Arsene Wenger hailed his freescoring Arsenal side as offering the most attacking options since his arrival at the club after watching them sweep aside AZ Alkmaar. Wenger's men defeated their Dutch opponents 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium to leave them needing a point to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages. Assessing the number of attacking options in his squad, Wenger said: "As many on the creative side? Certainly not. We had still Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott who are offensive players who are not available. Denilson, Eduardo, Rosicky did not start, that is why I was amazed when people said 'buy, buy, buy.' And Vela as well, I forgot him. This season we look like we're getting stronger and stronger in each game. It's important to keep that attitude to progress, improve and play for each other more. Then we are allowed to believe in our future. We have quality and I believe in this team but it will be down to us to grow and be consistent."   

 Martin O'Neill was disappointed in the manner that his side lost the match 2-1 against West Ham United on Wednesday night and would not give his view on Habib Beye's late red card for a second bookable offence or the penalty award to the Hammers. "We got a bit tired towards the end of the game and we got beaten in the last seconds," said O'Neill. "I am very disappointed. I don't want to talk about the decisions. Anybody who has access to a TV monitor can make their own minds up. I have not spoken to the referee. I am disappointed to have lost. I think we did enough to get something out of the game. We were in the ascendancy in the first half and their goalkeeper made some good saves. We looked a very good threat and thought we would go on to win it. You can lose a goal at any stage but it is disappointing to lose at that stage. We looked tired in the last 15 minutes but it is not an excuse."   

 Maik Taylor hopes to hold onto the No.1 jersey for the match against Liverpool at Anfield after keeping a clean sheet on his return to the first team. Taylor came back in the side for Sunday's 0-0 home draw against Manchester City to deputise for the ineligible Joe Hart. "Joe's had a decent season up to now," Taylor said. "But hopefully I've given the manager food for thought. He's paid to make decisions. Hopefully this one goes in my favour. I've had to work extremely hard in training, waiting for an opportunity and being patient. He's proved again what a top class keeper he is and broke our hearts a little bit."  

 Sam Allardyce has admitted Benni McCarthy could leave Ewood Park in the January transfer window. The South Africa international striker has not started a Barclays Premier League match for Rovers since the opening day de feat against Manchester City. And with the 2010 World Cup in his homeland looming large on the horizon in the summer, McCarthy is keen to be playing regularly. The form of fit-again playmaker David Dunn is keeping him on the sidelines and manager Allardyce is aware McCarthy will not be happy with a place on the bench. "At his age I'd understand if he wants to play first-team football and at the moment he can't get it here," he said. "If he wants to get it somewhere else I'd understand that. Benni wants to play football. For me last year he was excellent particularly at home in our plight to climb out of the relegation zone. I was looking forward to the start of the season with him but all of a sudden we put David Dunn in at Gillingham away in the hole behind a front man. He played so wonderfully well in that game that we have continued that position for him in the first team. He has grasped that position so well that he is our top, top player at this moment in time."    

 Gary Megson hopes Paul Robinson takes his chance against Aston Villa on Saturday. Robinson is due to return to the side as Jlloyd Samuel will miss the date with his former club through suspension. Samuel was sent off in the defeat by Chelsea and Robinson was later give a run-out. Megson said: "Paul will get an opportunity as he did well in the second half. These things (red cards) are unfortunate. That's why we need a strong squad if someone like Jloyd or anyone else comes out of the side. If Paul does well and we get a good result he could keep the shirt."  

 Tyrone Mears has revealed he could have been earning a living in rugby league rather than the Barclays Premier League. The Burnley defender once wore the colours of Warrington before being lured away by Manchester City. Mears, 26, is now preparing to face his former club on Saturday after arriving at Turf Moor in the summer from Derby. "I signed a contract with Warrington Wolves running from when I was 12 until I was 21," Mears said. "That was where I thought my career was going but I ended up starting to play football at around 13 or 14. Manchester City picked me up. They wanted to sign me and ended getting me out of the contract. It was a really tough decision. You see how many young lads want to become footballers and have not really done it. To go to Manchester City was going to be difficult but I'm glad I made that change."      

 Carlo Ancelotti insisted he would not swap Didier Drogba for any other striker after watching the Ivory Coast international fire the Blues into the last 16 of the Champions League. Drogba missed Chelsea's opening three Group D matches due to suspension. He returned with a bang on Tuesday night, netting both of his side's goals in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid. Drogba might even have been celebrating a hat-trick but his powerful free-kick just after half-time had been turned onto the post by the diving Sergio Asenjo. After the match, Ancelotti heaped praise on Drogba and although he stopped short of saying the 31-year-old was the best striker in the world, he admitted he would not trade the former Marseille man for anyone else. "I don't know (if he is the best). For sure, I want to keep him. I don't want to change him with any other striker," said Ancelotti. "Didier is an important player for us. We have a lot of important players but he is doing very well and we are happy. I'm very happy with his behaviour, and I hope he continues like this."    

 David Moyes is determined that Everton will restore their battered reputation in Europe on Thursday night. Benfica arrive at Goodison Park after inflicting a damaging 5-0 defeat on the Toffees in Lisbon. That was Everton's heaviest loss in continental competition and the scars are still healing. However they remain among the favourites to progress from Group I in the Europa League and their unbeaten home run at this level stretches to an impressive nine matches. Moyes said: "We do not use the word revenge but pride is at stake. We are hurting from the Benfica game and the result. Hopefully we can do something about it. We want to progress in the group, that is the important thing. The key is to qualify, that's our aim and we could find ourselves closer to that target on Thursday. But we have to play much better than we did in Lisbon."  

 Roma coach Claudio Ranieri is expecting a very hard match against Fulham on Thursday in their Europa League showdown at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi, still without star forward Francesco Totti through a knee injury, go into the fixture third in Group E, one point behind the second-placed Cottagers and two behind leaders Basle with three games remaining. Fulham arrive in the Italian capital on the back of a 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League and Ranieri, a former coach of Fulham's west London rivals Chelsea, knows his team will be put to the test. He said: "Fulham did well against Manchester City and they won convincingly against Liverpool. We expect a difficult game. We knew that would be the case in our first game against them where we managed to come home with a point (from a 1-1 draw)." 

 New executive chairman Adam Pearson says Hull City can only bring in fresh recruits in January's transfer window if players are sold. He said: "Players coming in next January completely depends on players going out. No question about that. I said that to the manager on Monday and he accepts players won't be coming in unless others are going out. If we can get the numbers down to what we want, then there will be money to spend. Hopefully, that will be the case as there are some key positions in the team that need strengthening."   

 Liverpool's manpower crisis has got worse after they lost their appeal over full-back Philipp Degen's red card in Saturday's defeat at Fulham. Injury-hit Liverpool had both Swiss defender Degen, and stand-in skipper Jamie Carragher sent off in the second-half of the match at Craven Cottage which they lost 3-1. Liverpool appealed against both decisions and now await the FA's deliberations over Carragher's foul on Bobby Zamora that saw him red-carded.  "At a Regulatory Commission hearing, a claim for wrongful dismissal by Liverpool defender Philipp Degen was rejected," read an FA statement. "Degen was sent off for serious foul play during Liverpool's Premier League match with Fulham on Saturday 31st October. Degen's three-match suspension begins with immediate effect." Degen will now be unavailable for the Barclays Premier League matches at home to Birmingham and Manchester City, plus the Merseyside derby at Everton on 29th November.  

 Kolo Toure is hopeful he can face Burnley this Saturday after being sidelined with a heel problem. He said: "The injury is getting better, I feel that I will be fit enough for the game on Saturday. I'm always disappointed when I'm injured and I can't help out my team mates, but we have a strong squad here. You need that if you want to at the top of this league, because there are some really tough teams out there."   

 Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and opposite number Leonid Slutski hailed the impact of Wayne Rooney after he came off the bench to rescue a 3-3 draw at home to CSKA Moscow. Rooney, who was left out of the starting XI after missing training to attend the birth of his first child Kai on Monday, was introduced with United 3-1 down and helped to inspire a late comeback. Ferguson said: "Wayne hadn't had that much sleep. I would have preferred to leave him on the bench. He was a safety player that we knew we could have played if we needed him - he was there. I think his energy and confidence was very high. He makes an impact. He is such a good player and is always capable of scoring. He was a wee bit unlucky." CSKA manager Slutski added: "Rooney is one of the best players in the world. He has a high level of skill as well as aggression. He made a difference as I thought United were moderate before he came on."   

 Hassan Yebda has told Portsmouth fans they have yet to see the best of him. The Algeria international has paved the way for manager Paul Hart to make his season-long loan move from Benfica permanent by claiming he is living the Barclays Premier League dream. The former Le Mans player is already firmly establishing himself as a fans favourite at Fratton Park but Yebda insists he has yet to reach his peak. "I will get better," said Yebda. "Before I came here I had two months without playing. So I'm going up and improving and I hope to be at my best as soon as possible. It was a dream (to move to the Premier League). I will be happy to stay. But the most important thing is to play with Portsmouth, to make a big season, and the club and the team. Afterwards, we will see. The most important thing now is to build on the Wigan game. Now I'm here, I will do the best for Portsmouth."    

 Mamady Sidibe has played down concerns that he faces another lengthy stint on the sidelines after suffering a setback in his recovery from injury. The 29-year-old Mali international felt a twinge in his hamstring in Monday night's reserve game against Chelsea, and is now due to have a scan. However, he remains hopeful he could yet figure in the crunch clash with crisis club Hull this weekend. "I will have a scan, but I do not think it is serious," he said. "We will see what the scan says before we know what can happen to me on Sunday." Also hoping to make that game is midfielder Salif Diao, who missed the 2-2 draw with Wolves because of a groin strain.   

 Steve Bruce is keeping his fingers crossed that key midfielder Lee Cattermole could return from injury a month earlier than expected. The 21-year-old was ruled out for at least three months after suffering medial ligament damage during the 1-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Liverpool on 17th October. However, having worked with Cattermole at Wigan Athletic last season, Bruce has a gut feeling that the Stockton-born enforcer, in whom he invested £6m this summer, might be ready sooner. He said: "Catts has been out for three weeks already, but after the Spurs game this weekend, there is another fortnight before we play Arsenal and all of a sudden, he has been out for getting on towards five or six weeks. And Cattermole being Cattermole, I would think he will be back more quickly than the doctors have predicted. The kind of person he is, I have just got this gut feeling that he might be out for eight weeks rather than the 12 weeks that was said at the start. Of course, ultimately I will have to be governed by what the medical people say, but knowing Lee's mentality, he will be keen to get back as quickly as possible."       

 Russia coach Guus Hiddink insists that Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavyluchenko must start playing regular first-team football if he wants a place in the Dutchman's team. Hiddink says Pavlyuchenko's lack of match practice means he can only expect a bit-part role in Russia's World Cup play-off against Slovenia later this month. "I'm seriously concerned about his position at Spurs," said Hiddink. "Perhaps he should think about how he can get more playing time. But despite all his problems with match practice, Roman has special qualities: in almost every match he has one or two chances to score, and he often takes them. Therefore, we shouldn't exclude him from the national team completely. If the match against Slovenia is not going our way, Pavlyuchenko should get his chance."  

 Substitute Zavon Hines was West Ham's matchwinner against Aston Villa and could now be set for a run in the team after England striker Carlton Cole suffered a hamstring strain. Cole was forced off in the first half of West Ham's 2-1 home victory over Aston Villa but Hines proved more than an able deputy when he scored the winner in stoppage-time. Cole's injury, which threatens his place in Fabio Capello's England squad for the friendly with Brazil in Qatar later this month, is to be assessed by the Hammers over the next few days. But for manager Gianfranco Zola, the night was all about England Under-21 man Hines. "Every time I play Hines he's been very good," said Zola. "He just needs to keep working the way he is doing. I am very pleased for him and for us. But he deserves to be in the spotlight. 

 With Sunday's Barclays Premier League game falling on Remembrance Sunday, Wigan Athletic players will each have a poppy sewn into their shirts as a mark of respect. The one-off shirts, supplied by official club kit partner Vandanel, will be later auctioned off for charity. Each year the nation expresses its unequivocal support for The Royal British Legion's charity work through the Poppy Appeal. The 2009 Poppy Appeal is emphasising the need to help the 'Afgan generation' of the Armed Forces and their families - on Sunday and for the rest of their lives. To this end, and to mark the occasion, the club will hold a minute silence prior to Sunday's kick-off today at 3pm. In addition, and in conjunction with the Mayor's Office at the Town Hall, Wigan Athletic have invited those serving military personnel, uniformed organisations and veterans who are parading at the various Remembrance Sunday services around the Borough of Wigan to attend the game in their uniforms as guests of the club.  

 Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey has admitted that although the Molineux club are in the same division as Saturday's opponents Arsenal, they are not in the same league when it comes to competing at the highest level. While Wolves are battling for survival, Arsenal can focus on aiming for a place in the Champions League, and that is a situation Moxey cannot see changing for some time to come. "We are very comfortable with our own club in that we're in a very healthy, sound position in our evolution," said Moxey. "From our point of view, while we're aware of the national and international issues of football, the most important thing for Wolverhampton Wanderers is not considering whether we can compete with clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea, or whether we're concerned with any potential rules or regulation changes to be brought in by the central organisations, whether that's the Premier League, UEFA or FIFA. Our main priority is to concentrate on staying in the Premier League and developing as a Premier League club in the medium term. That's all we're focused on. We can't change the world."