Soccer Shorts

Terry charged:England captain John Terry has been charged with improper conduct and his Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho warned over remarks about referee Graham Poll following the Premiership champions' defeat at Tottenham on November 5th.

The English FA have come out firmly on Poll's side and have also formally cleared the match official of allegations he said to Chelsea players the club "needed to be taught a lesson".

Terry is likely to face a fine, rather than be suspended, if found guilty while Mourinho has been sent a letter reminding him of his responsibilities.

Henry doubtful

Arsenal's wretched week took a further worrying turn yesterday when Arsene Wenger declared Thierry Henry was a doubt for tomorrow's derby at home to Tottenham. The captain has aggravated the neck injury that kept him out of Saturday's away defeat at Bolton, reports Jon Brodkin

Henry returned to face Fulham on Wednesday but was in pain afterwards and Wenger said: "Thierry has to be assessed and we will make a decision on him tomorrow. It is a problem with his sciatic nerve."

The loss of Henry would be a significant blow to Arsenal, who are looking to beat Tottenham to stabilise their season and lift confidence before the Champions League match at Porto. They need to draw against the Portuguese club to be guaranteed a place in the first knockout round, with the suspended Henry unable to play.

Crespo strikes back

Inter Milan hitman Hernan Crespo has taken a swipe at his former club Chelsea, insisting he does not understand why any striker would move there. The Argentina marksman signed for the Stamford Bridge club in the summer of 2003 for £16.8 million from Inter, but failed to settle in the capital.

"I had a very unhappy experience at Chelsea. The adventure at first was very exciting but then things changed," Crespo said. "Now it is hard to see why a striker who is happy in Italy would go there. The Premiership is a good League, but my family are much happier in Italy and we would prefer to stay here now."

Newcastle deal

The Belgravia Group remains keen on a deal for Newcastle and would like to be in control for the transfer window. The Jersey-based group was expected to launch a £235m takeover earlier this month that failed to materialise.

But a spokesman said; "We are still in talks which may or may not lead to a deal but from our perspective we are still very keen to do a deal. The transfer window is approaching and I think from both parties' perspective that is something to focus the minds."

Hargreaves still out

Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves will not play again before the end of the year.

The England international, who suffered a broken left fibula in September, had hoped to be back in action within six weeks but the injury has proved more difficult than expected to overcome.

"It's better if I don't play again in 2006," said Hargreaves. ""The first half of the season is now over."

Bellamy returns

Rafael Benitez is likely to throw Craig Bellamy straight back into action to allow the Welshman to get his court room ordeal out of his mind. Benitez claims Bellamy has been unable to sleep because of the strain of the hearing. But the Wales international will be back in full training for the final two days of this week after being able to do some fitness work using Cardiff's facilities.

Benitez has confirmed that the 27-year-old will be in the squad at Wigan tomorrow.