England Premier League Media

Stoke City’s new signing Eidur Gudjohnsen has conceded that he lacks match fitness after missing pre-season while looking for a club.

Gudjohnsen, 31, signed a one-year contract with the Potters after leaving French league club Monaco.

He spent the second half of last season on loan at Tottenham.

“I just need football, to play games and get as many minutes under my belt as quickly as possible,” the Iceland international told BBC Radio Stoke.

Gudjohnsen had been training alone and admits that he could not replicate the intensity of training within a squad.

“You can only do so much on your own,” he added.

“I have done a lot of individual training so I don’t just walk in the door completely out of shape.

“It’s more just getting into the day to day football training again which I need and playing games to reach my best level again.”

Gudjohnsen has the international break to re-acclimatise to English football, with Stoke’s next game being against Aston Villa on 13 September.

England and Tottenham defender Michael Dawson faces an anxious wait to find out the extent of the knee injury he sustained against Bulgaria on Friday.

The centre-half went over on his right leg in the second half of England’s Euro 2012 qualifying 4-0 Wembley win.

The 26-year-old was stretchered off in apparent agony before the hour mark.

“I have to wait to find out about Dawson,” said England manager Fabio Capello. “We have to wait for the tests, but no-one else had problems.”

The injury took the shine off an otherwise impressive opening to England’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Jermain Defoe’s hat-trick combined with a first goal for England for Adam Johnson saw the hosts run out comfortable winners at Wembley to start the rebuilding process after their World Cup failure on a positive note.

But Dawson’s injury means Capello will almost certainly have to make at least one change for Tuesday’s qualifier in Switzerland.

That could mean a recall for West Ham defender Matthew Upson alongside Phil Jagielka, though Bolton stopper Gary Cahill acquitted himself well after coming off the bench to replace Dawson for the final half an hour against Bulgaria.

First-choice pairing John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are out of the reckoning with hamstring and knee problems respectively.

West Brom have signed James Hurst on a two-year deal from Portsmouth.

The 19-year-old full-back left The Hawthorns in 2008 to move to the south coast, but never made an appearance for Portsmouth’s first team.

Hurst has won 13 England caps at youth level and was part of the under-17 squad for the 2009 European Championships.

He joined Icelandic side IBV on loan at the end of last season, scoring one goal in 16 appearances.

Alan Curbishley is among the candidates to be interviewed for the vacant manager’s post at Aston Villa, BBC Sport understands.

The 52-year-old has been out of the game since parting company with West Ham in September 2008.

Former Ajax boss Ronald Koeman said earlier this week that he is interested in the job vacated by Martin O’Neill.

Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald has also indicated he would like to be considered for the role.

Reserve-team coach MacDonald, 49, has overseen the first five games of the season after manager O’Neill’s sudden resignation in July.

Villa have said that they want to appoint a manager with Premier League experience.

Curbishley spent 15 years with Charlton but moved to West Ham in December 2006.

After leaving the Hammers, he won a case for constructive dismissal against them.

He joined Villa as a player from Birmingham in 1983 and made 36 appearances for the club.

Villa are to speak to other candidates before making an appointment, which they hope will come before the next match at Stoke on Monday, 13 September.

Former Ajax boss Ronald Koeman has said he is interested in becoming Aston Villa’s new manager and claims the club contacted his agent last week.

Villa are yet to name Martin O’Neill’s successor, with Kevin MacDonald currently occupying the role on a caretaker basis.

“Of course I am interested to listen to everybody,” Koeman told BBC Sport.

Earlier on Tuesday, MacDonald also said he wished to be considered for the job on a permanent basis.

MacDonald had been undecided as to whether he wanted the role, but has now put himself into consideration.

The 49-year-old reserve-team coach has overseen the first five games of the season after manager O’Neill’s sudden resignation in July.

And later on Tuesday, former Netherlands defender Koeman, who also managed PSV Eindhoven, Valencia, Benfica and was assistant at Barcelona and the Dutch national team, threw his hat into the ring.

Koeman, 47, is currently out of a job having left AZ Alkmaar.

“There was a contact with my agent but nothing more than that, about one week ago or something,” said Koeman.

“Until now I didn’t know anything about that. If they are interested they can call me.”

Villa said at the weekend that they wanted to appoint someone in the near future with Premier League experience, appearing to limit Koeman’s chances of getting the job.

But the Dutchman still believes he has the attributes to manage the club.

“If they are looking for a manager with Premier League experience then of course I cannot come,” added Koeman. “I have enough experience but not in English football.

“I think I would do a good job, I think I have enough experience in the last 10 years after working in Holland, where I was league champion, and working in Portugal, Spain…in that case my experience is enough.”

As well as Koeman and MacDonald, other names linked to the job include Everton manager David Moyes and former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Although he thinks his time at the helm will add weight to his case, MacDonald believes that he may not be the strongest candidate for the job.

“Who says I will be chosen? Whoever gets interviewed, if they come up with the right solution on how to take the club forward, that would be the right person for the job,” he said on Sunday.

“It would help me being in the position. That would put me in a more favourable position than people who come in from the outside.

“But you then are going to look at people to be interviewed who have got a lot more experience, have won things and have done it at the highest level as well.”

The former Liverpool player has received backing from several of Villa’s players including captain Stiliyan Petrov.

And Wales centre-back James Collins told BBC Sport why he hopes MacDonald gets the job on a full-time basis.

“Kev has been at the club a long time and has done a great job since he stepped in,” said Collins.

“He has done great and all the boys respect him and has got the team playing well.

“And I’m sure he is in there with as good a chance as any.”

MacDonald’s only previous managerial experience is a four-game spell as caretaker boss of Leicester in 1994.

Under his leadership, Villa have been knocked out of the Europa League by Rapid Vienna and were thrashed 6-0 by Newcastle.

But victories over West Ham and Everton have put Villa fourth in

the early Premier League standings.

Moyes, in the opposing dug-out for the Toffees’ 1-0 defeat on Sunday, has emerged as a surprise contender for the role.

His odds of taking over at Villa Park fell dramatically on Monday.

Everton are yet to register a Premier League win this campaign and ended eighth in the table last season after three consecutive top-six finishes.

Eriksson has been without a job since he failed to take Ivory Coast beyond the group stage of this summer’s World Cup.

The Swede, who was sacked as Manchester City boss in 2008 after one year in charge, had been employed on a short-term contract for the tournament.

Other names reportedly under consideration include former Villa captain Gareth Southgate and Frenchman Gerard Houllier.

Fulham manager Mark Hughes has also been mentioned despite only taking up the Craven Cottage reins in July.

Early frontrunner Bob Bradley ended speculation he could in line for the job by signing a four-year extension to stay on as United States coach.

The 52-year-old had previously said he would be “honoured” to be considered by fellow American and Villa owner Randy Lerner.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy still has faith in Molineux favourite Michael Kightly, despite leaving the winger out of his 25-man Premier League squad.

The luckless Kightly has been plagued by injury for the last year, suffering a broken foot, an ankle problem and then a knee injury.

But, despite having now been without Kightly since last November, McCarthy insists he remains a part of his plans.

“It will take as long as it takes, and there’s no time limit on it,” he said.

“When he’s ready we’ll be able to discuss the possibility of going out on loan, which he can do before we have a chance to revise the squad in January,” McCarthy told the club website.

Kightly’s battle with injuries has been the one big downside for Wolves since their return to the top flight under McCarthy in May 2009.

The young Londoner, for whom McCarthy paid just 75,000 when he joined Wolves from non-league Grays Athletic in 2007, was a star turn in the three seasons that it eventually took to earn promotion.

But, since Wolves came up, Kightly, now 24, has made just three Premier League starts.

McCarthy has included summer signing Stephen Hunt, who is set to be out until October after recovering from foot surgery, along with new recruit Marcus Bent.

Having now joined the 14th club of his career, the deadline day loan signing from Birmingham City insists he can still make an impact at the highest level – at the age of 32.

“Once you stop believing in yourself you might as well hang up your boots,” he said.

“As a footballer, you try and push yourself every day to achieve more and more.

“I’ll never stop learning. I might be one of the older members of the squad here but I can still get better.

“I am sure the boys will teach me some stuff and hopefully I can teach them some stuff.”

Blackburn Rovers striker Benjani has admitted he is relishing the chance to rediscover his form and fitness after signing a one-year deal at Ewood Park.

Benjani, 32, who was a free agent after being released by Manchester City, had to allay concerns over a knee problem suffered during a spell at Portsmouth.

He told BBC Radio Lancashire: “I didn’t have any problem proving my fitness.

“I’m happy here – I hope to score goals and if I’m fit I know I will have to fight for my place.”

He added: “The Premier League is the best league in the world and I always wanted to stay here.

“I know Blackburn are a good team. I need to be playing to gain full fitness – I hope to play some friendly matches and hopefully I’ll be match fit within the next month.

“It’s going to be hard work because sometimes if you return from one injury and pick up another it’s difficult. So I just hope nothing more will happen to me.”

The Zimbabwe international, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland before being released by parent club Manchester City earlier this summer, began his career with Jomo Cosmos in 1999.

After spending three seasons with the South African side, he moved to Auxerre before joining Portsmouth for 4.1m in January 2006.

The Harare-born forward made over 70 appearances for Pompey before completing a move to City two years later.

Manager Sam Allardyce added that he is confident the Zimbabwe international will be a valuable asset if he can regain the form shown in last season’s 4-1 win by City at Eastlands.

“Our objective is to get him playing like that again,” he said.

“He’s hungry to continue in the Premier League and we know apart from that injury what he can do. Hopefully we can rekindle that quality of play we know he has.

“I remember him starting well at Newcastle when I was manager there and he came with Portsmouth and within 20 minutes we were 3-0 down and he scored two of them.

“He’s a little bit more experienced than our other forwards Mame [Biram Diouf] and Niko [Kalinic] so hopefully we’ll be able to get him in the pack as soon as we can.”

West Ham have confirmed they have completed the signing of Danish right-back Lars Jacobsen from Blackburn.

The move was sealed late on transfer deadline day and was approved by the Premier League on Wednesday.

Jacobsen, 30, has earned 35 caps for Denmark and played 16 times for Blackburn since arriving in June 2009.

The Hammers, who are without a win this season, have also signed Belgian keeper Ruud Boffin from Dutch side MVV Maastricht on a two-year contract.

Hammers boss Avram Grant, whose side have leaked nine goals in their opening three Premier League games, had made recruiting a new right-back a priority.

Sam Allardyce signed Jacobsen for Blackburn on a free transfer from Everton, where his appearances were limited by a shoulder injury.

The defender started his career at Danish side Odense and has also played for Hamburg, FC Copenhagen and Nuremberg.

Jacobsen

played in all three of Denmark’s matches at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where they beat Cameroon but lost out on qualification from the group stage to the Netherlands and Japan.

“We have combined youth with experience this window and are pleased with the work we have done, even in these challenging times for the club,” said West Ham owner David Sullivan.

Chelsea’s teenager defender Jeffrey Bruma has agreed a new contract, which will keep at the club until 2014.

The 18-year-old, who made his full Netherlands debut in the summer, is highly regarded at Stamford Bridge, having been with the Blues since 2007.

Bruma, who has been limited to four substitute appearances so far, is recovering from hernia surgery.

“I am very happy to stay here,” he said. “The recovery is going well and I have no pain where I had it before.”

Before the young defender was sidelined by injury he made a substitute appearance in the Community Shield defeat against Manchester United at Wembley.

“I have been working to improve all the time I have been here and a next step is getting your next contract, and now it is time to improve again,” Bruma said.

“I have made my international debut already and that was the aim for two or three years’ time.

“It has come so early, and when you reach your targets you obviously have to set new ones, so my new targets are to play as much as I can at Chelsea in the first team and get in the Dutch full squad again as soon as I am fit.”