Captain Mario Melchiot has been praised by manager Roberto Martinez for looking to play through the pain. Despite breaking his nose against Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, Melchiot will take his place in the side for the weekend FA Cup match against Notts County wearing a protective mask. Martinez said "Mario is setting the right example as skipper of the club. It will take a lot more than that to keep him away from the pitch. It is a straight fracture, it hasn't stopped him training, and he will play with a mask. He should be fine, which is great news."

 

Wigan Athletic are one of several clubs being linked with a move to bring Manchester City’s Vladimir Weiss on loan for the rest of the season. The 20 year-old Slovakian midfielder is likely to be loaned out by City after new boss Roberto Manchini indicated that he wanted the player to obtain more first team experience, something that he is unlikely to obtain at Eastlands during the current campaign.

Daniel de Ridder could be a Hapoel Tel-Aviv player, albeit only on loan, in the not to distant future. The 25 year-old has not played regularly under Martinez and is seeking first team football. De Ridder said "Hapoel Tel Aviv are in second place behind Maccabi Haifa and still involved in the Europa League. They finished first from a group with big teams likes Hamburg, Celtic and Rapid Vienna. Now they play Rubin Kazan and have a chance to make further progress."