Arsene Wenger is hoping Robin van Persie can score at least 25 goals for Arsenal this season. The Dutchman, who has finally been able to shake of his frustrating injury problems, topped the Gunners' scoring charts last term with 20. He is hoping to better that tally this time around, with a flying start to the 2009/10 campaign suggesting he is more than capable. Van Persie already has eight goals to his name this term and Wenger sees no reason why the Holland international cannot go on to provide his best-ever return. "If you look at the chances he has had since the start of the season you cannot say he won't reach 25 goals," said Arsenal's French coach. "Robin has taken much more responsibility because he is up front. He has committed himself to the club for a long period and he is at an age, 26, where a footballer becomes really efficient, mature and wants to win things. That is why I believe he can be the best passer in the league and the best goalscorer in the league. When you look at the goals he scores they are always impressive."   

 Villa full-back Stephen Warnock is set to have his yellow card from Saturday's 1-1 draw with Everton rescinded after referee Lee Probert accepted he mistakenly booked the wrong player. Warnock was cautioned following a challenge from Stiliyan Petrov, who is now set to receive a delayed booking following Probert`s admission. Villa manager Martin O'Neill said: "The referee has accepted that he got the identification wrong so Stephen Warnock will get the card rescinded. If it is mistaken identity sometimes it gets handed on and I assume it will go on to Stiliyan. Tough luck Stiliyan!"   

 Burton Albion manager Paul Peschisolido is hoping on-loan goalkeeper Artur Krysiak will accept a permanent move to the club. The Brewers have agreed a deal with Birmingham City to sign the Pole in the New Year. Krysiak has impressed in making 15 appearances for Burton and Peschisolido wants the keeper to stay at the Pirelli Stadium. And while he acknowledged it is not yet a done deal, the Brewers manager is hoping Krysiak will agree to stick with the League Two club. "We have agreed a deal with Birmingham to bring Artur to Burton," said Peschisolido. "Now it's down to personal terms and, hopefully, we can do something. It's not a done deal yet, but we are going to sit down with Artur this week and, hopefully, we can prise him away from Birmingham."  

 Captain Ryan Nelsen believes the next few weeks could be crucial in the club's season. Nelsen is looking to get back on track on Saturday after the defeat by Manchester United when they face Portsmouth at Ewood Park on Saturday. Blackburn are only two points outside the relegation zone and Nelsen said: "It is time for us to stand up and be counted. There are some important games ahead and ones that we can win. We have got to maintain our home form. Portsmouth have had a couple of decent results but we have made Ewood Park a difficult place to visit and are looking forward to Saturday."   

 Manager Gary Megson is calling on Zat Knight to raise his game as the defender prepares to face his former club Aston Villa on Saturday. Knight scored an own goal in the defeat by Chelsea, raising old doubts about his ability to stay fully focused during matches. Megson said: "There is more to come from Zat, if he can just apply himself a bit better. If he just gets that concentration a bit sharper and gets that drive and desire, he can go on and on. He has always had this question mark about him at Fulham and Villa but he now has a chance to eradicate it."

 Defender Clarke Carlisle says they will travel to Manchester City with renewed confidence on Saturday. The Clarets have yet to pick up a point on the road this season but go into the match on the back of a victory against Hull City at the weekend. Carlise said: "There's a massive togetherness and everyone's willing to do a job and a half. We've shown we have that within our ranks. You trust the man alongside you. Getting a clean sheet is excellent for the defence and for the team as it is such a tough division to do that."     

 Joe Cole believes everything is now in place for Chelsea to exorcise the ghosts of past disappointments and become European champions for the first time. The Blues have been the nearly men of the Champions League for the last six years, being knocked out at the semi-final stage on four occasions and, having at last managed to get through to the final in 2008, losing on penalties to Manchester United. This year looks like being another good one in Europe for Chelsea, who under manager Carlo Ancelotti have won all three of their Group D matches without conceding a goal and have the chance to book their spot in the last 16 with a victory over Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon. Cole sees no reason why they cannot go all the way this time around. "Obviously the Premier League is very important, but for this club the Champions League is a massive target for us. We've not won it yet," said Cole. "We've come close over the last five years and we probably should've won it on a few occasions. We have the right people in charge, we have the experience now and we have to come to places like this and win, that's the challenge for us."   

 David Moyes was delighted with the performance of Ayegbeni Yakubu after the striker continued his return from injury against Aston Villa. Yakubu was sidelined for almost a year with a ruptured Achilles tendon but made his second start of the week in the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. The Nigerian, who had a hand in Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's opener for the Toffees, completed 90 minutes before being replaced by Jo in stoppage time. "Yak is definitely showing signs of getting back," Moyes said. "The injury was a nine-month injury, but it might take another nine months to get back to the level that you were at. With a ruptured Achilles you have to try and get the elasticity back into it and that doesn't just come at the end of the nine months. That comes with games and jumping and twisting and turning, but I can see bits of sharpness coming. I've got to say he's doing well. I'm pleased that his recovery is going in the right direction and he is looking more like the old Yak." 

 Fulham manager Roy Hodgson will not let his Fulham side get carried away with last weekend's win over Liverpool. He said: "We still have got a lot of work to do. I am preaching modesty and humility. To be in the Premier League and to be playing Liverpool and Manchester United and Chelsea is a wonderful achievement for Fulham. It is important to keep our feet on the ground and we will have to because this year European competition is a huge stretch on our resources." 

 Hull City's returning executive chairman Adam Pearson insisted the club is "in no danger of going out of business" and denied the cut-price sale of star defender Michael Turner was for financial reasons. But Pearson said: "If I felt the club was in imminent danger I'd have thought long and hard about coming back. Every problem at this club is solvable and the supporters should rest assured the club is in no danger of going out of business or going into administration."   

 Rafael Benitez will assess the condition of his walking wounded before flying to France for the crunch Champions League clash with Lyon. Steven Gerrard, Martin Kelly, Martin Skrtel and Albert Riera will definitely miss Wednesday night's Group E match - a match Liverpool have to win to maintain any hopes of reaching the last 16 - while Glen Johnson (calf), Daniel Agger (back), Fabio Aurelio (calf) and David Ngog (ankle) are doubts. But Benitez seems set on a major gamble on Fernando Torres and £20million new boy Alberto Aquilani, who has yet to start a match for his new club, as he said: "We have to take Fernando to Lyon because we don't have too many options. We have to keep working with him and the rest of the players."  

 Stephen Ireland feared he was going to die when he was rushed to hospital after complaining of dizziness during the Carling Cup tie with Fulham. The Manchester City star had no-one near him when he suddenly felt unwell. He was promptly substituted by Mark Hughes but when his symptoms failed to improve, he was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital for exhaustive tests. "Thankfully it wasn't too serious because at the time I thought that was the end of me," he said. "I don't know what it was. I have had every test that there is and I still don't know but it was a bit of a strange scare. It took me a while to get right but I am back on track. Everything is looking positive."   

 Darren Fletcher is back in the Manchester United side with Sir Alex Ferguson delighted his fellow Scot's industry is now receiving full acclaim. For many years, the 25-year-old midfielder remained a peripheral figure at Old Trafford, with most fans questioning why he remained at the club, but over the past 18 months, the Dalkeith-born star has become one of the most influential members of Ferguson's squad. "Most people now recognise Darren Fletcher as a big-game player," said Ferguson. "We have been aware of that for quite a while. Now he is getting an acceptance that he is a very important player for us."  

 Portsmouth's hat-trick hero Aruna Dindane believes there is more to come following his heroics in the win over Wigan Athletic. The Ivory Coast international was the star of the show as Pompey registered their first home win of the campaign with a 4-0 rout at Fratton Park. Dindane thanked his team-mates for helping him settle into life in England. "I am happy because I scored three goals and we won 4-0," said Dindane. "I have tried to work hard since I came here and [Saturday] I think was a reward for everything. I was pleased with the all-round team performance. I can be happy and confident for the next game. I feel all right. It's my first hat-trick in England. Everyone at the club has helped me so much and we can do better."   

 Striker Mamady Sidibe looks likely to miss Sunday's trip to Hull after suffering a setback in his return to full fitness. Sidibe, who has recently come back into first-team contention following seven months out with a cruciate knee ligament injury, pulled his left hamstring in the opening minutes of last night's reserve match against Chelsea, which the Potters went on to win 3-2. The 29-year-old Mali international was substituted as a precaution and could now face a further spell on the sidelines. Reserve team manager Mark O'Connor said: "He wanted to be strapped up to go back on, but there was no way that was going to happen. There was no hesitation in my mind to take him off. He has been out for a long time and there's no point rushing him. If he's not involved at the weekend, then we have a two-week break after that before we play Portsmouth. He's done fantastically to come back. He wants to play and wants to be out there. But you have to use your head a bit, and we can wait."  

 Sunderland manager Steve Bruce will not be happy until he can dismiss a poor performance as a blip. The Black Cats fought back from a 2-0 deficit against West Ham United at the weekend to snatch a draw and take their tally for the season to 17 points from 11 matches. While that represents a promising start for the new manager, he is challenging his players to repeat it in their next 11 fixtures to pave the way for genuine progress in their efforts to establish the club in the upper reaches of the Barclays Premier League table. Bruce said: "The campaign is a long one and it's not just going to happen where we turn ourselves into European contenders overnight - this club has only been two years out of the Championship. There's still a lot of work and a lot of improvement to do until we get to a point where we can say it's a blip if we play poorly. We have got to look at it this way - can we do the same over the next 11 games? Can we pick up another 17 points? If we do that, we will have a decent platform for a decent season."       

 Jermaine Jenas is hoping to help Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League and reclaim his place in the England squad. The midfielder believes Spurs are capable of securing a top four finish in the Barclays Premier League, while he has also set his sights on next summer's World Cup finals. He admits he is loving life at White Hart Lane and feels Harry Redknapp has moulded a squad which can rightly claim to be among the best in the country. "If you look at our squad and the amount of internationals we have got in our team, and the depth that we have, it's phenomenal," Jenas said. "The chairman and the manager have spent the money wisely and have started to build a really good squad. I think most teams look at us as a threat and as a team that can break into the top four. It's probably the strongest part of the England team, the midfield, and in terms of getting back in it; I think it's important I just keep playing the way I am for Spurs, creating as much as I can. I have always said that your club is your bread and butter and if you do well, Fabio Capello is a man who doesn't let things go unnoticed. He comes to watch games, so hopefully I can impress for Spurs and get a chance."

 Assistant manager Steve Clarke believes his team will get their campaign back on track this week, with another home match - against Everton - in the offing this weekend. "We are going to give the fans our first home win," the former Scotland and Chelsea full-back vowed. "We are gong to give them the win they want. They have a good memory of the finish of the Arsenal game where we finished strongly (to draw 2-2 from 2-0 down). They are going to take us into those two matches and they are going to push us to the win that we need. It's important we get a win sooner rather than later so tomorrow night is a terrific chance for us." 

 Mario Melchiot says the team will strive to put things right on Sunday against Fulham after defeat to Portsmouth. "We had a slow start and, although it wasn't as bad as the one we had at Burnley, it took us a long time to get going," said Melchiot. "By the time we woke up, we were 2-0 down, and it's too late for the manager to turn things round at half-time. We made it too difficult for ourselves. It was harder still when the third goal went in, and we couldn't turn things round. We have to understand that this type of game is the hardest for us to play. The crowd is really close to the pitch, and it's always a difficult place for any team to come. We weren't think about anything other than winning this game, and to get beat is very tough to take."  

 Kevin Doyle declared it a "good night" on home soil in Wexford after his cameo appearance in Monday night's friendly win. Wolves' record signing came on for the last 20 minutes of the match in which Mick McCarthy's men prevailed 2-1 thanks to goals from Stefan Maierhofer and Andy Keogh. While admitting to feeling the pressure of all the attention being directed towards him, Kevin was his usual amiable self in posing for every photograph and signing every autograph in the wake of the Irish friendly. "It was a good night," he said. "It was a pity I couldn't start the game but I'd played a full game against Stoke two days before and we've got Arsenal coming up and then the Ireland games with France. The manager said I'd get 10 to 15 minutes and I ended up with 20 so I was happy enough with that. I was under a bit of pressure and the rest of the lads were giving me stick so we had to make sure they were well looked after - it all seems to have gone well and everyone enjoyed it."