Duff in demand

SOCCER:ROY Hodgson has confirmed Fulham are closing in on Damien Duff. Fulham have offered Newcastle around €5 million for the Republic of Ireland winger, who became a regular at Blackburn when Hodgson took over at Ewood Park in 1997.

Hodgson rates Duff highly and the 30-year-old is keen to move back to west London, where he spent three years with Chelsea.

“The clubs are talking and I hope the deal will go through. He’s a player that interests us,” Hodgson said. “Damien and I go back a long way from when we worked together at Blackburn. He wants to come back to west London. Damien had injury problems at Chelsea and has done well at Newcastle given the turmoil there.

“Every time he’s played for Ireland he’s consistently been one of their best performers. We know what we’d be getting with Damien – he’s an experienced and quality player.”