Jones: Cups a different priority

Goalkeeper Brad Jones admits the Capital One Cup has less significance to Liverpool this season than when they won it in February.

However, he insists that does not mean the players who are picked to face West Brom at The Hawthorns on Wednesday night will take it less seriously.



A Wembley win over Cardiff secured the Reds' first trophy for six years but, since the change of management in the summer, the club has been undergoing something of a transition.



That has not been helped by their start to the season, which has seen them take just two points from five matches and leave the club in the bottom three.



Manager Brendan Rodgers is naturally prioritising the league and is giving fringe players and youngsters their chance in both the Europa League and the competition they begin their defence of on Wednesday.



"Every game we want to go out and get results so obviously last year was good for the club to win a trophy and we did well in the cups," said Jones, referring also to Liverpool's run to the FA Cup final.



"This year is maybe a little bit different in terms of where the club wants to go and what we want to do.



"But we want to get results and tick along so it is important for whoever goes out to put on a show and hopefully get a result.



"You might see a few different players playing so it is a chance like it was at Young Boys in the Europa League.



"For us, whoever goes out, it is the same principle - we want to get the same result."



The youngsters gave a good account of themselves in Switzerland last week with a 5-3 win in their first Group A game.



Jones believes the club has enough talent among the up-and-coming prospects to be able to bring a number into the first team.



But he knows they have to prove themselves in senior football first.



"The manager put an inexperienced side against Young Boys, mainly up front, and we scored five goals," he added.



"If that is the case tonight the boys have proved they can do it once, although this may be a different proposition with a British side playing a different style of football to what Young Boys did as they gave us a bit of space.



"The boys who play are definitely going to show the manager that they are capable.



"Going into first team games is a different story but they can only prove that by going and playing.



"It is the only chance the boys are going to get to be really taken seriously.



"These games are perfect and you want a longer cup run so you can play more games and show what you can do, but that is up to us."

Chelsea players lose wallets, phone and watches

Chelsea have suffered another security breach at their Cobham training base after the club confirmed players' wallets, mobile phones and watches were stolen earlier this month.

The European champions announced police had been informed after it emerged some of their academy players had possessions stolen from their dressing room.

It is understood that six wallets, nine mobile phones and several watches were among the items that were stolen.

A Chelsea spokesman said: "A number of personal items were recently stolen from the academy dressing room area.

"The matter is currently being investigated by the police.

"CCTV footage is being handed to them and confirms the thefts were carried out by a lone intruder not connected with the training ground site.



"Other local premises near to the training ground were targeted that day and may be connected. Nobody at Chelsea FC is under suspicion."

The theft is the latest incident at Chelsea's training ground to hit the headlines in the last year.

A knife was found in their academy dressing room earlier this year with the club claiming it had been mislaid by a workman.

Academy player Jacob Mellis also left the club after letting off a smoke bomb at the training ground.

Frimpong set for bench role

Emmanuel Frimpong is in line for an early return to Arsenal duty after recovering from the serious knee injury he sustained while on loan at Wolves last season.

The 20-year-old midfielder suffered cruciate ligament damage in February but is eager to make up for lost time and should face Coventry in Wednesday night's Capital One Cup tie at the Emirates Stadium.



Manager Arsene Wenger will field a host of youngsters and fringe players against the Sky Blues, and at some stage Frimpong is set to be a part of the Gunners side.



Wenger is delighted to have the youngster back in first-team contention, and compared Frimpong's determination to that shown by Jack Wilshere, who has been out of action due to injury for the last 17 months.



The Frenchman said: "It is a big moment because he has suffered for a long time and has worked extremely hard, like Jack.



"He will be back for the first time on the bench. Ideally we should have waited a bit longer to include him again, but once you're back, you want so much a chance to be involved, so I want to give him a chance to be involved at least."



Wenger added: "Physically, Emmanuel has never been as fit as he is now. That should come out in the next two months.



"You need some competitions and certainly he will be involved when we play at West Brom with the reserves, so that will be a game for him.



"He is ready to have a go, is a competitive boy and a fighter. Of course this type of player always wants to be involved."



Andrey Arshavin will also have the chance to impress. The 31-year-old Russian forward has made only one substitute appearance this season, having returned from a loan spell at his former club Zenit St Petersburg.



It was anticipated Arshavin, signed in January 2009 for £15million, would rejoin his old team on a permanent move during the last transfer window, only for the proposed switch to fall through.



Wenger said: "I have personally a great respect for Andrey Arshavin because sometimes some wrong ideas circulated about him - that he doesn't care - but it's completely the opposite.



"He is a 200 per cent professional who works every day very hard in training.



"At the moment he is a victim of the high level of competition that exists for places.



"I think he has a huge respect from everybody in the dressing room, and especially from the staff. We will give him of course some competition on Wednesday night."

Ribeiro denies making Ganso claim

Santos president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro has denied saying Brazil midfielder Ganso has injury problems that he will never overcome.

Santos recently sold Ganso to Sao Paulo but the player has been struggling for some time with a thigh problem.



Ribeiro was recently quoted as telling the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper: "The people at Sao Paulo will have to pay close attention to the player. In my opinion, he will never fully recover from his thigh injury. His departure was the best solution. I wish him the best of luck, but I think he will find it hard to continue playing."



The Santos president has now issued a statement to categorically deny making those comments.



"I would like to make absolutely clear that at no time did I state that the injury of the player Paulo Henrique Ganso is permanent," he said. "If I did not believe he would make a full recovery, I would not have tried to renew his Santos contract on three occasions.



"We wish the player all the luck in the world with his future career and thank him for what he did for us during his time at Santos."

Five in a row for Bayern

A review of Tuesday night's action in the German Bundesliga, including a win for Bayern Munich and a draw for Dortmund.



Bayern Munich maintained their 100 per cent Bundesliga record with a 3-0 home victory over Wolfsburg, while Borussia Dortmund's stuttering start to their title defence continued with a 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.



Bastian Schweinsteiger set the Bavarians on their way at the Allianz Arena in the 24th minute before a second-half brace from Mario Mandzukic made the points safe.



The result saw Bayern open up a seven-point cushion over Dortmund, the Westphalians having to settle for a point after relinquishing 2-0 and 3-1 leads in Frankfurt.



First-half goals from Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus looked to have put the visitors in control at half-time, but Stefan Aigner and Takashi Inui netted to get the promoted hosts back on level terms within six minutes of the restart.



And, although substitute Mario Gotze struck to re-establish Dortmund's advantage in the 54th minute, they were pegged back again by an Anderson equaliser 17 minutes from time.



The draw allowed both Schalke and Fortuna Dusseldorf to leapfrog Dortmund in the standings, with respective victories over Mainz and Greuther Furth.



Jefferson Farfan's first-half penalty put Schalke in the ascendancy against Mainz and further strikes after the interval from Lewis Holtby and substitute Teemu Pukki sealed a 3-0 win and lifted the Royal Blues to third.



Oliver Fink and Ken Ilso, meanwhile, were on target as Dusseldorf emerged 2-0 winners - and maintained their record of having not conceded in the league this season - against fellow top-flight newcomers Furth to climb to fourth.

The top stories from papers and websites - 25 September 2012

• England manager Roy Hodgson has not spoken to Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand since he was left out of England's Euro 2012 squad for "football reasons" and remains reluctant to call him up despite John Terry's shock retirement from international football.


• Theo Walcott is desperate to stay at Arsenal and sign a new contract.


• Meanwhile, the Gunners are trailing AGF Aarhus striker Aron Johannsson, 21, after the Icelander netted 10 goals in his last four games.

• Rio Ferdinand is ready to replace race-row John Terry in the England set-up.


• Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna, 29, is a target for Inter Milan if contract talks with the Gunners do not go well between now and next summer.


• Steven Gerrard claims Luis Suarez is being targeted by referees because they think he is a diver.


• Fulham are set to revive their interest in Atletico Madrid midfielder Raul Garcia in January.

• Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has branded Antonio Valencia a "cheat" after he won a penalty for Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.


• Rio Ferdinand believes he is the right man to replace John Terry in the England team.


• Charlton are set to sign Fulham defender Matthew Briggs on a month's loan.


• Bristol City are ready to sign former Auxerre winger Omar Kossoko, 24, after he impressed in trials.


• Mark Noble has handed West Ham a boost by signing a new £35,000-a-week, three-year deal, with the option of a two further years.

• England boss Roy Hodgson has not ruled out a return for the retired John Terry - even if he is found guilty by the FA of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.


• Wayne Rooney has an outside chance of making the substitutes' bench for the League Cup match against Newcastle on Wednesday after the striker recovered from a badly gashed leg.


• Thomas Hitzlsperger has started a two-week trial at Everton in the hope of securing a permanent deal. Boss David Moyes has been monitoring the former West Ham midfielder.


• Sweden international John Guidetti will end speculation over his future at Manchester City by signing a new deal with the club after both parties agreed terms. He had been linked with a move to QPR.

• Rio Ferdinand is open to the prospect of playing for England again but has yet to be contacted by manager Roy Hodgson in the wake of John Terry's international retirement.


• Huddersfield manager Simon Grayson admits he may splash the cash to sign James Vaughan permanently in January after the on-loan striker helped the Terriers to a 3-1 victory at Blackpool to go second in the Championship.

• Blackburn have made former striker Alan Shearer, 42, as their leading candidate to replace current manager Steve Kean - if the Scot is sacked.

• Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is open to a return to the England team following John Terry's decision to retire from international football.

• Chelsea star Eden Hazard has revealed he came close to joining Tottenham in the summer but was put off at the last minute by their failure to qualify for the Champions League.

John Terry attends racism hearing

John Terry came face to face with Anton Ferdinand on Monday at his disciplinary hearing over allegations he racially abused the QPR man.



Ferdinand gave his testimony to the independent panel at the hearing at Wembley Stadium, with Chelsea skipper Terry in attendance to hear the evidence against him.



After the hearing was under way, England manager Roy Hodgson released a statement expressing dismay at Terry's decision to quit international football, while the FA denied the 31-year-old's claim that it was "untenable" for him to play for England any more when the association were pursuing charges against him.



Ferdinand was at Wembley all morning, leaving just before midday, while Terry remained at the hearing until mid-afternoon. Terry is expected back on Tuesday and the case could last most of the week.



Terry announced his international retirement on Sunday night on the eve of the hearing and Hodgson said he was sorry to lose the services of the defender - one of his best players at Euro 2012.



Only last month Hodgson said he would pick Terry again if he only received a short ban and those close to the defender say the England manager tried to talk him out of the decision to quit.



Hodgson said in a statement: "I'd like to thank John Terry for his commitment to the England team since I became manager.



"I am of course disappointed to lose a player of John's international experience and exceptional ability.



"I have enjoyed a good relationship with John during my time as England manager and I reluctantly accept his decision.



"I can also confirm that he had the courtesy to call me prior to announcement his retirement from the England team.



"I'd like to wish John well for the future with Chelsea."



Terry effectively accused the FA of forcing his hand after they pursued charges despite him being cleared in court of a racially-aggravated public order offence over the same incident last October.



FA general secretary Alex Horne denied this, however, telling Sky Sports News: "I don't see how we've made it untenable - they're two very separate processes.



"It's something that happened in a match between QPR and Chelsea - it shouldn't be taking a year to resolve but we feel we're reaching a conclusion on that.



"That's a very different process, from my perspective, from our England procedures.



"They sit in different compartments and I could separate the two in my mind.



"But, unfortunately it doesn't look like he could."



A similar hearing involving Liverpool's Luis Suarez took four days and led to the Liverpool striker being banned for eight matches.



Terry could face a similarly lengthy ban if found guilty by the FA of using racist language during Chelsea's Barclays Premier League defeat at QPR on October 23 last year - a charge he categorically denies.



The 31-year-old was found not guilty in court in July, with the prosecution unable to prove he had called Ferdinand a "f****** black c***" as an insult.



Terry admitted using the words, but insisted he had only been repeating words he thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying.



Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole testified for Terry in court but it is not known whether he will do so in the FA hearing. It is understood Cole has no plans to follow Terry into international retirement in a show of solidarity.



The FA also thanked Terry today for his England service. A statement said: "Following his announcement that he is retiring from the England team, The FA would like to thank John Terry for all of his efforts with the national team over the past decade.



"During his 78 appearances John has always given his full commitment to the team."



Meanwhile, former Chelsea manager Avram Grant has criticised the FA for taking the action against Terry, and was surprised by his decision to quit England.



He told BBC Radio Five: "Nobody thinks that John Terry is a racist so the FA need to leave it.



"John likes to fight and he's very passionate about the national team so I was surprised.



"But he's not a child. He knows what he's doing. One thing I must say about JT is that he's not a racist - that's for sure. He's a good man."