit but now City have a project to become big, the mentality has to change."

 Edwin van der Sar insists Manchester United remain relaxed about their prospects of completing a Barclays Premier League title hat-trick. "We feel quite comfortable," he said. "The only thing you can do is win your own games. Every club has 38 matches to play and somehow we have to find a date where we can play those extra games. Hopefully it won't be too late, but either way, our task is quite straightforward. We just have to get more points than the others."

 Gareth Southgate has urged his players to take the pressure off record signing Afonso Alves after seeing him draw a derby-day blank against Newcastle. The 27-year-old Brazilian, a £12.7m January signing from Heerenveen, could have written himself into the headlines as he was presented with a series of opportunities to score on Saturday. However, he failed to take any of them to extend his wait for a goal to five matches - six from open play. The striker, who scored goals for fun in Holland, has managed nine in 30 appearances for his new club to date, but the man who signed him is not unduly concerned. Southgate said: "Everybody asks about him, but it's the responsibility of all of us to get goals. I am not concerned about that. He was eased out of a couple in the first half a bit too easily, but he had one run in the second half that was fantastic and a great strike just too high."

 Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has denied any link with a transfer window move for former striker Michael Owen. "We will have Fernando Torres back soon (from injury), and I can assure everyone that clearly we are not going for Michael Owen. Clearly." 

 Peter Crouch has set his sights on a European renaissance after Portsmouth finally won under Tony Adams at Fratton Park. Pompey head for Wolfsburg in Germany for their next UEFA Cup assignment on Thursday with only one point on the board from two second-round matches, despite their heroics last week in drawing 2-2 with mighty AC Milan. Crouch said: "I'm sure there is still a chance for us and while that's the case we'll go for it. A win on Thursday leaves it wide open. Liverpool always had that attitude even when losing two and drawing one of the first three games in the Champions League when I was there last season. We still dug ourselves out of it and went on to reach the semi-finals and that sort of thing happened a few times with Liverpool. If Liverpool can do it, why not Portsmouth?"

 Tony Pulis has one eye on trying to boost his squad as they maintain their fight to stay in the Barclays Premier League. He said: "The window opens in three or four weeks and we will be doing some business to maintain our status in the Premier League. We are a bit short in a few areas, particularly the attacking areas. We could do with a bit more quality and hopefully we can do some decent business in the window."

 Phil Bardsley has appealed to Sunderland's supporters to get behind the players and help them through a "difficult" time. The Black Cats lost 4-1 at home to Bolton on Saturday, their fifth defeat in six Premier League matches. Some of Sunderland's fans vented their frustration during - and after - the heavy defeat at the Stadium of Light which left Roy Keane's men in the bottom three. "The fans are disappointed but we need them to be behind us," said Bardsley. "I know we've lost games at home but we need them to be behind us and not to boo us. We need everyone. When the going gets tough, you need everybody, not just the players. We need the fans more than ever. We can't afford to have them booing us every time we get beaten. Everyone's trying to do their best and people booing them and stuff is not going to make things better. Of course everyone expects better but at this moment in time the luck's not with us, we need to start picking points up quick."

 Ledley King has hailed Luka Modric as the key to the club's season, as the Croatia playmaker edges towards a return from injury. Modric has been out for a fortnight with a partially torn groin muscle and is back running in training, although a return to action for the Carling Cup quarter-final at Watford on Wednesday appears ambitious. "We miss Luka Modric, because that is what he is all about. When he you give him the ball in the final third, he makes things happen, and we hope he is back as soon as possible."

 Tony Mowbray was not short of inspiration for Albion's Barclays Premier League plight in the aftermath of Saturday's defeat at the JJB Stadium. In his post-match press briefing, Mowbray was reminded by local journalists that victors Wigan were two points worse off than the Baggies at exactly the same stage last term and ended up finishing 14th. Dean Kiely has also jogged the Albion chief's memory of how the veteran keeper helped steer Portsmouth out of huge trouble - at the Baggies' expense - after moving to Fratton Park in January 2006. "There's lots of clubs who have been in our position and ended up doing okay," said Mowbray, whose side remain bottom and only four points adrift of safety, despite losing seven of their last eight matches. "I was only talking to Dean recently about when he stayed up with Portsmouth. If we were a hopeless team that didn't look like scoring and were getting battered every week, we'd be sitting here thinking 'we just haven't got enough quality, we're really struggling here'. But I don't think that's the case."

 Gianfranco Zola claimed Monday's goalless draw at Liverpool was the most impressive performance of his short spell as manager. The Hammers chief, in charge for a dozen matches, has watched his team earn three successive clean sheets in an unbeaten run that has dragged the side away from the bottom three. And Zola hailed striker Craig Bellamy as "awesome" on the Welshman's first return to Anfield since his £7.5m move to east London 17 months ago. Zola said: "I am very pleased with my side, that was the best team performance since I became manager. And as for Craig, he was awesome. Maybe he felt he had something to prove after leaving Liverpool, and he covered every blade of grass. I like what he does, not only as a striker but the hard work he puts in helping the midfield."

  Chairman Dave Whelan admits he may have to sell striker Emile Heskey in the January transfer window. "Emile is out of contract in the summer, but he doesn't want to sign a new one at the moment," said Whelan. "It could cost us two, three or four million (pounds) if that goes on to next summer, so we'll have to see what January brings." Heskey cost Wigan a club record £5.5m when he joined from Birmingham City in the summer of 2006, since when he has scored 15 goals in 81 league and cup appearances.