McClaren hit with late England withdrawals

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been ruled out of the England squad for Wednesday’s international against Germany.

The midfielder, who played in his team’s 1-1 Premier League draw against Chelsea on Sunday, was set to have an X-ray on his fractured toe on Monday.

The England medical team have been in constant liaison with staff at Anfield – and after assessing the scans it was decided Gerrard would not be fit to feature for his country on Wednesday.

Like Gerrard, Tottenham striker Darren Bent was not required to report for duty with the rest of the squad after similar contact between country and club resulted in the player missing out because of a thigh problem.

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves and Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell were both also injury concerns – but were required to report to the team hotel.

What’s happening to Man Utd?

Can somebody tell me what’s really happening to Man Utd? After doing so well last season, they are yet to win their first game this season. I can understand when people attribute the absence of Rooney and Ronaldo as the reason for their loss to Man City. But the fact is both Rooney and Ronaldo played in their opening match of the season and yet they drew.

After spending so much to recruit the likes of Tevez and Nani, I was expecting Man Utd to win every single game (at least against low-profile teams). Chelsea is without Shevchenko and Ballack and was without our scoring machine, Drogba, for our first game but we managed to win. Now there is a 5-point difference between Chelsea and Man Utd and there’s no way that Man Utd can catch up.

Long live Chelsea!

Unhappy Diouf plots Bolton escape

El-Hadji Diouf is eager to quit Bolton for a club with Champions League ambitions – but insists the Trotters have overpriced him at £10million. The Senegal striker claims Tottenham, Celtic and Lyon have all made bids for him, as have two other unnamed clubs.

Diouf said: “I don’t want to be going just for going’s sake.

“I want to go to where I will be happy but Bolton want a lot of money. I want to play in the Champions League or at a club wanting to be there next season.”

Bolton have lost all three of their Premier League games this season, putting new boss Sammy Lee under pressure.

Speculation also surrounds the future of Diouf’s fellow Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka, who has also been valued at £10million.

Makelele extends Chelsea contract

Veteran Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele has signed a new one-year contract extension. The 34-year-old’s current deal had been set to expire at the end of the current season and he would have been able to negotiate a move away from January.

However, the Zaire-born Frenchman has extended his stay in West London until 2009, when he will be 36.

Former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri spent £13.9m to sign the player from Real Madrid in 2003.

The combative holding midfielder won the French league with Nantes and the Spanish La Liga title and the Champions League with Madrid.

He also had spells at Marseille (1997-98) and Celta Vigo (1998-2000).

Referee Styles dropped over error

Referee Rob Styles will not officiate in the Premier League next weekend following his performance in the Liverpool-Chelsea game on Sunday. Styles was criticised for awarding a controversial penalty to Chelsea.

Referees’ chief Keith Hackett told BBC Radio 5live: “It is just like with players, if they miss an open goal they are likely to be dropped.”

Styles also appeared to show Chelsea’s Michael Essien a second yellow card but then failed to send him off.

Former referee Hackett is general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body which oversees referees.

The referees’ supremo has apologised to Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez for the error.