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West Bromwich Albion defender Marek Cech will quit the club if he does not get the first-team football he craves.

The 28-year-old has lost his place in the side to Nicky Shorey since Roy Hodgson replaced Roberto Di Matteo as manager in February.

The Slovakia international is still at The Hawthorns after Albion exercised an option to keep him for another 12 months during the summer.

Cech, who threw his shirt into the crowd after making a rare appearance during the midweek Carling Cup win at Bournemouth, just wants to play first-team football.

Despite his frustrations he is adamant his spell with the Baggies has been beneficial.

“No player is happy to sit on the bench,” Cech said.

“I’ve one year left of my contract at West Brom and, if I get the right opportunity to change clubs during that time, then I will.

“But, if not, I will be professional and fight hard for a place in the team.

“Every league I’ve played in has given me a lot as a professional – at Porto, Inter Bratislava and Sparta Prague.

“West Brom is another good experience in my life and career.”

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I’ve chosen a standard 4-4-2 formation.

GK: Edwin Van Der Sar (Manchester United)
He might be forty, but it never showed.  The Dutchman was above everything Wigan had to throw at him.

RB: Nicky Shorey (West Brom)
A good performance by the full back, helped ensured they kept liverpool at bay and achieve a great result.

CB: Chris Smalling (Manchester United)
A shaky start, but the youngster soon found his footing and provided another reliable performance.

CB: Richard Dunne (Aston Villa)
Another strong centre-back, helped keep the villa backline in control and on the road to victory.

LB: Leighton Baines (Everton)
Helped keep Sunderland out and held steady when tested.

RM: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Why he isnt an England regular I will never know, fast and powerful all game. Well taken penalty and great second goal.

CM: Scott Parker (West Ham)
A trooper for West Ham, despite the injury he played supurbly and kept encouraging the team forward.

CM: Jamie O’Hara (Wolverhampton)
The combative midfielder fought hard to give wolves a well deserved victory and managed to grab a goal.

LM: Nani (Manchester United)
Every part of his play screams ronaldo, and could eventually become better than him.  Unluckly this time not to get on the score sheet but made some lovely assists.

FW: Jermaine Beckford (Everton)
Everton’s hero, grabbing two great goals and giving the team a well needed victory.

FW: Javier Hernandez (Manchester United)
Use him as a starter, use him as a substitute, it doesnt matter he’ll score anyway, and always in style.

Substitutes:

Brad Friedel (Aston Villa)
The Villa veteran did well to keep Blackburn out, and by the time they scored, the game was well over.
Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Kept Liverpool searching for ways to break through the entire game.
Cheik Tiote (Newcastle)
The midfielder fought hard to keep the Newcastle midfield organised.
Robert Pires (Aston Villa)
The frenchman has lost none of his class from his time at Arsenal.  Great to see him back in the premier league.
Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa)
The winger was excellent going forward, and with Young on the opposite wing, the team were hard to stop.
Louis Saha (Everton)
The former Man United striker is almost back to his best.  Always a threat when the ball is around him.
Sylvain Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton)
The striker came on to cap off an excellent game for Wolves. A great performance.

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West Brom defender Nicky Shorey is hoping the arrival of Roy Hodgson at West Bromwich Albion will resurrect his career.

The 29-year-old defender struggled to hold down a first-team position under former boss Roberto Di Matteo since making a costly error against Wigan.

He told the Birmingham Mail:  ”No-one came to see me, I went to ask the questions and that was a bit disappointing when you’re a senior pro.

“You’d like someone to talk to you, that’s all you’re asking for. It is always disappointing when you’re not playing. I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of it.

“That’s football and it has happened to me before and it might happen again. It’s just nice to get back into the team now. I’ve got a couple of games under my belt and there was a bit of hard work for me on Saturday.

“Hopefully now I’ll get the opportunity. That’s the second game under my belt and it was a bit of a slog in the end but I’m getting there,” he added.

“But hopefully another couple of games and I’ll be back in my stride again. It’s always disappointing when a manager gets the sack because no-one wants to see that.

“But the lads are looking forward to a new challenge and hopefully he (Hodgson) can come in and give us the help we need.”

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West Brom have announced their final 25-man squad that they hope will secure Premier League survival this season.

Top flight sides have to submit their squad list by 5pm on Wednesday under new rules brought in by the league for the new campaign.

Manager Roberto Di Matteo has 11 ‘home grown’ players in their ranks, three more than the minimum requirement of eight.

The Italian can also call on the likes of Chris Wood, Joe Mattock, Sam Mantom and George Thorne, who are not listed but are eligible to play as they under the age of 21.

The only players over the 21-year-old threshold are keeper Luke Daniels – ruled out for the season due to injury – and striker Luke Moore.

Di Matteo can tinker with his squad again in January once the transfer window reopens for business again.

West Brom’s 25-man squad: Scott Carson, Boaz Myhill, Dean Kieley, Giles Barnes, Roman Bednar, Chris Brunt, Marek Cech, Simon Cox, Graham Dorrans, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Pablo Ibanez, Gonzalo Jara, Abdoulaye Meite, Ishmael Miller, James Morrison, Youssouf Mulumbu, Peter Odemwingie, Jonas Olsson, Steven Reid, Paul Scharner, Nicky Shorey, Gabriel Tamas, Somen Tchoyi, Jerome Thomas, Gianni Zuiverloon. (Sky Sports)

Baggies fans will have been pleased with way their side have bounced back from their 6-0 opening draw drubbing at Stamford Bridge to claim a win against Sunderland before battling at Anfield before falling to a second half Fernando Torres strike.

The abundance of home grown talent in their Hawthorns squad is also a reason to be optimistic and Di Matteo will hope that his young side can battle to keep themselves above the relegation zone.

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Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill has confirmed that left-back Nicky Shorey is on the brink of joining West Midlands rivals West Brom.

Skysports.com revealed on Friday that talks were under way and O’Neill has now confirmed that a fee has been agreed between the two clubs.

Shorey spent the majority of last season on loan at Nottingham Forest and Fulham after finding first-team opportunities limited at Villa Park.

Stephen Warnock has made the left-back spot his own for the Villans in recent times, and O’Neill, while admitting the deal is not “done and dusted”, expects the 29-year-old to complete a medical over the weekend.

“Nicky has gone over there for a medical,” O’Neill said.

“I would have liked to have filled you in to let you know if that had progressed at this minute but I do know he was going for a medical.

“I know some fee had been agreed but like anything else until it’s all done and dusted these days you never know.

“It seemed that everything was in place at the time.” (Sky Sports)

Nicky Shorey’s career has really stuttered at Villa Park and it’s no surprise the former England man is finally set to leave Aston Villa. After a few mistakes in his first few games the former Reading man found himself stuck on the bench behind a number of alternatives.

After just 22 starts in two years at the club it appears a deal worth around £3m has been agreed between the two clubs and Shorey will hope to get his career back on track and will hope to be a first team regular at the Hawthorns as Roberto Di Matteo looks to keep the Baggies above the drop zone.

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Fulham have completed the loan signing of Nicky Shorey from Premier League rivals Aston Villa.

As exclusively revealed by skysports.comover the weekend, Fulham have moved to bring Shorey on loan until the end of the season.

Shorey has only recently returned to Villa after a successful loan spell at Nottingham Forest,but he has quickly left Villa Park for a switch to Craven Cottage.

Fulham targeted Shorey after losing regular left-back Paul Konchesky to injury earlier this month.

Shorey is expected to go straight into the Fulham squad for next weekend’s game at Bolton and is the club’s second signing of the transfer window following the arrival of Stefano Okaka from Roma. (Sky Sports)

Things have gone rather pear shaped for Nicky Shorey at Aston Villa and a move to Fulham could be just what the left back needs in order get his career back on track. Martin O’Neill purchase the impressive former Reading man when he was at his peak and was a regular in the England set-up but then for some reason the Villa boss decided that he didn’t actually rate the full back very highly after all and then began a season and a half of stops and starts which led the 29 year old to make a loan move to Nottingham Forest which went very well indeed.

Roy Hodgson has done well to bring in such a talented defender to replace Paul Konchesky and should Shorey do well he could well find the loan deal turning into a permanent one and who knows perhaps if he really shines at Craven Cottage maybe he could be a dark horse for a last minute inclusion to England’s World Cup squad? Stranger things have happened.

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Sky Sports sources understand Portsmouth are close to signing Aston Villa full-back Nicky Shorey on a season-long loan deal. (Sky Sports)

Things have never quite worked out for Nicky Shorey at Villa Park. He was the talk of the town when he was working his magic at Reading and when the time came for his big move it looked like the world was at his feet. He was in the England set up and his career was about to take a step upwards, but then it all went a bit pear shaped.

He was inconsistent when Martin O’Neill played him and the ability he had at the Madejski to combine attacking flair and defensive solidity was lost and he found himself in and out of the team and no longer part of Fabio Capello’s plans. With the arrival of Blackburn Rovers man Stephen Warnock it appeared pretty clear that Shorey would have to look elsewhere.

A loan move to Fratton Park is a good one for all parties and will hopefully help to rebuild the former Leyton Orient mans confidence.

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Aston Villa are weighing up a £7million move for Blackburn Rovers defender Stephen Warnock.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill has already splashed out on Stewart Downing and Habib Beye and wants owner Randy Lerner to finance a move for a centre-half and left-back.

But the American may want squad players like Nicky Shorey, Nigel Reo-Coker and Luke Young sold before any moves are made. (Mail on Sunday)

Martin O’Neill brought in some good signings thus far this summer but then saw his side lose at home to Wigan the opening day of the season which therefore must have set alarm bells ringing in the Villa boss’s head.

Stephen Warnock is a top notch left back but Aston Villa already have a number of options in that position although it appears that O’Neill has run out of patience with Nicky Shorey if indeed the speculation linking the manager with Warnock is accurate.

The former Liverpool man may feel a move to Villa may aid his chances of getting a chance at cracking the England set-up but Sam Allardyce will be loathed to lose the 27 year old.

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The Rumour

Aston Villa are reported to be lining up a £15million double swoop on Tottenham for Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill is ready to offer £10million for Jenas as he tries to replace Gareth Barry, while right-back Hutton is also a target with reports claiming a £5million offer will be made.

Spurs chief Harry Redknapp is looking to generate his own transfer funds and could be willing to do business although he is still keen on a couple of Villa players and may try and line up a swap deal.

Redknapp has been linked with John Carew and Ashley Young all summer but O’Neill is unwilling to cash in on two of his star players and just wants a straight cash deal for Jenas and Hutton.

The Source: (Clubcall)

The Analysis

Martin O’Neill saw his Villa side over achieve for the best part of half of last season and whilst some may consider their failure to break the top four something of a choking exercise by the midlands exercise, it is probably fairer to deem the club to have actually come a long way by finishing sixth and qualifying for the Europa League.

Having lost Gareth Barry and quite possibly set to let Ashley Young leave, why else buy Stewart Downing, now the club is looking to appease it’s fans by bringing in some talented players to the club. Jermaine Jenas on his day is a very good midfielder with the ability to win a game with a good run or a good finish as well as being able to do the dirty work, however far too often he has been found wanting and Harry Redknapp may consider offloading the former Newcastle United man.

Alan Hutton is also surplus to requirements due to the sheer amount of full backs available at White Hart Lane the Scotsman would be better off moving to ensure some much needed playing time.

The Likelihood

Jenas/Hutton to Aston Villa: I can see O’Neill capturing Jenas but may decide against signing the right back in favour of returning Luke Young to that position and giving Nicky Shorey another chance at left back.

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Yes and no. On the one hand, they have one less attacking option since Shaun Maloney returned to Celtic. However, when you’re conceding three goals to Stoke, perhaps the back four need a little attention. The Birmingham Mail report that the Villans could be set to land another quality player from Reading, with Kevin Doyle being admired from afar by O’Neill. Nicky Shorey can vouch for his ability, although he suspects it will be tough to snare the forward.

Shorey said: “He is good, no doubt about it. Last season was one of those where as a team we weren’t clicking in the right way, the way we were the year before.

“It goes like that some seasons. We tried to do enough to stay up but it wasn’t to be.

“But he will come back to his top form and when he is on top form he is a real handful and a very good player.”

Shorey thinks it will take big money to get Doyle now the Championship season is under way.

“I think Reading will keep the majority of the lads who are there now. The season has started and I think the gaffer (Coppell) has said he doesn’t want to lose anyone now. The fees will probably go up anyway!” he added.

Villa fans, would you like to see Kevin Doyle arrive at Villa Park? The striker has not had a great time of it in the past twelve months and missed a penalty at Charlton on Saturday. However, there is no doubt that he can perform at Premier League level and would be good cover for Carew and Agbonlahor.