Other soccer news in brief

Injury problems mount for Mowbray

CELTIC MANAGER Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney will both be out for another two months.

Brown had an operation on an ankle injury in the summer which failed to clear the problem and, after being out for the last five weeks, he will have further surgery in Amsterdam next week.

Maloney has had a course of injections to cure tendinitis in his Achilles injury which has kept him sidelined for a month and he has been advised to rest.

To add to Mowbray's woes, Landry N'Guemo is off to represent Cameroon in the African Nations Cup in January while China captain Zheng Zhi will be missing for an Asian Cup qualifier during the same period.

Help is arriving this week in the shape of midfielder Ki Sung-Yong, the South Korea midfielder who is set to seal a move to the Hoops - for a reported fee of €2.2 million - from FC Seoul.

City to appeal over stars' absence

MANCHESTER CITY are to appeal to the Ivory Coast and Togo for special dispensation to reduce the threat of losing their captain, Kolo Toure, and leading scorer, Emmanuel Adebayor, for up to nine games to African Cup of Nations duty in the middle of the season.

The tournament starts in Angola is on January 10th but City's concerns have been exacerbated by Fifa's confirmation that the countries involved can call up players to prepare for the event two weeks in advance. That would mean City losing Toure and Adebayor on December 27th and not seeing them again until the start of February if either nation go all the way to the final on January 31st.

"It's a possibility we could lose two of our players for a long time-span," said Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.

Cork's Long signs for Burnley

BURNLEY HAVE have agreed a deal for Cork City's teenage defender Kevin Long. The 19-year-old will arrive at Turf Moor permanently in January after signing a three-and-a-half year deal with the English Premier League club shelling out a six-figure fee.

"He is a young, aggressive and quick left-sided centre-back who is hungry to keep improving and will go straight into our first-team squad when he joins us," said Burnley manager Owen Coyle.

SUNDERLAND chairman Niall Quinn believes his club now have respect from the likes of Cesc Fabregas following their start to the season under Steve Bruce. Sunderland defeated Arsenal last Saturday and Quinn feels Fabregas will hold his clubin high regard.

"We played a strong game but full of passion and heart," Quinn said. "People like Cesc Fabregas will remember Sunderland and respect the way we play because Lorik Cana gave him a tough game and Cesc has walked through teams this year with the way he has played."

Domenech should have gone after 2008 - Jacquet

FRANCE SHOULD have changed their coach after their Euro 2008 flop instead of leaving Raymond Domenech in charge, former France coach Aime Jacquet was quoted as saying yesterday. Domenech, who was appointed in 2004 and has been under fire since France exited Euro 2008 in the group stage, has faced even more criticism since France's controversial World Cup play-off win over Ireland.

"Four years, that's enough," Jacquet, who was in place from 1994 to 1998 and guided France to their World Cup triumph on home soil in his final year, told France Football magazine.

"After that, it's too tough, there are too many factors that stop you from working correctly," Jacquet added. "That's what I blame (French Football Federation) FFF for. They didn't understand the real nature of a coach's work and should have protected him, whatever he wished. It's a job you can only do for four years because you face so much exposure. Therefore, you see what I mean, after Euro 2008 . . . "

Jacquet, who said Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland which set up the decisive goal was "reprehensible" but he could understand the player, said Domenech should stay in charge now that France had qualified for the World Cup but should accept a debate over the way his team played. "If he qualifies the team, he must stay on," he added. "But that does not stop us from talking about the team's playing style or, rather, the lack of it."

Smith includes Bougherra in squad

WALTER SMITH has held clear-the-air talks with Madjid Bougherra and says the defender could be in contention to make his first Rangers appearance in two months at Aberdeen today.

Bougherra was left on the bench for the midweek Champions League defeat to Stuttgart after returning late from international duty for the third time this season.

His behaviour was criticised by his own team-mates, who accused him of a lack of respect, but Smith was keen to move on from the situation.

"That's all cleared up," he said of the Premier League trip to Pittodrie.

"He is back in the squad for tomorrow's game and he was in the squad for the game against Stuttgart the other night."

Bougherra put previous indiscretions down to his daughter having a kidney infection and then having his possessions, including his passport, stolen.

Hangeland signs new Fulham deal

FULHAM CENTRE-BACK Brede Hangeland has ended speculation about a January move from Craven Cottage by signing a new thee-and-a-half-year contract.

Norway captain Hangeland has become one of the league's most coveted defenders since his arrival from FC Copenhagen last year, with Arsenal the club most frequently linked with him.

But the 28-year-old has now committed himself to the club until the summer of 2013.