Soccer Shorts

A roundup of today's other stories in brief.

Duff nearing fitness

Damien Duff hopes to be involved in Newcastle United's Premiership game with Aston Villa next week. The Dubliner has seen just 20 minutes of first-team action after a knee operation in November.

"I'm back in training now, so touch wood, it will stay that way and I'll stay injury free for the rest of the season," Duff told Sky Sports. "It's been a hard time, but I'm just glad to be back training and it would be great to be involved next Wednesday."

Bad choice Ballack

Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer has said Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack would have been better off moving to Manchester United.

"I simply can't see any position for Ballack at Chelsea," Beckenbauer said. "As everyone can see, the game mostly passes him by. Frank Lampard is too good and takes his position. He (Ballack) would have been in good hands at Manchester United."

Close call for Uefa

Both candidates in today's elections for the Uefa presidency claim they have enough support to win the contest.

Lennart Johansson's backers insist 36 of the 52 associations have committed to the 77-year-old Swede. But those close to challenger Michel Platini claim a majority of the votes have been promised to the 51-year-old former French midfielder.

Johansson generally has support among the bigger countries but in this election a smaller nation's vote carries as much weight as the likes of Italy and Germany.

Johansson's age is a factor for some associations - particularly as Uefa have a rule stating committee members must now retire once they reach 70.

Davies moves on

Fulham manager Chris Coleman has signed Simon Davies from Everton on a three-and-a-half-year deal to bolster his depleted midfield.

Injuries and departures have forced Coleman to field defenders Moritz Volz and Carlos Bocanegra higher up the pitch, but he has used the current transfer window to address the problem.

Former Chelsea midfielder Alexei Smertin, who played last year for Dynamo Moscow, has claimed he is about to join Fulham.

Sheffield secure duo Sheffield United have completed the signings of Ahmed Fathi and Luton Shelton after both players received international clearance.

United agreed the transfers last week with Egypt midfielder Fathi, 22, arriving for £700,000 from Ismaily and 21-year-old Jamaica striker Shelton costing £1.85 million from Helsingborg.

Hasselbaink fined

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has been fined £5,000 by the English FA after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute over claims made in his autobiography about former club Chelsea.

The Dutchman accused the Stamford Bridge club of making illegal payments to players in his book, which was also serialised in a national newspaper.

In brief . . .

Liverpool have signed 18-year-old Dutch striker Jordy Brouwer from Ajax . . . Middlesbrough have terminated the contract of Ray Parlour by mutual consent

. . . Former Everton defender Michael Ball (27) is having a week-long trial at Manchester City . . . Everton forward James McFadden has broken a bone in his foot while training yesterday . . . World Cup-winning striker Alessandro Del Piero (32) has revealed he could have joined Manchester United from his club Juventus in the summer.