A round up of today's other stories in brief.
Giggs out for six weeks
Ryan Giggs will be sidelined for at least six weeks after being forced to undergo surgery on a fractured cheekbone. After an initial examination following Tuesday's Champions League encounter with Lille, it was decided the Wales skipper needed an operation on the injury he sustained in a second-half challenge with former Arsenal defender Stathis Tavlaridis.
Although there has been no public confirmation from the Old Trafford camp over the timescale for Giggs' recovery, Alex Ferguson is not expecting him back for six weeks, at the earliest.
It would rule the 31-year-old out of a crucial period of the campaign, with the vital encounter with league leaders Chelsea on November 6th among the six Premiership games Giggs would miss, plus the remainder of the Champions League group games.
Earlier this week, Ferguson admitted neither skipper Roy Keane nor utility man Quinton Fortune were anywhere near recovering from a broken foot and knee injury respectively, while Gary Neville is two weeks away from a return after he damaged a groin in the qualifying tie against Debrecen in August.
"Six-pointer" at the RSC
Having won two of their last three league games, Waterford United look to maintain the revival at the RSC this evening when fellow strugglers St Patrick's Athletic come to town for what might well be termed a "six-pointer", reports Emmet Malone.
Brendan Rea, who is without just one player, Sean Finn, for the game, has managed to generate a new sense of confidence among the United players that they can dig themselves out of trouble during what remains of the season, and they will be looking this evening for a repeat of the win they managed when the two sides met back in April.
The Dubliners, who are without a win in nearly three months, travel without injured pair Colm Foley and Chris Armstrong, while there are also doubts about Alan Reilly's fitness.
Bolton take away point
Jared Borgetti is an icon in Mexico - now he is carving his name with pride at Bolton. The European rookies secured a point in the 1-1 draw with Besiktas in the Uefa Cup group stage last night thanks to a goal from the man who left his homeland in the summer to pursue a career in England.
Borgetti has struggled to break into the league team but his equaliser against Besiktas was of the highest order.
Bolton played with no little spirit or style in their Group H game after going a goal down in the seventh minute. Tal Ben Haim put Joey O'Brien under pressure with a bad ball and he lost possession to Tumer Metin. He immediately released Ailton and the Brazilian thumped an unstoppable shot into the corner beyond goalkeeper Ian Walker.
Bolton drew level in the 29th minute following a clinical finish from Borgetti. He got on the end of a good cross from El-Hadji Diouf for his second goal for the club.
Hasselbaink strikes
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink ensured a winning 1-0 start to Middlesbrough's Uefa Cup Group D campaign with his first goal of the season despite a resilient fightback by Grasshoppers.
The Dutchman fired the Teessiders ahead with just 10 minutes gone, and had Szilard Nemeth taken advantage of two golden opportunities to make it 2-0 before the break, the result would not have been in any doubt by the time the half-time whistle sounded.
However, he did not and the home side - who had an equaliser harshly ruled out for offside - dominated the second 45 minutes to such an extent they will feel unfortunate to have lost.
Ireland agrees terms
Stephen Ireland has verbally agreed a new two-year deal with Manchester City. The 18-year-old midfielder has recently broken into the Blues starting line-up and made his fifth appearance of the season in Sunday's 2-1 win over West Ham.
The Cork-born player is a product of the City academy which has also spawned the likes of Nedum Onuoha, Lee Croft and Bradley Wright-Phillips, all current members of Stuart Pearce's Premiership squad.
In Brief . . .
Real Madrid forward Julio Baptista will be out of action for up to five weeks after injuring his knee in Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League victory over Rosenborg.
Carlo Cudicini is ready to extend his contract at Chelsea until 2009 despite receiving only limited opportunities at Stamford Bridge. The 32-year-old goalkeeper made only his second appearance of the season on Wednesday in Chelsea's 4-0 Champions League win over Real Betis and is likely to be back on the bench for this weekend's Premiership trip to Everton.
