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Barclays Premier League team news

SATURDAY 21 APRIL (3pm kick-offs, unless stated otherwise)

ARSENAL v CHELSEA (12.45pm)

Arsenal will have midfielders Abou Diaby and Francis Coquelin back from hamstring injuries for the eagerly awaited clash against Chelsea at Emirates Stadium.

Defender Laurent Koscielny returns from a two-game suspension, but on-loan midfielder Yossi Benayoun is ineligible against his parent club.

Mikel Arteta will not recover from the ankle injury sustained against Wigan in time to feature again this season, while England midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle) has already been ruled out along with German centre-back Per Mertesacker (ankle).

Didier Drogba wil be absent for Chelsea.

The striker picked up a knee injury in Wednesday night's Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Barcelona and will be reassessed ahead of Tuesday's second leg.

David Luiz is out with a hamstring injury, while Branislav Ivanovic serves the second instalment of his domestic three-game ban.

Arsenal squad: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Rosicky, Gervinho, Walcott, van Persie, Fabianski Djourou, Santos, Jenkinson, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Chamakh. 

Chelsea squad: Cech, Ferreira, Bosingwa, Terry, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Bertrand, Mikel, Meireles, Lampard, Ramires, Mata, Malouda, Drogba, Torres, Sturridge, Kalou, Turnbull.

ASTON VILLA v SUNDERLAND

John O'Shea returns to the Sunderland squad for the trip to Aston Villa. 

The Republic of Ireland international has missed the last five games with a calf problem sustained early in the 3-1 victory over QPR on 24 March.

However, midfielder Lee Cattermole remains on the sidelines with a knee problem and is joined by full-back Kieran Richardson (groin) and striker Connor Wickham (ankle).

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish will check on the fitness of a quartet of players before finalising his side.

Utility player Ciaran Clark and Chris Herd (both head), fellow defender Stephen Warnock (ankle) and winger Marc Albrighton (hamstring) have returned to training and will be assessed in the next 24 hours.

Striker Darren Bent has resumed light running after his ankle operation although he will not feature again this season.

Aston Villa squad: Given, Guzan, Hutton, Lichaj, Cuellar, Herd, Collins, Baker, Bannan, Clark, Gardner, Warnock, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Weimann, Marshall, Johnson, Stevens, Delfouneso, Delph, Albrighton. 

Sunderland squad: Mignolet, Gordon, Bardsley, Bridge, Turner, O'Shea, Kilgallon, Kyrgiakos, Lynch, Gardner, Larsson, McClean, Vaughan, Meyler, Colback, Sessegnon, Bendtner, Ji, Campbell.

BLACKBURN V NORWICH CITY

Blackburn will be without Grant Hanley for the visit of Norwich as the central defender will miss the remainder of the season with an ankle ligament injury.

Top scorer Yakubu has shaken off a knee problem however, while Junior Hoilett is also available after a hamstring niggle.

Bradley Orr (Achilles) should also be fit but Martin Olsson (groin) is a doubt.

Blackburn squad: Robinson, Orr, Dann, Martin Olsson, Lowe, Nzonzi, Pedersen, Hoilett, Dunn, Yakubu, Kean, Bunn, Givet, Formica, Petrovic, Rochina, Marcus Olsson, Goodwillie, Vukcevic, Henley, Modeste. 

BOLTON V SWANSEA

Bolton boss Owen Coyle is hoping to have the same squad available that lost to Newcastle two weeks ago when the relegation-threatened Trotters resume their Barclays Premier league campaign against Swansea tomorrow.

A couple of players are battling to overcome knocks but Coyle is confident they will be fit for the clash at the Reebok Stadium.
Wanderers are still awaiting clearance from FIFA for former Rangers winger Gregg Wylde, while Lee Chung-yong (broken leg) is stepping up his training and may be fit to make a first-team comeback before the end of the season.

Defender Alan Tate is expected to be out for a fortnight with a calf injury and will miss tomorrow's trip to Bolton.

However, with the Swans safe from relegation manager Brendan Rodgers has said he wants to involve all members of the squad in the final four matches of the campaign.

That could see the likes of defender Garry Monk, on-loan Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran and forwards Wayne Routledge, Luke Moore and Leroy Lita see more action.

Bolton squad: Bogdan, Jaaskelainen, Alonso, Steinsson, Wheater, Boyata, Knight, Ream, Ricketts, Reo-Coker, M Davies, Klasnic, Miyaichi, Ngog, Petrov, Eagles, Tuncay, K Davies, Sordell, Pratley.

Swansea squad: Vorm, Williams, Taylor, Caulker, Britton, Graham, Sinclair, Dyer, Routledge, Monk, McEachran, Lita, Moore, Bessone, Rangel, Situ, Allen, Tremmel, Gower, Richards, Sigurdsson, Obeng.

FULHAM V WIGAN ATHLETIC

Strikers Pavel Pogrebnyak (ankle) and Andrew Johnson (thigh) return to the Fulham squad to face Wigan after recovering from injury.

But winger Bryan Ruiz is recovering after surgery on a broken metatarsal and will be out for 10 weeks.

Defender Stephen Kelly will be back in training next week following a wrist injury suffered against Chelsea while midfielder Steve Sidwell continues to recover from a hernia problem.

Wigan pair Shaun Maloney and Hugo Rodallega are hoping to return from knee injuries.

Midfielder Maloney missed Monday's win at Arsenal but hopes be back at training today while striker Rodallega is bidding to prove his fitness after a six-week absence.

Spanish midfielder Albert Crusat is definitely missing having been ruled out for up to two weeks with a calf injury suffered in training.

Fulham squad: Schwarzer, Hangeland, Hughes, Riise, Duff, Murphy, Etuhu, Diarra, Sa, Frei, Pogrebnyak, Kacaniklic, Johnson, Dembele, Dempsey, Stockdale, Kasami, Senderos, Briggs. 

Wigan Athletic squad: Al Habsi, Kirkland, Pollitt, Caldwell, Boyce, Figueroa, Alcaraz, Gohouri, Stam, Lopez, Beausejour, Watson, Moses, McArthur, McCarthy, McManaman, Jones, Gomez, Thomas, Diame, Maloney, Sammon, Di Santo, Rodallega.

NEWCASTLE V STOKE

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has been handed a series of fitness boosts ahead of tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with Stoke.

Defender James Perch (thigh), midfielders Cheick Tiote (hamstring), Danny Guthrie (calf) and Gabriel Obertan (ankle) are all back in training, as are striker Leon Best (knee) and midfielder Sylvain Marveaux (groin), both long-term absentees.

Pardew has only Steven Taylor (Achilles) and Sammy Ameobi (knee) still on the sidelines for a potentially thrilling run-in.

Newcastle United squad: Krul, Elliot, Harper, Simpson, Santon, R Taylor, Ferguson, Tavernier, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Tiote, Cabaye, Guthrie, Obertan, Ben Arfa, Gutierrez, Abeid, Gosling, Vuckic Ba, Cisse, Shola Ameobi, Best.

Stoke winger Jermaine Pennant is a doubt for tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with Newcastle.

Pennant has been suffering with a virus and will be assessed ahead of the Potters' trip to the north-east.

Defender Andy Wilkinson is available again having recovered from a groin injury, while midfielder Salif Diao and forward Mamady Sidibe (both knee) remain sidelined.

Stoke City squad: Begovic, Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Wilkinson, Upson, Shotton, Wilson, Woodgate, Whelan, Whitehead, Etherington, Pennant, Delap, Palacios, Jones, Jerome, Crouch, Walters, Fuller.

QPR V TOTTENHAM, 5.30pm.

Younes Kaboul and Niko Kranjcar will miss Tottenham's Barclays Premier League game at QPR as they both have knee injuries.

Manager Harry Redknapp says he has "four or five" injury concerns but refused to reveal which other players are doubts.

Ledley King's chronic knee problems always require him to have a fitness test the day before every game while long-term ankle injury victims Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson are definitely out.

Manager Mark Hughes welcomes Djibril Cisse back into his squad.

Cisse has been suspended for the previous four matches following his second red card since he signed for the Hoops in January.

His timely return means Hughes has a full quota of strikers to choose from as he looks to continue a decent run of home form and keep QPR out of the relegation zone.

Tottenham Hotspur squad: Friedel, Cudicini, Gomes, Assou-Ekotto, Rose, Gallas, Khumalo, Walker, King, Nelsen, Livermore, Sandro, Parker, Bale, Lennon, Dos Santos, Modric, Defoe, Adebayor, Saha, Van der Vaart, Lancaster, Luongo.

QPR squad: Kenny, Cerny, Murphy, Young, Gabbidon, Onuoha, Ferdinand, Taiwo, Hill, Derry, Diakite, Barton, Buzsaky, Taarabt, Smith, Mackie, Wright-Phillips, Hulse, Cisse, Bothroyd, Zamora, Helguson, Campbell. 

SUNDAY 22 APRIL

MANCHESTER UNITED v EVERTON (12.30pm)

Alex Ferguson has reported no fresh injury concerns ahead of Manchester United's Barclays Premier League encounter with Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Paul Pogba (ankle) and Anderson (hamstring) are missing for the remainder of the season but were not expected to be involved anyway.

Michael Owen (thigh) could be available for next week's derby duel with Manchester City, when victory will seal a 20th title if United overcome the Merseysiders this weekend.

Royston Drenthe will once again be missing from the Everton squad.

Drenthe was left out of the Toffees' 18-man party for last Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool after being "the subject of a disciplinary matter" and manager David Moyes has confirmed the on-loan Real Madrid winger will not be involved in this weekend's Barclays Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

Defender Leighton Baines and midfielder Jack Rodwell are ruled out due to hamstring injuries, but wideman Steven Pienaar is back having been cup-tied for the Liverpool match.

Manchester United squad: Provisional squad: De Gea, Amos, Rafael, Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Fabio, Evra, Valencia, Nani, Park, Scholes, Cleverley, Carrick, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov.

Everton squad: Howard, Heitinga, Jagielka, Distin, Hibbert, Neville, Coleman, Fellaini, Osman, Gibson, Anichebe, Jelavic, Gueye, Duffy, McFadden, Stracqualursi, Mucha, Pienaar, Cahill, Hahnemann. 

LIVERPOOL v  WEST BROM (4pm)

Goalkeepers Jose Reina and Doni return from suspension for Liverpool's Barclays Premier League match at home to West Brom on Sunday.

Reina is set to reclaim his starting place after a three-match absence but Brad Jones, who deputised in last weekend's FA Cup semi-final, will hope to remain in the squad.

Left-back Jose Enrique could return, having missed out at Wembley, while striker Andy Carroll will be looking to retain his place after scoring the winning goal in the last two matches.

West Brom striker Marc-Antoine Fortune is a fitness doubt for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool at Anfield.

Fortune suffered a hamstring injury during last week's 1-0 home win over QPR and was substituted after an hour. If he is ruled out, Shane Long will be in contention to replace him.

Central defender Jonas Olsson is expected to return after pulling out of the Rangers clash during the warm-up with a tight groin.

Craig Dawson is on stand-by if the Swede breaks down again.

Midfielders Zoltan Gera and James Morrison (both knee) and right-back Steven Reid (foot) remain on the injury list.

Liverpool squad: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique, Gerrard, Spearing, Downing, Rodriguez, Carroll, Suarez, Doni, Jones, Flanagan, Aurelio, Shelvey, Henderson, Kuyt, Bellamy, Sterling.

West Brom squad: Foster, Daniels, Fulop, Jones, Olsson, McAuley, Dawson, Ridgewell, Shorey, Mulumbu, Scharner, Brunt, Andrews, Thomas, Dorrans, Tchoyi, Cox, Fortune, Long, Odemwingie, Hurst, Roofe, Berahino

WOLVES v MANCHESTER CITY (4pm)

Wolves goalkeeper Dorus de Vries is poised to make his first Barclays Premier League start for the club against Manchester City at Molineux on Sunday.

De Vries, signed last summer from Swansea, will replace Wayne Hennessey who is side-lined for up to six months with knee ligament damage.

On-loan defender Sebastien Bassong is available after serving a one-game ban for his red card against Arsenal while winger Matt Jarvis, rested against Sunderland, is in contention to return to the side.

Wolves squad: De Vries, Ikeme, Zubar, Foley, Bassong, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Kightly, Henry, Davis, Milijas, Edwards, Jarvis, Doyle, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Jonsson, Gorman, Price, Forde.

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