Sport

SOCCER SHORTS

Other soccer stories in brief

Tue Apr 22 2008 - 01:00

Other soccer stories in brief

McGeady takes two players' awards but not the highway

AIDEN McGEADY has assured Celtic fans he has no plans to walk away from Parkhead after scooping two individual awards.

The Republic of Ireland winger (22) was voted both SPL Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year by his fellow professionals at an awards ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday.

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The only other player to have claimed the PFA Scotland double was Shaun Maloney, the Celtic midfielder who went on join Aston Villa. McGeady has no intention of following in Maloney's footsteps just yet: "I'm still contracted here for the next three years," he pointed out. "I'm developing as a player here and I've got the right people around me and I'm playing with the right players."

Owen the goal

NEWCASTLE UNITED chairman Chris Mort is ready to sit down with derby hero Michael Owen and try to tie him down to a new deal.

Owen sent owner Mike Ashley into raptures with a double against arch-rivals Sunderland on Sunday to formally end what at one point not so very long ago had developed into a battle for Premier League survival.

Kevin Keegan was convinced of Owen's ability to lead the club's fight for years to come within weeks of his return to the St James' Park, and while the player himself has so far responded diplomatically to enquiries over his future, Mort made his own feelings public.

"As we have said all along, we are obviously keen for Michael to stay," he said after Sunday's derby triumph.

"He is a fabulous player and he showed that again.

"Now we are looking forward to sitting down with his team and working out an agreement for him to stay at Newcastle United."

In brief....SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON has played down talk of losing his job and said he expected to still be Manchester City's manager next season. Eriksson said "I think I will be sitting here in this chair next season."

Rangers duo Chris Burke (knee) and Steven Naismith (ankle) are expected to miss the Uefa Cup double-header against Fiorentina as well as Sunday's Old Firm derby at Celtic.