Dyer though, who returned to the squad last weekend after injury, believes that it is the home games that will determine their eventual finishing position.

"For the team the next two games won't have a bearing on whether we stay in the league or not," Dyer said.

"I still believe if we can do well in our home games and possibly against Fulham away, if we do well there, I believe we will stay in the league."

"It is a little bit more than 50 against now," Wenger said.

"That means he will be very short for Saturday. We will assess him today. He is starting to run now but we think it would a gamble to play him on Saturday.

"Apart from him, we have an uncertainty with (Bacary) Sagna on his ankle. We also have a problem with Sol Campbell and how he will recover. He finished the Porto game with cramp. They are doubts, not big doubts, but we have to refresh the squad a little so we will see."

"Pundits keep saying - although I don't really listen to them - that we've got to get eight, nine or ten points away from home, and if we don't then we haven't got any chance,'' McCarthy told the Birmingham Mail.

"But we've already beaten Wigan and Tottenham away and drawn at Everton, Stoke and Hull, so there's nine points.

''The reality is, but for a wonder strike at Sunderland, we were cooking on gas there, and but for the sending-off at Liverpool, we were flying there as well.

"So I've got no problem with going away from home."

Wenger is keen to keep the former captain and is confident he will persuade him to extend his contract when he speaks with his representatives next Thursday.

"It's our desire to keep him here," Wenger said.

"I am not concerned. He is under contract until the 30th of June. We have not found an agreement yet. I meet his agents again next Thursday and we will try to find a solution.

"I would like to keep all that secret. I feel I have to respect both parties and not to come out about the details of negotiations."

As his contract is nearing its end Gallas is free to speak to other teams but Wenger has no idea whether the player has held talks with different clubs.

"I do not know if he has spoken to Roma, but he is out of contract and can talk to whom he wants," added the manager.

"William is speaking to us and our desire is to keep him here.

"I think he wants to stay here."

Nigerian-born Moses has represented England at U16, U17 and U19 level, and received his first call-up to tto Pearce's Under-21s for last week's clash against Greece.

But rumours of a fall-out followed when he failed to make the match-day squad and then the reports that he wanted to switch his international allegiance to Nigeria ahead of this summer's World Cup finals.

But the 19-year-old told the Evening Post: "I don't know where some people get their stories from, but that was just rubbish.

"I didn't actually see the paper, but my agent called me up and told me what was written.

"And it really frustrates me when I read stuff about me that is blatantly not true. Because the truth is I didn't say any of it.

"And I don't know where it has come from either.

"I didn't play for the England Under-21s, but I have not fallen out with Stuart or anyone else.

"And if I were to be called up again, I would be happy to report again. There's no problem whatsoever."

Cole's agent is understood to be testing the potential market for his client of he is available on a free transfer and City are ready to beat neighbours Man Utd with a package worth £80,000-a-week.

Tottenham are also interested but Cole is apparently keen to play Champions League football and relocate to the north west with wife Carly Zucker - who is expecting the couple's first child in the next few weeks.

"We won't be taking Burnley lightly by any means," he told the Birmingham Mail.

''We'll go there full of commitment and desire and looking to take three points. "

We played badly there last season but it's not about putting anything right.

It's about the here and now, going up there being solid and taking our chances when we get them."

Clyne, 18, has just over a year left on his contract at Selhurst Park and remains a target for Wolves but rejected a move to Mick McCarthy's side after taking advice from his then manager Neil Warnock.

Villa Park boss Martin O'Neill is also thought to be interested after seeing Clyne shut down Ashley Young in a man-to-man marking job when Palace drew 2-2 with Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Blues boss Alex McLeish said: "I'm really gutted for Stuart. He's felt as good as he has the whole season this past couple of weeks. "

He's had problems with his back and groin and now he's got this bang on the ankle.

I hope he recovers quickly because he's looking back to sharpness."

He told Radio Monte Carlo: "My future? All I hope is to remain in England. For now, I am on loan with an option to purchase from Benfica. We'll see at the end of the season what happens."

However, instead of believing they have hit the big time, Samba is warning that the real hard work is just beginning and told them not to get carried away.

Samba told the Lancashire Telegraph: "We have got a lot of young really promising players in the team but the hardest time comes now. They have to keep on working hard and don't forget that only hard work takes them into playing games.

"They have to stay focused and work hard. They have so much quality and so much promise so they will have to continue.

"Now is the time for the young players to get experience and play more and more games. I hope they can continue in this way and then they can think about other things like international call-ups."

However Samba feels that with the likes of Gael Givet performing well this season and other players waiting in the wings, Nelsen's absence at White Hart Lane will not be a total disaster.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: "Now we have Gael and we have a lot of players who can play as a centre half. For me it is better when we are all here because we can defend very well, especially in the aerial game.

"Yes Ryan is a big loss but we try to continue to play well at the back."

Chainrai only took up the offer of equity in the club because the alternative was to lose the money Portsmouth had borrowed from him.

He told Bloomberg Television: "I don't feel I've lost the money. I feel the money is there, I can see it. If the club is alive my money is alive. "

The main objective is to sell off the club to some consortium or institution or person, who would be able to be responsible enough to stabilise it and run it properly.

"I've heard through my lawyers that they are in conversations with several parties. They are deep into talks that could finalise in the very near future."

He said: "I have been doing a lot of work anyway. "

Five days to a week after I was injured, I could do runs in a straight line.

The only problem was twisting and turning, but I have kept my fitness up - the manager hasn't let me off on that one.

I have been running most days.

"I will probably get stronger with games, but I felt pretty good in this one."

He is on loan from Villarreal but it is unlikely that Hull will be able to come up with a deal to make a move permanent and Altidore says he does not know where he will be next year.

He told the Mail: "I don't know where I see myself next year. There is so much going on that you can't look past it. "

I think England is a great league and would be my preferred choice as this is the best league in the world.

"Spain is very close too and has a lot of things which make it a special league. "

I'd like to get a chance to play in the Villarreal team, but if not we'll see what happens.

"But my personal future can go on hold. I am here to do a job and that is to help keep this team up."