Mikael Silvestre says Arsenal's youngsters must learn from the mistakes they made against Burnley on Tuesday night. The Gunners exited the competition at the quarter-final stage as they suffered a 2-0 loss to the Championship side at Turf Moor. Silvestre captained a youthful team and admitted they paid the price for their errors. The 31-year-old Frenchman said: "You have got to learn. They should have won and a lack of concentration has cost us two goals. We had chances and it's a shame. It was an opportunity for them to express themselves (in the cup run). They did but we lost this game and you can see that it will hurt for a while. If we are not stupid, then we won't do the same again."

 Martin O'Neill says qualification for the next phase of the UEFA Cup is his main priority on Thursday night. But he admits that once entry into the last 32 is guaranteed he will be gunning for a top two finish in the group - as this would ensure a home match in the second leg of the next round. He said: "My initial thought is that qualification is the most important thing tomorrow evening. If you had said to me way back in July when we set out in the initial stages of this competition that we would see it through to Christmas and have a chance to make it through to the last 32, I would obviously have taken it. We have made good progress. We have won the first two group stage games - which is great - and we have put ourselves in a really strong position. There's no question about that. One extra point will do it for us. So we must do that at the very least. I would take qualifying. Saying that, it would be nice to push on and finish in the top two."

 Paul Ince gave his assessment of Wednesday evening's amazing 5-3 defeat to Manchester United in the Carling Cup quarter finals. "It was difficult but in the first half we started well. We had three good chances in the first half and were doing okay for 30 minutes," he said. "We felt comfortable. We weren't playing particularly well, but we didn't look in danger. But we conceded goals pretty early and you can't do that against teams like Manchester United. I said at half-time that it was important who got the next goal, if we got it we had a chance. We did that, with a great finish from Benni (McCarthy), but then we gave away a penalty straight away. You can't do that at any level, nevermind against Manchester United. I wasn't sure it was a penalty but that killed us. We feel we are back in the game at 2-1 but we keep doing it to ourselves. Saying that, we got three goals at Old Trafford."

 Wanderers supporters using the official travel club will once again benefit from free travel after the club announced it was providing complimentary coaches for the forthcoming Barclays Premier League game at Aston Villa. Following on from the free travel offers to West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur, Hull City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland this season, Bolton Wanderers will be doing the same for the trip to Villa Park on Saturday 13th December. The free travel is worth £15 for Travel Club members, £18 for non Travel Club members and £14 for Junior Whites. To claim your free travel place, please contact the Promotions Department on 01204 673 663. Non-members must book in person at the Promotions Office and be in possession of their match ticket at the time of booking (Terms and Conditions Apply). Coaches will depart the Reebok Stadium at 11.30 am on Saturday 13th December.

 Chelsea's FA Cup Third Round tie against Southend United will take place at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 3rd January. Kick-off is at 3pm. The match will not be broadcast live on TV. In the event of a draw, the replay will take place at Roots Hall on Wednesday 14th at 7.45pm.

 Neville Southall is tipping Tim Howard for a long career at Everton. Howard recently broke the Welshman's record for number of goals conceded in the first 100 matches at the club. Southall enjoyed nearly 17 years at Everton, winning two league titles, an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup in the process. He's been highly impressed by former Man Utd stopper Howard - claiming his performances would be worthy of some silverware of his own. "He must have had a better defence than I did!" Southall said. "No, obviously it's great for him but I just want him to go on and win something. It's great that you get all the clean sheets but at some stage you've got to go on and win something. That would be great. Everybody is sick of history, we want to make some new history, don't we? Tim has been in really good form. I don't think the goalkeeping position is a problem for Everton. They have got a really, really good player who can go on for a long time at a really high level."
 

 With Fulham preparing for this weekend's match against Manchester City, captain Danny Murphy gave his thoughts on the fixture against Mark Hughes' team. He said: "I've seen them quite a few times. At times they play some wonderful football and are a joy to watch, but of course, with such individual flair and characters in their team they can be susceptible on the break. So we have to be trying to attack them and make sure that we have a good go at them, because I think their attacking is probably their strength - you can see that by their goals for tally. So we need to try and go out and win the match - we certainly won't be going into it cautiously. Like every team in the Premier League they've got players that can hurt you and players who, on their day, can win matches so it will be a good game. They play football the right way, they don't whack it, they knock it about, so I think the fans will be in for a really good game."

 Hull City's Barclays Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday 13th December will be screened back live to the KC Stadium (KO 3pm). Applications for the Tigers allocation of 3,000 tickets for the match have been fully subscribed to and as a result, the club have received permission from the Premier League and Liverpool to beam this fixture back to the KC Stadium's 44sqm LED screen. Full match commentary will accompany the beamback and will be relayed via the stadium PA system. Admission to the deVries Honda West Stand lower and upper tiers will be £10 adults and £5 concessions payable at the turnstiles on the day. Turnstiles will open at 2pm and tickets will not be available in advance with all seats unreserved.

 Daniel Agger has spoken of his contentment with life on Merseyside - but admitted he had yet to reach top form after returning from injury. The Dane, who missed almost all of last season with a metatarsal injury, has enjoyed an extended run in the side since Martin Skrtel suffered cruciate ligament damage against Man City in October. With Skrtel hoping to return this month, Agger knows he will have to be at his best to stay in the team. It's difficult to compare to how I was before, and I know there are some things I need to improve, but I can feel myself getting better and better with every game," the 23-year-old said. "Maybe I am not there yet, but I will be soon."

 Manchester City could be without Brazil winger Elano for at least two weeks after he hobbled off in the goalless draw against Paris St Germain in the UEFA Cup. Elano pulled up two minutes into the second half at Eastlands with a groin problem and will be assessed on Thursday. Manager Mark Hughes said: "We will check him out. With those kind of strains it is a minimum of two weeks, possibly longer. But we hope he has not compromised himself too much with the injury. It is a blow to us because obviously we are a little bit light in midfield. We cannot afford to lose too many bodies there."

 Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his job is getting more difficult as a consequence of his side's Carling Cup run. Carlos Tevez ran riot in the 5-3 quarter final win over Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday. And, as Brazilian youngsters Rafael and Rodrigo Possebon also impressed, along with fellow countryman Anderson, Ferguson admitted he has some selection dilemmas looming. "The great bonus for me is that we have players who are now coming into form," said the United boss. "Carlos Tevez scored four times and produced a marvellous performance, as did Anderson and Jonny Evans. It definitely makes my job more difficult, although it also makes the club stronger."

 David Wheater can realise his England ambitions while being the cornerstone of the Boro defence for well over a decade to come, believes Colin Cooper. First team coach Cooper, a fellow centre-back who won two England caps while with Nottingham Forest, says Wheater has all the qualities needed to be a legend for club and country. "Wheats is brilliant. I love him to bits, I love his attitude and enthusiasm," said Cooper. "He still wants to improve and wants to keep learning and he's still a very young man. There's no reason whatever why David Wheater can't go on and be the stalwart centre-half for the next 15 years at this football club. And were he to do that, there's no reason why he can't go on to play for England on a regular basis as well, because he is good enough, without a shadow of a doubt."

 Joe Kinnear is backing captain Michael Owen to hit the goals trail once again after leaping to his defence. The 28-year-old found himself in the firing line at the weekend after failing to muster a single shot on goal in Saturday's 0-0 derby draw at Middlesbrough. However, amid a growing debate over the £17m man's form following his return from a groin injury, Kinnear has no doubts about his ability and his importance to the team. The manager said: "Yes, Michael had a quiet game by his high standards, but the coaching staff on the bench could see how hard he was working and we felt that he did a lot of unselfish running for the team. That was backed up when we had a look at the video after the game and studied each individual performance and saw what Owen had done. Our big regret at Middlesbrough on Saturday was that none of the chances we created came Michael's way, but that was not necessarily his fault. He kept running into goalscoring positions, but he just never got the ball, and that is something we have to work on." 

 Portsmouth manager Tony Adams hopes a fit-again Sol Campbell can provide the base for Pompey to rebuild their UEFA Cup campaign in Germany against Wolfsburg. Portsmouth head into the match with just a single point from their two matches so far in Group E, and realistically must win at the Volkswagen Arena to have any hope of progressing to the last 32. Campbell has recovered from injury and is set to be handed a first start in a month, along with creative linchpin Niko Kranjcar, as Adams makes a last-ditch bid for European salvation. "I want Sol to play every game, I think he's a phenomenal football player. I played alongside him so I know his strengths," Adams said. "I think we've missed him for the last few games, even though the players who've come in have done very well. You miss someone of that experience. We've gone five games undefeated so things aren't going so badly, but I just think we missed a little bit of team maturity. After a couple of games when we've been done late, his experience could have helped. Someone like that who's been there, seen it, done it has a calming influence on the team. We've just missed players of that experience."

 City hero Denis Smith will be signing his new book at the Potteries Shopping Centre Club Shop today. "Just One Of Seven", the autobiography of Smith, describes a man who was an integral part of the Stoke City team which won the first major trophy in the Club's history in 1972 as the unfashionable Potters established themselves amongst the elite in the English game. Tough-talking and in places brutally honest, Smith's autobiography reveals his hard upbringing amidst the gangs of Stoke-on-Trent and tales from 25 years of management with York, Sunderland, Bristol City, Oxford United, West Brom and Wrexham. The book signing takes place on the 4th between 5pm and 7pm, with books available to purchase on the night priced £17.99.

 Sunderland have confirmed the appointment of Steve Walton as Chief Executive. He will commence his duties at the club on 1st March 2009. Steve is currently Corporate Director for Barclays Bank in the North East, with over 30 years experience with the bank in the UK. Previously he was Barclays Director of Football, working with all its football clients, including Sunderland, and played an integral role in providing funding solutions for more than half of the clubs in the Premier League. He also handled many high profile player transfers both in the UK and abroad. Commenting on his appointment Steve said: "I am excited and looking forward to working alongside what I already know is a strong and very professional team of people at Sunderland. From my perspective Sunderland is on firmer footing than in recent years so there is a great platform to build on to make the Club an even stronger Premier League brand in the future. Having worked as a strategic adviser to many Premier League football clubs for a number of years, I have gained a unique insight and understanding of the challenges and issues faced by Premier League clubs, and I'm proud to have worked so closely with many key figures in the industry and been trusted to advise and assist them.Having attended Sunderland games from an early age with my grand-father in the Clock Stand at Roker Park, I never imagined that one day I would be sitting alongside Niall Quinn in the directors' box at the Stadium of Light and steering the Club I have supported all my life."

 Despite prioritising the league, Harry Redknapp has one eye on another appearance in the Carling Cup final after his side defeated Watford 2-1 to reach the semi-finals. After winning the trophy under Juande Ramos in February, Spurs then struggled for form in the Barclays Premier League, leading to the Spaniard being replaced by Harry Redknapp at the end of October. "We'd love to reach the final," Redknapp said. "I'm sure they enjoyed their day but they won the final and couldn't win a league game. We've got to realise where our priorities are. League games are all important for us." Spurs are now in the hat with Manchester United, Burnley and Derby, giving Redknapp the scent of glory despite prioritising the league. He added: "You get this close and it's important to try to go all the way now. The priority is the league, then secondly this competition because we have a genuine chance. "Alex (United manager Sir Alex Ferguson) will sniff the chance, he'll want to win it. He won't put his youth team out."

 Jonathan Greening has stressed the West Bromwich Albion players are fully behind manager Tony Mowbray and he has urged his team-mates to cut out the silly mistakes which have proved so costly. Albion's season was summed up on Saturday when they were beaten 2-1 at Wigan Athletic after having the chances to kill off the match when in front. Greening said: "We all believe in the gaffer (Mowbray) and we all believe in each other and we need to stay strong as a team. Of course, it is deflating when you play well, have so many chances, and end up not getting anything out of the game. But we have to believe in what we are doing and the performances overall haven't been too bad. We just need to get the right results by cutting out the sloppy mistakes and keeping it going."  

 West Ham United have signed a new shirt sponsorship deal with online bookmakers SBOBET, which will run until the end of next season. The Hammers had been without an official sponsor since the collapse of XL Holidays in September midway through a £7.5million three-year contract. The SBOBET logo will appear on West Ham shirts for the first time in Monday's Barclays Premier League match with Tottenham. 

  Steve Bruce has revealed the club plan to sign Maynor Figueroa on a permanent basis in January. The left-back arrived at JJB Stadium on loan from Deportivo Olimpia in January after impressing on trial. Figueroa's time with the Latics was extended in July and he has made 15 Premier League appearances this season. Bruce has praised Figueroa and confirmed a deal is in place to sign the 25-year-old for £1.5million. He said: "I think Maynor has done enough here, and there is a deal in place between the two clubs. We negotiated in the summer to have him on loan until Christmas, but now with the sort of money we're talking about - £1.5m - it's a no-brainer not to make it permanent."