EPL News Review - Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackpool
Arsenal:
Arsenal manager praised the performance of Marouane Chamakh after the Moroccan striker was able to engrave his name twice on the score sheet against Mick McCarthy’s men. The summer signing of Arsene Wenger scored in the first as
well as last minute as Arsenal made the perfect response to their last shock home defeat at the hands of the newly promoted Newcastle United.
Wenger said, “We went early into the lead and the victory was so important for us that the focus was more on defending and keeping the result safe. If you look at the game, we had many chances but I must say you have to give credit
to Wolves. They are good defensively, they are good at winning the ball back and they always looked dangerous. They will give problems to anyone in this league."
Aston Villa:
Barry Bannan has seen his excellent form rewarded with a first call-up to the senior Scotland squad. The 20-year-old has been named in Craig Levein's squad for Tuesday's friendly against the Faroe Islands at Pittodrie. It caps a
terrific week for Bannan, who started his first Barclays Premier League match at Fulham last Saturday and set up Marc Albrighton's goal with a sublime cross-field pass.
He has represented Scotland's U21 side 10 times and featured prominently in the Tartan Army's Euro 2011 qualification campaign where they narrowly missed out on a place in the finals after a play-off defeat to Iceland. But, this
call-up to the senior international side is a boyhood dream for Bannan.
Bannan said that he had been aiming for it since long and to get a call this early in his career was a big achievement for him. He added that he was really happy to be able to represent his country at first team level.
Birmingham City:
Birmingham City’s boss is hoping that his striker Garry O’Connor will learn a lot from his second loan spell with the Championship side. O’Connor, who had an operation of both the hips and returned to full fitness earlier this month,
will join Barnsley for his second loan spell of the season.
McLeish stated, "We just feel he is a bit rusty. He is not going to get regular first team football here at the moment. Garry is looking for regular football and he asked to go back out on loan and I said fine. To be fair to the
big man, he came in for the Blackpool game and did well. I was hoping he would move forward but after the Brentford game in the Carling Cup, he said he needed more time to get match fit."
Blackpool:
Midfielder David Vaughan is waiting to hear from his club about a possible new deal. Vaughan will be out of contract at the end of the season and could leave on a free transfer. Manager Ian Holloway has admitted that the midfielder
could leave the club for nothing if he does not agree to the fresh terms.
The Wales international insists that he has not considered his contract situation and is waiting to see what is on offer from Blackpool. Vaughan said that he was just waiting to hear from the club and would see what Blackpool have to say?
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