News in brief of Barclays Premier League club.- Mon 17th Nov

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Wigan athletic

The brave and bold display against in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle pleased Kevin Kilbane who explained that the team did everything they set out to do at St. James Park. "We said before the game that we wanted to try and keep the crowd quiet for the first 15-20 minutes," he said. "We did that by scoring and looked strong throughout the first-half. After we scored the goal we seemed to settle. It made us pass the ball well and we started to create chances here and there. We gave very little away in that first-half and didn't really allow them into it. They've scored two really good goals and (Obafemi) Martins looked to have won the game for them but credit to us for getting back into it. Titus stepped up and he's got us a deserved draw. We've come up here without four or five regulars and managed to grind out a good result."

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West Ham United

Gianfranco Zola paid tribute to Portsmouth's defensive resilience after the 0-0 draw at Upton Park on Saturday. "I'll take a point from this match because it was really, really tough," he said. "The players gave everything and I couldn't ask for more. We tried to attack and we made changes and tried again but Portsmouth were very solid and didn't give us anything. We really tried but quite honestly I didn't expect Portsmouth to be that good at the back."

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West bromwich albion

Tony Mowbray defended his decision to operate with two strikers despite being beaten 3-0 by Chelsea to leave them bottom of the table. "If you play two strikers, you leave yourself defensively a little bit vulnerable. You play one striker and you are asked 'are you too defensive?' and you never have a shot at their goal," he said. "We decided to be positive and have a go rather than sitting in our own half and giving them possession of the ball."

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Tottenham Hotspur


Harry Redknapp fears his goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes may become a target for the opposition after the Brazilian's mistake set Fulham on the way to a 2-1 victory. Gomes allowed a cross from Simon Davies to slip through his grasp and into the net in the first half. But while the former PSV Eindhoven keeper proved he was still on his game with a string of fine saves, Redknapp is aware other teams may have now pin-pointed a weakness - as Fulham certainly did. "Fulham just blocked up the goalmouth on every corner and made it difficult for him," admitted Redknapp. "You could see they were doing that on every corner. I would imagine he will get targeted. He has got to deal with that. But if you look at his record in Holland, he was a world class goalkeeper. He made a bad mistake for the goal but he made some saves after that. I have got to stay with him. Their first goal certainly didn't help anyone but we've just got to keep believing in him because that's it, he is our goalkeeper. It is no good caning him - I've got nobody else. It is hard. I've told him to keep his chin up."

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Sunderland


Midfielder Kieran Richardson insists no-one has seen the best of him yet. The 24-year-old former Manchester United man has appeared in every Barclays Premier League match for the Black Cats so far this season after finally emerging from the injury misery which blighted his first campaign on Wearside. His form has been such that manager Roy Keane has hinted England counterpart Fabio Capello could do worse than cast an eye over him once again, and hand him the chance to add to his eight senior international caps. Asked if the club's fans are finally seeing the best of him, he said: "Nearly, not yet. I have still got a lot to learn, I have still got so much more of my game to show to people. But I am gradually getting there."

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Stoke city


Tony Pulis paid tribute to Manchester United after the 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday. "The game plan was to keep things as tight as we could but we conceded after a couple of minutes," Pulis said. "I thought we did OK after that, but they scored in first-half injury time and that kills you. They then scored just after half-time and could smell blood after that. They played some smashing football. We managed to beat Arsenal and got something against Liverpool but it wasn't to be today. We've just got to wash this away now and move on to the next game."

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Portsmouth

Tony Adams was pleased with his side's performance in the 0-0 draw at West Ham United on Saturday. "On another day Jermain Defoe would have had a hat-trick and we would have taken three points. If anything he tried too hard to score," said Adams, who reported that midfield ace Lassana Diarra had "badly sprained an ankle". "We made the better chances in the second half and although it's good to get a point here I'd certainly be more pleased with all three. We've done well because we were without Sol Campbell and Niko Kranjcar and then lost Diarra, although it was an entire accident. The big shame is that we've got to send Lassana over to France for their friendly international next week. We are not allowed to pull him out but hopefully the French doctors will see the extent of the injury. I'm not happy he's got to get on a plane with it, though."

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Newcastle United

Sebastien Bassong was convinced his side would collect all three points after Michael Owen had announced his return to fitness with an equaliser against Wigan Athletic on Saturday. Owen needed just 12 minutes to cancel out Ryan Taylor's third-minute opener after leaving the substitutes' bench to belatedly kick-start his side with 10 minutes remaining. Obafemi Martins blasted them in front seven minutes later - only for former Newcastle defender Titus Bramble to make it 2-2 with a minute to go and deny the Magpies a much-needed victory. "When Michael scored, we felt we would go on to win the game," Bassong said. "At the end, we werevery disappointed about the result because we had to win the game. We scored at the end of the game and then we conceded a goal, so it was very bad for us."

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Middlesbrough


Gareth Southgate dispatched Stewart Downing to England duty convinced the winger is back to his very best form. Downing, named in the national team's squad to face Germany on Wednesday in Berlin, created his side's goal in the 1-1 draw at Everton with an inch-perfect crossfield pass for Gary O'Neil to supply the finishing touch. "Downing's pass was outstanding for the goal we scored, it was perfectly weighted. He looks back to his best in the last couple of games," said Southgate. "That is great to see away from home especially, because the mark of a player is how they perform on their travels. Everyone can play at home, but he made a great contribution. To do that was important for him. He did a good defensive job too on Phil Neville, who is a good outlet for Everton down the wing."

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Manchester united


Youngster Danny Welbeck was delighted to score his first goal for the club in Saturday's 5-0 win over Stoke City. He made only his second first-team appearance in the Carling Cup win over Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday and has now followed that up with his Barclays Premier League debut and a goal in front of the Stretford End, a blistering 20-yard effort after he had collected possession close to the halfway line and exchanged passes with fellow new boy Manucho. "It is amazing really," said Welbeck. "For someone coming from Manchester, to come on and score in front of the Stretford End on my debut. It is what every young boy would dream of. I have thought about it ever since I started playing football and I can't imagine any better feeling."