FA PREMIERSHIP:Roy Keane last night launched an appeal against two English FA charges relating to his challenge on Alf-Inge Haaland at Old Trafford last year. The Manchester United captain is accused of setting out to injure the Norwegian and profiting from revelations about the incident in his book.
The FA charged Keane on September 4th and gave him 14 days to appeal. That deadline expired on Wednesday but the midfielder was given a 48-hour extension.
Michael Owen will return to the Liverpool side against West Bromwich Albion this afternoon with his manager convinced he has shrugged off his sluggish form and fitness problems.
The England striker was left on the bench for Liverpool's past two games after Gerard Houllier insisted his game lacked "a split second of sharpness", a legacy of the 22-year-old returning from the World Cup with a hamstring injury.
While Owen - who boasts a solitary club goal from open play since April, a sequence of 10 games -- played the second half of the midweek defeat in Valencia, the break has seemingly had the desired effect.
"Since he's had that rest he's looked much sharper," said Houllier. "When I came here four years ago I was struck by the weaker points to his game, but everything has changed. I always believed in him; he knows that."
Houllier will be further encouraged to have Steven Gerrard available for back-to-back fixtures. The midfielder struggled last season with groin injuries and rarely played two games in a row.
Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy faces a Champions League ban after UEFA viewed video evidence of his clash with Dynamo Kiev defender Tiberiu Ghioane. The Welshman appeared to head-butt Ghioane during his side's defeat in Ukraine on Wednesday.
Italy legend Franco Baresi has returned to Milan as youth team coach. The 42-year-old quit as director of football at Fulham last month.
- Guardian Service
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