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Unlike Middlesbrough, Bolton knew that, should they exit the Premier League, they would not be missed. Their chairman is not considered a model of the type and supporters do not come to the Reebok with a banner proclaiming Phil Gartside as “one of us”. Arsène Wenger does not compliment Bolton on their style of play.

There are no sighs of admiration directed towards their academy and, far from being considered a potential England manager, Gary Megson was not thought good enough for Bolton when he inherited a club which appeared unable to survive the departure of its modern creator, Sam Allardyce. But it is Megson, Gartside and the no-nonsense football that will survive while Steve Gibson, Gareth Southgate and a Middlesbrough side £85m in debt prepare for the cold embrace of relegation.

Judging from the complete absence of Boro commitment displayed in the latest of their ‘must-win games’ – there is another against Hull on Saturday – most of their players do not intend hanging around to experience the consequences. In contrast to the club’s last relegation in 1997, when they reached two cup finals and went down while scoring three times against Manchester United and Chelsea, this will be a sad, messy departure.

Then Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson and Juninho may have fought among themselves but they displayed some resistance on the pitch. Here only Tuncay Sanli, who, having flown directly to Manchester Airport from Turkey, had most excuse to capitulate, displayed anything like the urgency required from a side that, until Gary O’Neil scored, had not managed an away goal in four months.

Tuncay had a flurry of chances but only hit the target with one of his six shots

Dignified and articulate in defeat, openly embarrassed by the incompetence of his team’s defending, Southgate remarked that he would not be cutting and running. “There is no suggestion that I will walk away from this,” Southgate said. “Resignation is a bit like suicide because it is invariably a selfish act. I have no reason to walk away because I have to lead people through this.

“The young players we have here can’t have the experience you need but I have to take responsibility for that. We decided on a policy of change – there were some financial reasons for that – but ultimately it will come back to my door.

“In the long term it might be something that saves the club and gives it a bright future but football isn’t long-term and we have to accept the criticism. I was relegated as a player at Crystal Palace, so I know what it feels like. But I am determined we will keep fighting until there is no air left.”

He accepted that, should Boro fail to beat Hull, which they will have to do without the injured Emanuel Pogatetz and the suspended O’Neil, any remaining oxygen of hope would be exhausted.

Megson was not about to say it but he and everybody else at the Reebok recognised that this was the result that ensured they would remain in the Premier League and with rather more comfort than they had a year ago. Kevin Davies, who wondered aloud why he had again been overlooked by Fabio Capello, called last season’s campaign in which Bolton had stayed up by taking 11 points from their final five matches – almost the minimum rate of return their opponents require to escape – had been “a disaster”, although it is nothing compared with what Middlesbrough are likely to experience next month. “We knew this game could define what we could expect for the remains of our season,” he said. “If we had lost, we would have been looking over our shoulder.”

Now they have secured their future with a succession of home victories against teams they would have hoped to beat, it was time for a few words of satisfaction from a quiet, underrated man. “We had a team meeting before the game and I reminded the players that eight months ago we were traipsing up and down mountains in Austria,” Megson said. “We spent our summer lifting weights, seeing players run their socks off so they would be fit enough to finish the season strongly and days like these make the effort worthwhile.” However, while Bolton’s mountains are all in the past, Middlesbrough’s lie directly ahead.
Man of the match: Matt Taylor (Bolton)

• Delight, despair and all points in between
• To take part in the fans’ verdict, email fans@observer.co.uk

Arsenal 2-0 Manchester City

Louise Cowburn, Observer reader

I wrote a piece for the Observer at the beginning of the season suggesting it could be “au revoir” to Wenger if we didn’t win a trophy this year, but that won’t be the case now and that’s as it should be. Everyone was behind Wenger today, which was good. There was lots of creativity and a real sense of “teamship”; we basically took over the show. Having Fábregas back and Walcott there was massive. In fact, everyone was behind the team, and the players looked confident. Even Emmanuel Eboué got plenty of support when he came on.

Player ratings Almunia 9; Sagna 7, Touré 8, Gallas 8, Clichy 6; Denilson 7, Song 6; Walcott 8 (Eboué 70 7), Fábregas 8 (Ramsey 79 6), Arshavin 7; Adebayor 8 (Bendtner 70 5)

Kevin Parker, official supporters’ club We’ve become used to this away from home. It’s depressing. It looked like the players expected to get beat, but the worst thing was that they didn’t put up a fight. I thought Dunne and Onuoha played quite well, but beyond that there were several less than acceptable performances. There was no chanting for Mark Hughes to be out, but the reality is that it depends on the Uefa Cup this week. There were some individuals having a go at Hughes, but he will really be under pressure if we fail this Thursday. Everyone is waiting for that game.

Player ratings Given 7; Richards 6, Onuoha 7, Dunne 6, Bridge 5 (Fernandes 17 5); Wright-Phillips 6, Zabaleta 5, De Jong 5, Kompany 5 (Elano 38 5), Robinho 5 (Sturridge 76 n/a); Bellamy 5

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Bill Boaden, Observer reader

We didn’t deserve the win. Our passing was woeful, but we’ve got spirit and we’ve played better and lost. Tottenham didn’t help. It’s in our hands now and we should stay up. We’re supposed to respect referees, but Peter Walton was unsighted for the handball and still gave a penalty. We’ve had him before and he’s been poor. We’re happy with Allardyce. It’s not always pretty, but he’s got us organised.

Player ratings Gomes 7; Corluka 7, King 7, Woodgate 7, Assou-Ekotto 6; Lennon 7 (Zokora 81 6), Palacios 7, Jenas 6, Modric 7; Keane 6, Bent 6 Subs not used Cudicini, Dawson, Chimbonda, Huddlestone, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko

Dave Mason, Observer reader

We lost because we had no drive to impose our superiority. We were at least a division better than them, but we got into a comfort zone, and players like Keane and Jenas go missing. With Allardyce teams it’s watch your ankle time. How they got one yellow card for dissent alone is beyond me, and Diouf disgraced himself at the end by winding up our fans. Allardyce’s team was epitomised by Diouf’s sneering attitude.

Player ratings Robinson 6; Andrews 5, Nelsen 6, Samba 7, Givet 7; Diouf 6, Mokoena 5 (Tugay 62 6), Warnock 7, Pedersen 6 (Dunn 25 7); McCarthy 6, Roberts 6 (Ooijer h-t 7) Subs not used Brown, Olsson, Villanueva, Treacy

Bolton Wanderers 4-1 Middlesbrough

Aaron Haley, worldwidewanderers.co.uk

4–1’s a flattering result, but you have to win these games in such a tight league. Ricardo Gardner was outstanding and could be our player of the year alongside Kevin Davies. Gary Megson still gets stick. He has done well, but he’s the wrong fit for us. We needed someone with fresh ideas after Allardyce and Lee. But we’re safe now and you can’t argue with that.

Player ratings Jaaskelainen 6; Steinsson 6, Cahill 7, Shittu 7, Samuel 6; McCann 7; Davies 6, Muamba 6, Gardner 9, Taylor 7; Elmander 7 (Basham 83 6) Subs not used Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Cohen, O’Brien, Smolarek

Rob Skilbeck, MSS-online.org

We’re down. We were relegated after the Stoke game but this was the final nail in the coffin. We gifted them three goals, and teams will punish you. The lesson for Southgate is that if you sign a £13m striker, make sure he can head. Alves missed an absolute sitter at 2–1. When we went down in 1997, we fought until the final day, but this time everyone’s already given up.

Player ratings Jones 5; Wheater 4, Huth 4, Pogatetz 4 (Taylor 36 5); Hoyte 4, Bates 5, O’Neil 5, Downing 5; Tuncay 8; Aliadière 5 (Emnes 74 5), Alves 3 Subs not used Turnbull, McMahon, Shawky, Walker, King

Fulham 0-1 Liverpool

David Lloyd, There’s Only One F In Fulham

It was a sickener. The stats will show that Liverpool had countless attempts, it was like crossbar challenge. We were in the game. They couldn’t finish and the fact that we lost shouldn’t detract from how well we were in the game. We had courageous defending – compact, solid. Murphy did very well against his old team and there were no real weak links. Unlike United they really came at us. There was full commitment from both teams and a feeling for us of being calm in the situation. I drove away thinking: where did he get the extra four minutes?

Player ratings 8, Konchesky 7; Davies 6 (Gera 79 6), Etuhu 7, Murphy 8 (Dacourt 76 6), Dempsey 6; Johnson 7, Zamora 6 Subs not used Zuberbühler, Nevland, Kamara, Kallio, Baird

Darren Phillips, ShanklyGates.co.uk

To borrow a saying: Football – bloody hell. It was amazing because a player not due to play comes on and has an impact. We didn’t seem affected by the international break. For a while it felt like the woodwork was giving Fulham an extra man. Fulham played much the same as against Man United but I think we had more chances. And we hit the bar four times – just a matter of inches but it never seemed it was going to go in. I’m delighted to be on top of the league again – you fear a draw just wouldn’t have been enough with United looming.

Player ratings Reina 6; Arbeloa 7, Skrtel 7, Carragher 7, Insúa 7; Alonso 8, Lucas 7; Kuyt 7 (Benayoun 7 76), Gerrard 8 (Agger 90), Dossena 7 (Babel 6 65); Torres 7 Subs not used Cavalieri, Riera, Mascherano, Ngog

Hull City 0-0 Portsmouth

Rick Skelton, HullCityOnline.com

A poor game, all in all. There were only about three or four serious efforts at goal in the entire game. Towards the end David James made a good save from Fagan and Portsmouth hit the post in stoppage time. Both defences were on top – Crouch didn’t win a thing and was well marshalled. It was a scrappy midfield. Glen Johnson should have been sent off for his first yellow card.

Player ratings Duke 7; Dawson 7, Zayatte 8, Turner 8, Ricketts 7 (Folan 85 n/a); Fagan 6 (Kilbane 71 6), Ashbee 8, Geovanni 6, Mendy 5; Barmby 8 (Marney 74 5); Manucho Subs not used Myhill, Garcia, Halmosi, Featherstone

Chris Gibbs, Pompey-Fans.com

The biggest cheer of the day was actually when Southampton’s score went up – as they’d lost! This wasn’t the best of games and you could see why both teams are where they are in the league. The match was crying out for a bit of inventiveness. Neither manager was prepared to commit more players forward. Kaboul was perhaps man of the match, but the keepers had little to do.

Player ratings James 7; Kaboul 7, Campbell 6, Hughes 6, Distin 6; Johnson 5, Mullins 5, Kranjcar 6 (Belhadj 76 7), Hreidarsson 6; Crouch 7, Nugent 5 (Kanu 64 7) Subs not used Begovic, Pennant, Basinas, Pamarot, Utaka

Newcastle United 0-2 Chelsea

Rob Higgins, Observer reader

The Shearer bubble of the past few days was already pricked before kick-off by the result from Blackburn and the atmosphere was surprisingly flat. Chelsea quickly showed they were different class with their slick passing, and our back four – with Coloccini as the new Titus Bramble – was always going to cave in. The second half was a stroll for Chelsea. The effort was there but we didn’t have the quality. It was great to see Shearer on the touchline but we need him in his prime and on the pitch. All the signs are that we’re going down.

Player ratings Harper 7; R Taylor 3, Beye 5, Coloccini 3, José Enrique 5; Lovenkrands 5 (Duff 44 4), Butt 4, Nolan 4 (Guthrie 69 4), Gutiérrez 4; Martins 4 (Carroll 80 n/a), Owen 5 Subs not used Forster, Smith, Geremi, Edgar

Trizia Fiorellino, Chelsea Supporters’ Group

We started poorly and for a long while it was looking horribly like the defeat at Spurs until Lampard – as usual – came to the rescue. After the first goal the team relaxed and we could’ve had three or four. It was peculiar that Anelka was playing wide, it was only when he came into the centre that we looked dangerous, I don’t know why Quaresma isn’t used more. I don’t think we’re back in the title race, we had our chance at Spurs and blew it. Newcastle were dire. They call Shearer the messiah and he’ll need higher powers to keep them up!

Player ratings Essien 8 (Ballack 57 7), Mikel 7, Lampard 8; Kalou 6, Anelka 6 (Di Santo 68 8), Malouda 7 Subs not used Hilario, Carvalho, Deco, Belletti, Mancienne

West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Stoke City

Terry Wills, Baggies@yahoogroups.com

Before the game we had already lost the war to stay in the Premier League but, considering our record against Stoke, I just wanted us to win this one battle. But instead of coming out of the trenches fighting, we came over the top waving a white flag. It was a huge letdown; we made the usual defensive errors and the game was effectively settled in the second minute. In midfield, we continued to overplay and pass the ball in every direction but forward. This result confirms we’re back on the road to nowhere in terms of securing a long-term position in the top flight.

Player ratings Carson 4; Zuiverloon 4, Martis 6, Olsson 6, Robinson 5 (Bednar 61 4); Morrison 4, Greening 5 (Koren 61 5), Valero 6, Brunt 5; Fortune 5, Simpson 4 (Teixeira 61 4) Subs not used Kiely, Hoefkens, Moore, Dorrans

Richard Murphy, Author, Stoke City On This Day

We’ve finally claimed our first away win of the season – but we always beat West Brom so we knew that was going to happen! It was a normal Stoke-West Brom game from start to finish: they had all the ball and we scored all the goals. But to start the way we did with Fuller’s strike, they were destined to struggle. We’re really playing to our strengths, we’ve got blokes who can score in Fuller and Beattie and neither goal came from a long throw. To be honest, Stoke fans always knew we’d stay up – and now we’re one step closer to proving that to everyone else.

Player ratings Sorensen 7; Wilkinson 7, Shawcross 8, Faye 8 (Pugh 75 6), Higginbotham 7; Lawrence 6, Whelan 8, Delap 7, Etherington 6; Beattie 8 (Cresswell 79 6), Fuller 9 (Olofinjana 89 n/a) Subs not used Simonsen, Kelly, Camara, Sonko

West Ham United 2-0 Sunderland

Pete May, author, Hammers in the Heart

Really good result today, considering the scratch team we had to put out. It was great to see Stanislas and Tomkins score, and players like Lucas Neill did well out of position. Even Boa Morte had one of his better games. If we can get results out of games like today and get a few players back like Parker and Cole we’ve got a chance of Europe, but it’ll be difficult. It’s just nice to see the academy still going strong.

Player ratings Green 7; Spector 6 (J Collins 73 5), Tomkins 8, Upson 7, Ilunga 6; Neill 7; Boa Morte 7, Noble 7, Stanislas 8 (López 90 n/a) Tristán 6, Di Michele 6 (Dyer 81 n/a) Subs not used Lastuvka, Savio, Sears, Payne

Martyn McFadden, A-Love-Supreme.com

We were too negative from the outset, and despite some good possession in the first half had no penetration. Worryingly, we didn’t show any fight. In the past we had players who may not have been as good but gave 110%; now we have better players who don’t give 100%. The matches against Hull and West Brom will decide our fate. Sbragia hasn’t proved himself. We need a high-profile, box-office manager.

Player ratings Gordon 7; Bardsley 7, Ferdinand 6, D Collins 6, Ben Haim 5; Malbranque 6 (Edwards 75 6), Leadbitter 6, Richardson 7, Whitehead 6, Murphy 4 (Jones 54 5); Cissé 6 Subs not used Fulop, Nosworthy, Reid, Healy, McShane

If this proves the result that kills ­Middlesbrough’s increasingly frail hopes of remaining in the Premier League, the verdict would be suicide.

If you had asked a rank stranger to football to name the position that Gareth Southgate filled for England, he would have been hard pushed to ­recognise the Middlesbrough manager as a one-time central defender. This was not a team that played remotely in his image.

When they arrived in the north-west on Friday evening, Southgate had sent one of his backroom staff to pick up Tuncay Sanli, who had flown directly to Manchester airport after his midweek exertions with Turkey. Since Tuncay played with the kind of verve and ­confidence that was absent elsewhere, it was a gamble worth taking. However, it might have been better had Boro pulled off another half a dozen passengers at random from the Istanbul flight, given them a red shirt, and asked them to defend.

With Middlesbrough effectively six points from safety because of their goal difference, ­Southgate did not attempt to disguise his ­embarrassment or his opinion that if Boro do not overcome Hull on Saturday, they will be as good as ­relegated.

“We have shot ourselves in the foot again and the team knows exactly how I feel,” he said. “We have to beat Hull on Saturday, there is no question of that now.

“You can see why we are where we are; we did not do enough of the things you need to win football matches. We have attacked well, we have hit the post and scored a very good goal but we have ­conceded some dreadful goals and you can see from the body language of the team that there is a lack of belief out there. My responsibility over the seven remaining games is to ensure that we at least play with some pride.”

Those who had travelled down from Teesside to support a side that had last taken a point away from the Riverside in November and who had not scored an away goal since 6 December, began with swelling chants of “attack, attack attack”. It might have been better had they demanded some basic competence from a side that was strangely set up with three centre-halves and three forwards.

“Systems don’t matter,” Southgate reflected with a wave of resignation. “It’s how you play.” Afonso Alves did strike the post, and Gary O’Neil, who will miss the next two critical games through suspension, beautifully finished a near-perfect pass from Tuncay.

But no formation can legislate for Emanuel Pogatetz’s failure to cut out Ricardo Gardner’s routine cross that led to Kevin Davies tapping in at the far post for Bolton’s opening goal. There is no team-talk that could predict that Robert Huth would duck out of the way of Matt Taylor’s free-kick that somehow drifted into the corner of Brad Jones’s net for the third.

Even at 38, Southgate would have backed himself to deal with another Taylor free-kick which Johan Elmander, a striker who looks shot through with self-doubt, was able to steer into Gary Cahill’s path. Only once could Bolton claim they scored a well-worked goal – when Gardner wonderfully controlled Taylor’s crossfield pass and shot home in almost one movement.

But they were already 3–1 up and Middlesbrough, so often held up as the model of a Premier League club, with a young English manager, a supportive chairman and a side largely developed from their own academy, had run out of time and hope.

“After 31 games we are the lowest scorers in the division and every time Bolton put the ball in our box we looked like conceding,” Southgate said. As an epitaph for a season, it was damning.

Chelsea were comfortable 2-0 winners in Alan Shearer’s first game in charge, while Stoke got their first away victory of the season

Preamble Hello. Am I the only person who is slightly uneasy with the literary acceptance, never mind the connotation, of the phrase squeaky-bum time? Or is that simply a consequence of being stuck on the toilet-less 2159 train from Newington to London Victoria last night for so long that the eventual relief - think Renton in Trainspotting, multiply it by a thousand and you’re still nowhere near - prompted a demob happiness and the giddy high-fiving of strangers? I’m not sure, but what I am sure about is that this is emphatically squeaky-bum time.

There are eight games to go in this essentially naff but peculiarly compelling Premier League season, but for many of the teams playing today it might as well be the final game. West Brom, Chelsea and arguably Middlesbrough simply must win to keep their respective hopes alive, and a few other sides are also in desperate need of pts x 3.

Like Sunderland, who have stealthily immersed themselves in the relegation battle after looking completely safe six weeks ago; like Hull, who are only four points off the bottom three and have a manager whose mood is zagging around like a demented windscreen-wiper; and of course Newcastle, who have beaten only West Brom since Christmas but whose world is a happy one now that they have finally lured Alan Shearer into bed for a small fee of £2m. They’re cheaper down the Charing Cross Road, we’ll tell you that for nowt.

The fixtures, with my predictions (and Sean Ingle’s in brackets). If you put £100 on either set of predictions, you stand to win approximately the square root of eff all

Arsenal 3-0 Man City (1-0)
Bolton 2-0 Middlesbrough (1-2)
Hull City 1-2 Portsmouth (0-2)
Newcastle 1-2 Chelsea (1-3)
West Brom 2-1 Stoke (0-2)
West Ham 1-0 Sunderland (2-0)

In case you don’t know it off by heart, here’s the league table. Funkily, it updates itself as the afternoon progresses. Newcastle will have 30 points until at least 3.02pm!

Emphatic proof that Alan Shearer is in purely for the love of the club, not love of that thing in the mirror “A friend of mine asked me this question: if you don’t take the job, and Newcastle stay up, will you regret it? And the answer was yes.”

Team news will be here just as soon as some flunky sends it our way.

Newcastle v Chelsea team news It’s an aggressive selection from Alan Shearer, with two wingers and Ryan Taylor at right-back. But with weary predictability he has reinstated the anachronism that is Michael Owen, even though Peter Lovenkrands and Obafemi Martins played outstandingly well together in the previous game against Arsenal. A specialist goalscorer? How quaint. I’m surprised he didn’t pick a sweeper as well, or put them out in the WM formation.

Chelsea drop Michael Ballack, which must have been uncomfortable for Ray Wilkins, given that Ballack has morphed into him of late. That decision has been coming, because Ballack has been phoning it in for months.

Newcastle (4-4-2) Harper; Ryan Taylor, Beye, Coloccini, Jose Enrique; Gutierrez, Nolan, Butt, Lovenkrands; Owen, Martins.
Subs: Forster, Guthrie, Duff, Smith, Geremi, Edgar, Carroll.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1) Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole; Mikel; Kalou, Essien, Lampard, Malouda; Anelka.
Subs: Hilario, Carvalho, Di Santo, Ballack, Deco, Belletti, Mancienne.

Referee Rob Styles.

West Brom v Stoke team news

West Brom (4-4-2) Carson; Zuiverloon, Martis, Olsson, Robinson; Morrison, Greening, Borja Valero, Brunt; Fortune, Simpson.
Subs: Kiely, Hoefkens, Koren, Bednar, Moore, Dorrans, Filipe Teixeira.

Stoke (4-4-2) Sorensen; Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham; Lawrence, Delap, Whelan, Etherington; Fuller, Beattie.
Subs: Simonsen, Olofinjana, Cresswell, Pugh, Kelly, Camara, Sonko.

Referee Martin Atkinson.

Hull v Portsmouth team news

Hull (4-3-1-2) Duke; Ricketts, Zayatte, Turner, Dawson; Mendy, Ashbee, Barmby; Geovanni; Manucho, Fagan.
Subs: Myhill, Garcia, Halmosi, Kilbane, Folan, Marney, Featherstone.

Portsmouth (4-2-3-1) James; Kaboul, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson; Mullins, Hughes; Johnson, Kranjcar, Nugent; Crouch.
Subs: Begovic, Kanu, Pennant, Belhadj, Basinas, Pamarot, Utaka.

Referee Chris Foy.

Bolton v Middlesbrough team news

Bolton Jaaskelainen; Steinsson, Cahill, Shittu, Samuel; Kevin Davies, Muamba, McCann, Gardner, Taylor; Elmander.
Subs: Al Habsi, Hunt, Smolarek, Puygrenier, Cohen, Basham,
Andrew O’Brien.

Middlesbrough (4-4-1-1) Jones; Hoyte, Wheater, Huth, Pogatetz; Aliadiere, O’Neil, Bates, Downing; Tuncay; Alves.
Subs: Turnbull, Taylor, Emnes, Shawky, King, McMahon, Walker.

Referee Alan Wiley.

West Ham v Sunderland team news West Ham have a couple of their youngsters, Tomkins and Stanislas starting in an injury-hit side. Kenwyne Jones is not fully fit so is on the bench.

West Ham (4-4-2) Green; Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga; Noble, Spector, Stanislas, Boa Morte; Di Michele, Tristan.
Subs: Lastuvka, Lopez, Dyer, Nsereko, Collins, Sears, Payne.

Sunderland (4-5-1) Gordon; Bardsley, Ferdinand, Ben-Haim, Collins; Malbranque, Whitehead, Richardson, Leadbitter, Murphy; Cisse.
Subs: Fulop, Nosworthy, Edwards, Jones, Reid, Healy, McShane.

Referee Mike Jones.

Arsenal v Man City Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas - for the first time since December - and Theo Walcott all return to what suddenly looks a very strong side, although the brilliant Robin van Persie is injured.

Robinho plays, mainly because the real jewel in City’s crown, Stephen Ireland, is injured.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Almunia; Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy; Denilson, Song; Walcott, Fabregas, Arshavin; Adebayor.
Subs: Fabianski, Ramsey, Silvestre, Djourou, Bendtner, Eboue, Gibbs.

Man City (4-3-3) Given; Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Bridge; Zabaleta, De Jong, Kompany; Wright-Phillips, Bellamy, Robinho.
Subs: Hart, Bojinov, Elano, Garrido, Fernandes, Mwaruwari,
Sturridge.

Referee Andre Marriner (W Midlands)

2.32pm “We know from Match of the Day that Alan Shearer regularly does to the English langauge what he once did to Neil Lennon’s head, so can we interpret that quote otherwise? Does he mean that he would regret being on the sidelines as the Great Escape is constructed? If so the regret relates to the extent of his involvement in the adventure rather than referring to the preservation of Toon Army’s place in the Premier League.” You’re a better man than I am, Naylor. And a more naive one.

2.39pm Blackburn have just jumped from 17th to 13th with two late goals against ten-man Spurs. You won’t be hearing from them again in this relegation battle.

2.43pm “How badly would Alan Shearer have to fail for the idea of him being the permanent manager of Newcastle to be destroyed forever?” wonders George Templeton. “Not just relegation, but a losing run so epic in these final eight games that Newcastle finish rock bottom. Would that cause the Geordie Nation to finally see Shearer for what he is and get beyond the notion of him as a second messiah?” It’s a nice thought actually. Any ideas?

2.51pm Alan Shearer is an arrogant ba- sorry, is a confident man. So confident that, you suspect, he half thinks he just has to turn up and wave a bit to put the club right. But at some point this afternoon - perhaps when Newcastle haven’t touched the ball for 10 minutes - that rabid mutt called Reality is going to have a huge, long, foaming bite on his swingers. At some point this afternoon, Shearer is going to look out onto the field and realise: we are absolutely terrible.

3pm Let’s go. They’ve actually kicked off before 3pm at Newcastle, such is the excitement. I think they should be docked three points for that. Disrespectful.

3.01pm “Re 2.43pm,” begins Alex Netherton, “I reckon Shearer kissing Roy Keane would do it.”

3.03pm: West Brom 0-1 Stoke (Fuller 2) You know you’re a desperately poor football team when…. you go behind at home to Stoke (last away win in the top flight 25 years ago). Ricardo Fuller has given Stoke the lead after yet another mistake from Scott Carson.

3.05pm “It’s amazing just how quickly a football ground can fill up,” says Louise Taylor, our lady at Newcastle. “A couple of minutes ago there were plenty of empty grey seats here but now they’re flooding in. They’ve played ‘Oooh Aaah Shearer - I wanna know how you scored that goal’ over the tannoy but now it’s switched to ‘Blaydon Races’. With Steven Taylor and Sebastien Bassong out injured and Nicolas Anelka starting for Chelsea, stopping goals may be Wor Al’s priority today.”

3.08pm: Bolton 1-0 Middlesbrough (Kevin Davies 7) For weeks and weeks I thought Middlesbrough would get themselves out of trouble. I was wrong. Kevin Davies has finished expertly - his sixth in nine games - to give Bolton the lead at the Reebok.

3.11pm: Arsenal 1-0 Man City (Adebayor 10) Surprise surprise. Fabregas crosses, Adebayor plants a free header into the net from eight yards.

3.12pm Here’s Paul Doyle at the Emirates. “Finding a convenient label for Arsenal’s formation is tricky today: it’s not quite a 4-2-3-1 because Fabregas is slightly more withdrawn than, say, Steven Gerrard is in Liverpool’s system, but nor is it a 4-5-1. So if you want to be pernickety about it, it’s probably a 4-2-1-2-1. City’s could probably best be described as a 4-3-2-1. Put that in your chalkboard and, um, smoke it.” Anyone who describes a formation in more than four lines is a pseudo-intellectual ass, Doyle. Fact!

3.13pm “Bit of doubt here about Robinho’s foul that led to the goal,” says Jamie Jackson, also at the Emirates. What a gig those two have got! “Appeared a legit shoulder charge…”

3.15pm Here’s Doyle again. “Arsenal’s goal is a lot easier to describe than their shape. Fabregas flighted a freekick in from the right, City cunningly left Adebaoyr completely unmarked eight yards from goal, and the Togolese headed the ball downwards into the net. The boys are back in town. The third returnee, however, is having less fun: Walcott is down receiving treatment on his knee following a clumsy tangle with Kompany. Doesn’t look too serious, mind.” Unlike you, Doyle, with your five-line formations and your refusal to watch anything that doesn’t have the words ‘Three Colours’ in the title. You’re as serious as this little fella.

3.16pm “Isn’t the convenient label for Arsenal’s formation ‘not good enough yet again’?” says Gary Naylor. I think they are very interesting Champions League outsiders myself, which should guarantee a 17-0 defeat to Villarreal this week.

3.19pm “Shearer is chewing gum in his technical area and doing a lot of standing around, hands in pockets, looking cool in his nice suit,” says Louise Taylor, offering a new meaning of the word ‘cool’. “There has been the odd finger point - not to mention the odd moment of anxiety. After seeing John Terry drift free at a Chelsea set piece Shearer called out to Iain Dowie: ‘Who’s meant to be picking up Terry?’ Judging by the puzzled look on his face he didn’t seem to fully understand his assistant’s reply.”

3.21pm Here are the scores, right here, right now:

Arsenal 1-0 Man City
Bolton 1-0 Middlesbrough
Hull City 0-0 Portsmouth
Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea
West Brom 0-1 Stoke
West Ham 0-0 Sunderland

And this is the table right now. Look where Stoke are!

3.24pm Shearer looks fairly smart actually, in his grey suit and thin tie. Iain Dowie? Well he’s Iain Dowie isn’t he.

3.27pm Any flies on Tim Travers are paying rent. “You may not like Mr Shearer as a person but he knows how to market himself to the fan base. If Newcastle go down, then the damage was already done & NO ONE could have saved them. If they stay up then he’s a genius who eats lighting, craps thunder and pees Newcy Brown!!” Eats lighting? Two exclamation marks?

3.28pm Middlesbrough are having a very decent spell. It really is now or never - as things stand they are six points off safety.

3.29pm “Thanks to Mr Travers for confirming how Newcastle Brown is made,” chuckles Ian Copestake, making me spit out a mouthful of said liquid for more than one reason.

3.30pm Anelka has just missed a one-on-one at Newcastle. That was a really good chance and, though he was under slight pressure, he should have hit the target. Instead he hit the side-netting at the near post. Rob Styles gave a corner.

3.31pm Here’s Richard Rae, our man at Hull. “Twenty minutes in and there are few signs of a pattern emerging at the KC Stadium. It’s one of those matches when once a chant has died down, a sort of nervous silence falls around the ground, and the shouts of the coaches and players can clearly be heard. No handbell in the Pompey end - what’s happened to Big Helen? It’s the battle of the ungainly up front; Manucho versus Crouch. Glen Johnson, a combustible character, having got himself booked a minute earlier, has been very lucky not to be sent off for a foul on Geovanni. Hull are picking up some momentum here.”

3.33pm “Nice move just now,” says Paul Doyle at the Emirates. “There were a few kicks, a header, then a shot and a save. It was good. The fans were glad. I hope that doesn’t come across as pseudo-intellectualism, Mr Chairman of Chalkboard.” It would do if I didn’t know what shirt you were wearing.

3.34pm Gelson Fernandes, on for the injured Wayne Bridge, has hit the post for Manchester City at the Emirates. Really it was a poor miss, because he had a ludicrous amount of space ten yards out to control Shaun Wright-Phillips’ penetrative pass, turn and pick his spot. That spot on the was the outside of the near post with Almunia beaten.

3.36pm Michael Owen has not yet touched the ball at Newcastle*. That he will score an 89th-minute winner is increasingly inevitable.

*A little artistic license may have been employed here. Not much mind.

3.38pm On Sky Sports, Paul Merson says Newcastle are playing for a 0-0. Bring back Keegan!

3.39pm: Bolton 1-1 Middlesbrough (O’Neil 38) What a big goal this might be. Boro’s response has been admirable - post hit, goal disallowed - and now they have been rewarded. A sublime, disguised through ball from the superb Tuncay put Gary O’Neil through on goal, and he scrunched his shot off a sliding defender and over Jaaskelainen.

3.41pm “Younes Kaboul has just headed over from five yards with only City goalkeeper Matt Duke to beat,” tuts Richard Rae at Hull. “Crouch set him up. You could see the chance coming; a City fan sitting in front of me kept repeating the words ‘Oh No’ during the build up. Here it’s pronounced Errr Nerr.” That ‘oh no’ bit sounds almost as good as this particular commentary.

3.43pm Boro are all over Bolton now. This is the thing about Boro: they actually have a team of very accomplished footballers. They just need confidence. Told you they’d stay up!

3.44pm: West Ham 1-0 Sunderland (Stanislas 42) A brilliant pass from Boa Morte allows the youngster Junior Stanislas to score what I presume is his first goal for the club. Sunderland are, as things stand, fourth from bottom. The moral of this story is: never appoint a caretaker manager, especially one who gets a raggy 4-1 win at Hull.

3.45pm: Bolton 2-1 Boro (Cahill 45) I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. Boro have just considered a pitiful goal, allowing Gary Cahill a ludicrous amount of room at a free-kick to score from eight yards.

3.46pm “City have just been forced into another early change - Elano for Kompany - but they’re starting to get on top in this game and should really be level,” says Paul Doyle, who actually sent this message backwards, in Spanish. “Fernandes hit the outside of the post from 12 yards after being given the freedom of the box by the Arsenal defence. William Gallas bawled at his team-mates after that, brazenly.”

3.47pm Louise Taylor confirms that it’s business as usual for the Newcastle fans and Rob Styles. “Atmosphere strangely low-key here and some strange refereeing from Rob Styles. Nicky Butt got away unpunished with a neck-high, red-card-worthy challenge on Florent Malouda and Jonas Gutierrez got away scot free for a yellow-card-worthy tackle on Ashley Cole. Then Frank Lampard was rather harshly booked for diving when he had been clipped. Peter Lovenkrands is injured and has been replaced by Damien Duff. Lovenkrands looks in a bad way and Paul Ferris, Newcastle’s new head of medicine, has been talking anxiously into the mouthpiece on his walkie talkie headset.”

3.50pm So these are the half-time scores:

Arsenal 1-0 Man City
Bolton 2-1 Middlesbrough
Hull City 0-0 Portsmouth
Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea
West Brom 0-1 Stoke
West Ham 1-0 Sunderland

And this is how the table looks just now.

3.51pm “The Doyle effect: intellectualism also seems to be undermining Middlesborough’s defending if they ‘considered’ an awful goal,” says Ian Copestake, tittering at my 3.45pm update. I might set up a new social-networking site: Titter, in which people simply post entries that point out what a pitiful speciment of humanity I am.

3.59pm “Big Helen didn’t ring her bell for Pompey, it was for Man City, and unlike the guy at Pompey it wasn’t incessantly and devalued, it was when City really needed support she’d use it,” says Peter Green, in response to Richard Rae’s entry at 3.31pm. “It was probably kept behind emergency glass like a fire hose in a school, only broken out when needed. Also she passed away a few years ago sadly.”

4pm “I’ve seen enough of Middlesbrough this season to know exactly what you’re talking about,” says Nicholas Walton. “Sumptious, silky, and with as much potency and solidity as a marshmallow phallus. If the attack had even slightly functioned they’d be top half. Too good to go down etc.” And you just know they will take points off United when they play them.

4.01pm “The three half-time draw prizes were won by three consecutively numbered tickets. Mmm,” mmms Richard Rae. “About as fair as the competition to win £10,000 if you can kick a ball against the crossbar - from the halfway line.” I bet Jason Cundy could do it.

4.02pm Right, it’s time for some adult males to endeavour to play matchmaker between an object of the netty variety and the magical leather sphere.

4.03pm “You don’t like West Brom, do you Rob,” says Chris B. “Any chance of knowing why, apart from the fact we are seriously crap?” Quite the contrary: I was wowed by them when I did their game against Norwich last year, I think Chris Brunt has the capacity to be an extremely good player, and I have a huge amount of time for Tony Mowbray. But you are seriously etc, sadly.

4.04pm “So if not Big Helen, who rings the bell for Portsmouth?” asks Richard Rae. “Is it the tattooed bloke who looks vaguely like Noddy Holder?”

4.08pm In Germany, Wolfsburg are slaughtering Bayern Munich 5-1, while Hertha Berlin - the leaders this morning - are losing Borussia Dormund. So Wolfsburg, who were ninth at Christmas, are going top. You can get all the latest scores here.

4.09pm: West Brom 0-2 Stoke (Beattie 50) I give it 12 seconds before Gary Naylor emails to say that Tony Pulis should be Manager of the Year for signing James Beattie. But he’s got a point: Beattie now has six in 10 games and has scored a screamer that a) puts West Brom down, b) gives Stoke their first away win in the top flight since 1984 and c) gives Stoke a real, real chance of staying up: as things stand they are five points off relegation. What a marvellous job Pulis has done there with what is basically a collection of cattle.

4.11pm: Arsenal 2-0 Manchester City (Adebayor 51) Fabregas and Adebayor combine again to devastating effect. And to think we thought they might not finish fourth.

4.12pm: West Ham 2-0 Sunderland (Tomkins 53) Sunderland reluctantly accept West Ham’s moral right to turn their 1 into 2: James Tomkins is the second youngster to score for the Hammers. They go seventh; Sunderland will end today in 17th unless Portsmouth lose at Hull. They have Manchester United next, and are in serious trouble.

4.14pm “At half time Kath Cassidly, the long-serving St James’ Park press-room tea lady, confided that she is now on her 21st manager here,” says Louise Taylor. “She certainly has an excuse for feeling a little Messiah-ed out.” Don’t we all.

4.16pm: Newcastle 0-1 Chelsea (Lampard 55) Frank Lampard embraces his inner need to play party-pooper. Coloccini dithered risibly on the edge of his own area and was robbed by Anelka. His shot was deflected over Harper, onto the bar, and as it bounced down there was Fwank to head into the empty net.

4.17pm Alan Shearer has the look of a man who’s just swapped a cushy job coining it in by blathering inanities on a sofa for a job coining it in while trying to get blood out of a shower.

4.20pm “The Chelsea fans are chanting ‘Shearer, Shearer, what’s the score?’” says Louise Taylor. “Yet another shcoking error from Fabricio Coloccini let in Nicolas Anelka whose eventual shot against the woodwork, rebounded for Frank Lampard to put Guus Hiddink’s side one up….there are signs of the odd fraying managerial nerve in the home dug-out. When a Gutierrez cross failed to come off, Shearer was heard to proclaim ‘For God’s sake’.” Now he knows how we felt every Saturday night.

4.23pm Play, the state thereof:

Arsenal 2-0 Man City
Bolton 2-1 Middlesbrough
Hull City 0-0 Portsmouth
Newcastle 0-1 Chelsea
West Brom 0-2 Stoke
West Ham 2-0 Sunderland

4.25pm: Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea (Malouda 60) What’s happening is that our faithful hound Reality has just got herself a huge mouthful of Alan Shearer’s special place, and she’s biting like there’s no tomorrow. She won’t let go, bless her. She’s like a dog with a bone! Or, to translate, Frank Lampard has released Florent Malouda to make it 2-0 at St James’ Park. Just like he did last season, if memory serves, which it probably doesn’t given the abuse it’s taken these past 15 years.

4.27pm Newcastle’s next two games are away to Liverpool and Stoke. Just saying. You suspect that three games - at home to Portsmouth, Fulham and Middlesbrough - will decide whether they stay up, but by the time they get to those games they could be a fair away adrift.

4.31pm “The Chelsea fans are singing ‘ going down’ now,” reports Louise Taylor. “Malouda has made it two. No matter, still time for a Michael Owen hat-trick. Unfortunately Owen has barely touched the ball., Shearer has just replaced Kevin Nolan with Danny Guthrie. Will it be a tactical masterstroke.” The absence of a question-mark tells you all you need to know there.

4.32pm I was in a chipper mood. Then Alex Netherton, without even a single word by way of explanation, sent me this link. Oh, Alex!

4.33pm Michael Owen scores for Newcastle and, in a genuinely hilarious development, the assistant referee decides it hasn’t crossed the line before Ashley Cole clears. It was well in, “about an inch away from the net” according to Paul Merson on Sky. Who says injustice has to be depressin’?!

4.34pm Michael Owen must be starting to think he’s living a Truman Show-style existence, with every plot twist designed to push him ever closer to breaking point. Wait till Fabio Capello calls up David Nugent ahead of him for the next international.

4.36pm “I propose you start calling Shearer’s ’special place’ his ‘technical area’ from now on,” says Mac Millings. “Quite apart from the endless fun you could have with ‘Shearer’s fiddling around it his technical area’ jokes, it just seems like what he’d call it. Equally appropriately, Michael Owen calls his parts ‘my hopelessly outmoded point of attack’.”

4.37pm “Owen has just been robbed,” confirms Louise Taylor. “He appeared to have directed a shot over the line before Ashley Cole cleared the ball but Rob Styles merely waved play on. Replays showed it definitely crossed the line. Shearer has had a stern word with the fourth official. Maybe Hiddink wasn’t so wise to withdraw Anelka - whose headed flick created Malouda’s goal - after all. Newcastle have improved since his departure.” Di Santo replaced him, which is a peculiarly presumptious substitution at 2-0.

4.38pm: Bolton 3-1 Middlesbrough It’s all over. Matt Taylor’s long free-kick is left by everybody and sneaks into the net. You have to feel for Boro, who have played splendidly today, but who are going down unless they win at least four of their last seven. No, it’s not going to happen.

4.39pm “Seems NUFC needed a firefighter. Someone like Sam Allardyce, perhaps? Oh, wait…” says Robert Smithson. “Today, and perhaps even the rest of the season, won’t tell us much about Shearer’s ability. I think the only true lesson to come out of all this is: NEVER EVER BUY A FOOTBALL CLUB. Mike Ashley, you silly tool.”

4.40pm Richard Rae at Hull predicted this in the first half: Glen Johnson has been sent off for a second yellow card. Apparently that was a dodgy decision, but he could have been sent off approximately 97 times before that.

4.41pm “I know ‘Brazilian prima donna looks a bit ropey post-international fixture’ is hardly news,” begins Will Clunas, “but are we sure Robinho is still a professional footballer? Phoning it in is one thing; he’s texting it in, having borrowed his mate’s mobile to save credit.” He’s got his mate to text it for him an’ all.

4.44pm: Bolton 4-1 Middlesbrough (Gardner 84) This might be the weirdest 4-1 since Sampdoria mugged Napoli on their way to the title in 1990-91. Boro have dominated but are stung on the break by Ricardo Gardner. Bolton, with 37 points, are very nearly safe. Congratulations to Gary Megson, who gets dog’s abuse for… well what exactly?

4.47pm “There’s nothing much to say about proceedings in east Yorkshire,” says Richard Rae, cleverly using up 10 words of his quota* by saying that there’s not much to say. “One fine save by David James from Craig Fagan apart, there have been no efforts on goal worthy of the name. Glen Johnson was ridiculously sent off, a second yellow when Andy Dawson’s follow-through caught him on the knee. Looks like a point apiece.” Which you suspect both would have taken at the start. That’s fine for Portsmouth, whose home form will keep them up. Hull? I’m not so sure.

* We don’t actually have quotas. It’s not that bad here, although you do get locked in a cellar for 12 hours to dwell on what you’ve done if you misuse a semi-colon. And if you misuse a colon the gimp mask comes out

4.50pm “The Chelsea fans are now serenading Shearer with chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’,” reports Louise Taylor of that ever-witty bunch. “Andy Carroll is on for Obafemi Martins.”

4.54pm It has finished Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea, so for a couple of hours they are second in the table. It has also finished West Brom 0-2 Stoke and Bolton 4-1 Middlesbrough. Both those clubs are probably down, and the last place is probably between Newcastle (29 points), Sunderland (32) and Hull (34), who have just drawn 0-0 with ten-man Portsmouth, but Pompey hit the post in the final minute through Herman Hreidarsson. Portsmouth have 33 points, but they have a game in hand on Hull - a gimme at Old Trafford - and enough momentum (P6 W2 D3 L1 since they sacked the piano player) to get the points they need.

4.57pm Arsenal have beaten Manchester City 2-0, the same scoreline by which West Ham have disposed of Sunderland. So that’s just about it. The league table is here - “Funny how the PL table is arranged by wins. I guess they’re important…” notes Nathan Phillips - and I’m off to watch Andrea Dossena score 94 goals at Craven Cottage. Night.

Bolton’s fiery manager features as an orangutan, Rolf Harris and a happy little raincloud in this week’s Photoshop fun. Now send us your Harry Redknapp

• Drogba and Bosingwa to miss Newcastle trip
• Fábregas and Walcott back for Arsenal

Arsenal v Manchester City (Saturday, 3pm)

Arsenal welcome back Cesc Fábregas after three months out with medial knee ligament injury, but the Gunners will have to make do without leading scorer Robin van Persie, who injured his groin while playing for Holland against Scotland last Saturday, and Eduardo who suffered a similar problem while playing for Croatia.

Midfielder Abou Diaby (thigh) is out while Samir Nasri (virus) and Carlos Vela, who has had to make a long journey back from Mexico duty, are also doubtful.

However, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor return as does Nicklas Bendtner (knee).

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Denilson, Fábregas, Arshavin, Bendtner, Adebayor, Fabianski, Djourou, Gibbs, Vela, Eboue, Silvestre, Song, Nasri.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes could be without striker Craig Bellamy but expects top-scorer Robinho to be fit for selection against Arsenal.

Bellamy is a major doubt with the knee injury that flared up again on international duty with Wales and forced him to miss his country’s midweek defeat to Germany.

Robinho also limped off during Brazil’s 3-0 win over Peru on Wednesday, but Hughes is hopeful the 24-year-old will be available as City try and claim a first away league win since August.

Wayne Bridge could return from a hamstring strain, while Michael Johnson, Martin Petrov, Daniel Sturridge, Benjani and Didi Hamann are all nearing return from injury.

Manchester City (from): Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, Elano, De Jong, Kompany, Robinho, Bojinov, Bridge, Garrido, Fernandes, Evans, Etuhu, Berti, Vassell, McGivern, Hart.

Blackburn v Tottenham (Saturday, 12.45pm)

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz is to see a specialist next week if he fails to show signs of a recovery from a knee tendon injury.

The Paraguay international has been out for a month and misses a fifth successive game tomorrow when Tottenham visit Ewood Park for an early afternoon clash in the Premier League.

It is the same situation with midfielder David Dunn, who has been out of action for three weeks with an achilles problem.

Midfielder Vince Grella has returned to training following a groin injury and, although in the squad, tomorrow’s game probably comes too soon for him to figure.

Allardyce’s injury list stretches to four key players, with Brett Emerton and Steven Reid on the long-term casualty list.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Bunn, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Samba, Simpson, Warnock, Givet, Olsson, Villanueva, Tugay, Andrews, Diouf, Treacy, Mokoena, McCarthy, Roberts, Pedersen, Grella.

Tottenham club captain Ledley King should be fit for the trip to Ewood Park after resting his suspect knee during the international break.

Alan Hutton returned for Scotland from his foot injury last week but Jermain Defoe is still out, also with a foot complaint, although he is running again.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will make late checks on players who have been on international duty such as Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric and Darren Bent – who hobbled out of England training this week.

Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cudicini, Corluka, Hutton, Chimbonda, Bale, Assou-Ekotto, King, Woodgate, Dawson, Modric, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, O’Hara, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Campbell, Keane, Bent.

Everton v Wigan (Sunday, 3pm)

Everton manager David Moyes will make a late decision on the fitness of Tim Cahill for Sunday’s visit of Wigan as the midfielder has not yet returned from international duty.

The Australian has spent the last week in Sydney recovering from a calf injury but did not play any part in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

Moyes is also waiting for the return of American goalkeeper Tim Howard, the only other player yet to make it back after the internationals.

Right-back Tony Hibbert has resumed training after a thigh problem but may not be ready to play against the Latics.

Everton (from): Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha, Jo, Rodwell, Baxter, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace, Van der Meyde.

Wigan will be without Amr Zaki after the Egyptian striker again failed to return from international duty on time. It is the fourth time this season Zaki has gone walkabout after an Egypt game and looks set to be heavily fined by Steve Bruce as a result.

Jason Koumas has a hip problem which needs to be assessed, otherwise the Latics squad is at full strength.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.

Bolton v Middlesbrough (Saturday, 3pm)

Bolton’s players all returned unscathed from international duty leaving midfielders Mark Davies and Joey O’Brien (both knee) the only absentees. Defender Andy O’Brien could feature after being rested in their last game.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Andy O’Brien, Samuel, Riga, Taylor, McCann, Muamba, Gardner, Kevin Davies, Elmander, Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Makukula, Shittu.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson faces a fitness test after picking up two knocks playing for England’s Under-21s. Meanwhile, Chris Riggott returns from injury, midfielder Matthew Bates is back from suspension, but Robert Huth is a doubt with a sore knee.

Middlesbrough (from): Jones, Turnbull, Hoyte, McMahon, Taylor, Grounds, Huth, Pogatetz, Wheater, Riggott, Aliadiere, O’Neil, Johnson, Bates, Walker, Shawky, Downing, Emnes, Alves, Tuncay, King.

Fulham v Liverpool (Saturday, 5.15pm)

Mark Schwarzer and Clint Dempsey will play for Fulham in tomorrow’s clash with Liverpool. Australia goalkeeper Schwarzer and USA winger Dempsey only returned from international duty this morning but have already been involved in training.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Stoor, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Baird, Davies, Etuhu, Dacourt, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora, Zuberbuhler, Kallio, Nevland, Kamara, Gray, Barnes.

Liverpool are likely to be without defender Sami Hyypia and midfielder Yossi Benayoun for the trip to Fulham.

Hyypia returned from international duty with a knee injury, and manager Rafael Benítez doubts that the centre-back will be fit for the evening kick-off at Craven Cottage. He could be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Chelsea, however.

Benayoun went on World Cup qualifying duty with Israel already with a hamstring injury and now also has a calf problem.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Dossena, Babel, Mascherano, Gerrard, Alonso, Lucas, Torres, Kuyt, Ngog, Insua, Cavalieri, Riera.

Hull v Portsmouth (Saturday, 3pm)

Striker Daniel Cousin is Hull’s only doubt for tomorrow’s visit of Portsmouth. Cousin has missed the last two games with a back complaint and, having not reported for international duty with Gabon, must still prove his fitness.

The club’s other injury concerns, Michael Turner (thigh), Kamil Zayatte (knee), Andy Dawson (thigh) and captain Ian Ashbee (hamstring), are all fit.

George Boateng (knee) is set to return to full training next week but Anthony Gardner (back) and Jimmy Bullard (knee) are out for the season.

Hull (from): Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Mendy, Ashbee, Marney, Kilbane, Geovanni, Manucho, Garcia, Barmby, Fagan, Halmosi, Folan, Doyle, Hughes, France, Cousin, Myhill.

Peter Crouch, David James and Glen Johnson have all returned unscathed from England duty for Portsmouth’s clash at Hull and Niko Kranjcar has reported no ill-effects after his efforts for Croatia.

On-loan Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has recovered from a thigh injury and should return to the attack, enabling Johnson to revert to his more familiar full-back role but Armand Traore’s hopes of a first-team recall have been hit by a damaged ankle playing for France Under-21s.

Reserve goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown is back after three months out with an ankle ligament injury and could return as cover for James on the substitutes’ bench but Jerome Thomas and Marc Wilson picked up further knocks in their midweek comeback attempts for the reserves.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Mullins, Davis, Nugent, Kranjcar, Crouch, Kanu, Kaboul, Pamarot, Utaka, Hughes, Belhadj, Basinas, Ashdown, Begovic.

Manchester United v Aston Villa (Sunday, 4pm)

Gary Neville is expected to return for the first time since January as Manchester United look to halt a two-game losing sequence against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Neville has been struggling to overcome a groin injury but came through a reserve team outing on Monday without a problem and is set to figure for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic are all suspended, Dimitar Berbatov (ankle) is out for a fortnight and Anderson is not likely to play after picking up a knee injury on World Cup duty with Brazil.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Gibson, Possebon, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Tevez, Welbeck.

Gabriel Agbonlahor could be restored to the Aston Villa line-up as they look to end a run of eight games without a win in all competitions against Manchester United.

Agbonlahor was left out of the starting XI for the 5-0 mauling by Liverpool at Anfield before the international break with John Carew and Emile Heskey preferred in attack. But Heskey is ruled out with a hamstring injury he suffered after scoring the opening goal in England’s 4-0 win over Slovakia at Wembley last weekend.

O’Neill has to decide whether left-back Wilfred Bouma is ready to play any part after eight months out with a dislocated ankle. He came through a third reserve game in mid-week with no ill effects.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, Reo-Coker, L. Young, Knight, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Bouma, Milner, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Sidwell, Salifou, A. Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Delfouneso, Heskey.

Newcastle v Chelsea (Saturday, 3pm)

Newcastle manager Alan Shearer hopes to have three key players available for his first game in charge against Chelsea tomorrow.

Steven Taylor (ankle) and Sebastien Bassong (groin) are improving and have not yet been ruled out, while Damien Duff (hamstring) was expected to train today. Danny Guthrie is back in contention after an eight-match lay-off with a torn hamstring and strikers Andy Carroll (ankle) and Xisco (fractured toe) have returned to training.

But Shola Ameobi is out with an ankle problem and Joey Barton (fractured metatarsal), Mark Viduka and Ignacio Gonzalez (both achilles) remain on the sidelines.

Newcastle (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.: Harper, Forster, Krul, S Taylor, Beye, Bassong, Coloccini, Enrique, Edgar, Cacapa, Butt, Duff, R Taylor, Gutierrez, Nolan, Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Geremi, Smith, Martins, Owen, Carroll, Xisco.

Chelsea are without striker Didier Drogba and right-back Jose Bosingwa for the trip to Newcastle. Drogba jarred his ankle in a training ground accident while Bosingwa returned from international duty with Portugal suffering from a hamstring strain.

Chelsea are boosted by the return of fit-again Nicolas Anelka. The France international has shaken off his toe problem to be included in the squad.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Taylor, Belletti, Alex, Ivanovic, Terry, Mancienne, A Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Deco, Obi, Kalou, Essien, Malouda, Di Santo, Anelka, Quaresma, Stoch.

West Brom v Stoke (Saturday, 3pm)

West Brom defender Abdoulaye Meite returns to the squad for tomorrow’s clash against Stoke.

Meite has recovered from a hamstring problem and illness, although he may have to be content with a place on the bench as manager Tony Mowbray is set to continue with Jonas Olsson and Shelton Martis at the centre of defence. Albion have only conceded one goal in the two games they have played together.

Mowbray looks set to retain the side that started West Brom’s last match – the 1-1 draw against Bolton.

West Brom (from): Carson, Kiely, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Olsson, Martis, Donk, Pele, Meite, Robinson, Cech, Koren, Teixeira, Do-Heon, Valero, Brunt, Simpson, Fortune, Bednar, Moore, Menseguez.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis will assess the fitness of his international quartet ahead of tomorrow’s visit to West Brom.

Republic of Ireland duo Glenn Whelan and Stephen Kelly, Senegal star Abdoulaye Faye and Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen were all due to return to training this morning.

Kelly is likely to be on standby for full-back Andy Wilkinson (back), while Pulis has jet-lag fears over Faye who played in a friendly fixture in Iran.

Amdy Faye will be recalled in central midfield if Salif Diao (groin) fails a fitness test, but striker Mamady Sidibe will play no further part this season after a damaged cruciate ligament was confirmed.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Diao, Whelan, Delap, Beattie, Fuller, Simonsen, Etherington, Amdy Faye, Camara, Sonko, Cresswell, Cort, Pugh, Tonge, Griffin, Olofinjana.

West Ham v Sunderland (Saturday, 3pm)

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has a groin injury and may be out for the rest of the season. Scott Parker is carrying a groin problem but may still play, while Radoslav Kovac (thigh) has also picked up a knock.

Central defenders Matthew Upson and James Collins are both fit for selection after missing the last two matches, Savio Nsereko has recovered from a minor knee injury, but Valon Behrami, Jack Collison (both knee) and Danny Gabbidon (back/stomach) are out.

West Ham (from): Green, Neill, Tomkins, Spector, Ilunga, Noble, Parker, Kovac, Boa Morte, López, Tristán, Payne, Di Michele, Dyer, Lastuvka, Sears, N’Gala, Stanislas, Upson, Collins, Savio.

Kieran Richardson returns from suspension for Sunderland’s game against West Ham. But George McCartney is a doubt after sustaining a calf injury in Northern Ireland’s win over Slovenia on Wednesday and Calum Davenport is ineligible because he is on loan from the Hammers.

Ricky Sbragia will give late fitness checks to Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards, who did not get back from international duty in the USA until Friday.

Craig Gordon is pushing for a return after playing for Scotland in midweek and Nyron Nosworthy returns to the squad after coming through a reserve game on Thursday.

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Gordon, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Ben-Haim, Collins, Nosworthy, McCartney, McShane, Edwards, Malbranque, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Richardson, Reid, Murphy, Jones, Healy, Cisse.

• Gareth Southgate believes ‘nothing to lose’ attitude may help
• Manager says Afonso Alves will play a big role in the run-in

Middlesbrough’s manager, Gareth Southgate, has told his players they must be “brave and bold” if they are to stay in the Premier League with their team second-bottom, four points from safety, and having won only one of their last 18 league games.

They will try to end a run of eight consecutive away defeats on Saturday when they take on Bolton Wanderers and Southgate was confident of their chances. “We feel that we can give ourselves a great chance of staying up if we can win our next match at Bolton,” he said.

“If we are going to do that, we have to be brave and be bold. We have to go there and play the kind of football which can get us out of trouble. I understand that people will think we are gone, and in some ways that probably helps us because we feel that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by having a good go in every one of our remaining games.”

Goals have been hard to come by – Middlesbrough have scored only 21 times in the league all season – and Southgate acknowledged that needed to change.

“We know that we have to score goals if we want to stay in this league,” he said. “We have created lots of chances this season but our problem has been putting them away. We know that we have goal-scorers in our squad and we will have to make sure that we utilise them fully in the last eight games.”

The club’s record signing Afonso Alves could be set for a recall after Southgate defended the striker’s poor return of four goals. “Afonso has suffered from a lack of confidence during the season when the ball hasn’t been going in for him, but we know what he can do and hopefully he can be an important player for us in the run-in,” Southgate said. “In fact we need all our forwards to start producing. We will have to make sure that we adopt an attacking approach in all of our games and that we get the ball into the box and cause problems for the opposition.

“We won’t be going gung-ho, because we know that we have to defend well at the same time but we have quality defenders who can get us clean sheets and they have to do that. Then we must take our chances at the other end of the field. As far as we are concerned, there is still a lot to play for. Nobody has given up here. We believe that we are still in there with a fighting chance and it’s up to us.”

The best images from Wednesday night’s action in the top flight

The Black Country may still have one top-flight representative next season but it is more likely to be Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are lengthening their stride at the top of the Championship, than West Bromwich Albion, who would probably pass them on the way down. On Saturday, having drawn against West Ham when they should have won, Albion drew a game with Bolton they seemed destined to lose. Either way, two points gained meant little compared to four lost. Albion are now seven from safety and running out of fixtures.

Their manager seems to be running out of things to talk about. “Do you want me to say ‘Yes, it’s over’ or ‘No, it’s not over’?” was Tony Mowbray’s weary answer to the usual query about top-flight survival. “I’ve never questioned the players in terms of them giving up the ghost.”

Talking of ghosts, the opposition brought back memories to haunt the Hawthorns in the person of manager Gary Megson, who during four years in charge of Albion twice achieved automatic promotion. The home crowd gave him a rapturous welcome when he is normally not one to inspire such extravagance – Respect? Yes, but rapture! “The reception was humbling,” Megson admitted.

Unfortunately he had to leave minutes before the end, sent off by Howard Webb for losing his rag when trying to bring on substitute Ebi Smolarek. “I just got the hump,” said Megson. “I have apologised to Howard Webb. I shouldn’t be like that but you get carried away.”

In truth it was hardly a game to carry anyone away – plenty of activity, but little meaningful action. Bolton’s belt-and-braces football, compared to which Albion seemed to be running around with one hand keeping their trousers up, should, and probably would have won it, but for the feet-first save from Scott Carson which denied Matt Taylor a second goal four minutes from time.

If Albion are relegated for the third time in seven seasons their epitaph should read: “Tried hard, didn’t get better.” Mowbray’s side have struggled to make up in effort what they lack in quality and on Saturday the gap was as wide as ever. Several times in the first 20 minutes Bolton were caught square by passes from midfield, only for the move to break down through a poor first touch or an inability to stay onside.

In Taylor, Bolton had precisely the kind of finisher Albion lacked. Practically all of his shots were on target. In the 67th minute Jonas Olsson met Jussi Jaaskelainen’s huge clearance with a vapid header just beyond the penalty area which Taylor greeted with a crisp half-volley past Carson. At which point Megson left Johan Elmander even more alone up front and concentrated on holding the lead.

A more positive response might have been better. Encouraged to press against retreating opponents, West Bromwich attacked in greater numbers and were rewarded after 82 minutes when Robert Koren’s shot from the right, which was going wide, took a deflection off substitute Danny Shittu, and beat Jaaskelainen inside the far post.

Another draw did Albion little good. “I’d rather gamble to lose a match by trying to win it,” said Mowbray. Albion are rapidly approaching the moment when all bets are off.

Man of the match Matt Taylor (Bolton Wanderers)

West Brom’s wingers put the effort in - but it’s all in vain, with their final balls either directionless or non-existent