Premier League trio set for action

With Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in FA Cup semi-final action at Wembley this weekend, the focus in the Premier League turns to the increasingly desperate fight to avoid relegation.

While club chairmen fret over the financial implications of losing their seat on football’s richest gravy train, the annual scrap for survival is developing into a matter of pride rather than pound notes.

Three of the bottom four places are currently occupied by teams from the north-east of England, making the prospect of relegation for Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough particularly painful.

As if going down wouldn’t be devastating enough, there is every possibility that one of their most hated rivals will push them through the trap door.

Middlesbrough are second bottom on 30 points, level with Newcastle, who are also two points behind Sunderland, the team sitting one place above the drop zone.

The club with the most to lose are Newcastle. It is 16 years since St James’ Park last hosted second tier matches and a club who regularly pull in over 50,000 fans cannot contemplate playing the likes of Doncaster and Watford instead of Liverpool and United.

Such was the panic gripping Tyneside as Newcastle slumped into the bottom three while boss Joe Kinnear recouperated from heart surgery, that owner Mike Ashley handed the reins to Alan Shearer on a temporary basis despite his complete lack of managerial experience.

So far Shearer has lost to Chelsea and drawn at Stoke, making Sunday’s trip to Tottenham a must-win match.

Shearer, who is boosted by the return from injury of Australia striker Mark Viduka, said: “Not only did we prove we are up for the battle against Stoke, but that we can also play a little bit, which has given everyone a big, big lift.”

On the other side of the Tyne Bridge, Sunderland fans are terrified by the thought of being relegated by Newcastle.

A dismal run of one win in nine matches, including defeats in their last four matches, has sent the Black Cats plummeting to the brink of the relegation zone.

One glimmer of hope for boss Ricky Sbragia is a fixture list that offers up struggling Hull on Saturday and rock bottom West Brom next weekend.

Hull have won just one of their last 17 games and Sbragia said: “We know how big this game is for us. It’s a must-win situation.

“It’ll be very tense and edgy early doors. We can’t afford to lose it, it’s as simple as that.

“We were encouraged by last week’s performance against Manchester United. We did a lot of good things, we worked hard and showed better commitment.

“We now have to do it against Hull, it can’t be just a one-off.”

Middlesbrough have often been overshadowed by their brasher north-east neighbours, but for once they must be grateful for that, as Newcastle’s struggles have distracted attention from the plight of Gareth Southgate’s team.

Last weekend’s home win over Hull was only their second success in 19 league matches and, with Arsenal, Manchester United and Aston Villa still to play, Southgate knows his side desperately need a home win over Fulham.

“It’s been a difficult period but you are certainly more determined when you have been through a period like we have had,” Southgate said.

“In the next few weeks there will be twists and turns, there’s no doubt about that, but we know we are capable of dealing with whatever is thrown at us and we have just got to make sure we maintain our focus.”

Fixtures (1400GMT unless stated)

Saturday

Aston Villa v West Ham

Middlesbrough v Fulham

Portsmouth v Bolton

Stoke v Blackburn

Sunderland v Hull

Sunday

Man City v West Brom

Tottenham v Newcastle (1230GMT)