Chelsea call for respect before QPR clash

Updated September 14, 2012 08:55:33

Chelsea have called on their fans to show "respect" ahead of what is set to be a highly-charged west London Premier League derby away to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday (AEST).

The match will be the first between the clubs since Chelsea and England defender John Terry was found not guilty of using a racial slur against the Hoops' Anton Ferdinand in the corresponding fixture last October.

Terry, still the subject of a Football Association investigation over charges he has always denied, is set to be fit for Saturday's game following an ankle injury suffered on England duty.

Ferdinand is also recovering from a shoulder injury, meaning the defenders are on course to come face to face for the first time since the Chelsea captain's race trial in July.

The match could also feature Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole, following his appearance as a character witness for Terry.

In a statement on their website, Chelsea said: "Last January's FA Cup match at QPR and the meeting between the sides in April at Stamford Bridge were good examples of passionate and vocal rivalry with the fans of both clubs recognising that abuse and discrimination have no place in a football stadium, nor anywhere else in society."

Thursday's statement added: "Chelsea Football Club wishes to see the level of respect at those games continued throughout this campaign, as it has been in our opening matches.

"Both Chelsea and QPR will work together with the police to ensure that anyone using discriminatory or inflammatory language on Saturday is identified, and that the strongest possible action is taken against them."

The pre-match handshake ritual that is a standard feature of Premier League matches was abandoned in advance of the previous two Chelsea-QPR fixtures and there has been speculation as to whether it will be re-instated for this weekend's fixture.

AFP

Tags: sport, soccer, english-premier, united-kingdom

First posted September 14, 2012 08:55:33

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Victory, Teda trade barbs before ACL clash

Posted April 19, 2011 16:41:00

Melbourne Victory and Tianjin Teda have blamed each other for a physical recent Asian Champions League clash, ahead of Wednesday night's return bout.

Victory earned their first point from three group matches with an away 1-1 draw in their previous meeting with the Chinese side, on April 5.

They now need to beat Tianjin at Docklands to have any realistic hope of progressing from their group.

Acting captain Adrian Leijer says the memory of the previous meeting, when Tianjin's Serbian captain Marko Zoric was sent off for a crude tackle, will add an edge.

"It makes it fresh," Leijer said of the feeling between the sides.

"They spoke about us being physical, but it was probably the other way around.

"There were a few little tricks that they had going on, which kept it interesting."

But Tianjin coach Arie Haan says it was the Victory that were the physical aggressors, and suggested the referee allowed them more latitude.

"I have the idea when I see some games between the Australians and the other teams in Asia, that the referees are a little bit different. They let more go when Australian teams play than when they don't play," Haan said.

He also blamed the refereeing and Victory's physical style for the goal scored by Melbourne's Kevin Muscat in the previous match.

"It was a foul, the goal was a foul for Melbourne," Haan said.

"Two players were not looking at the ball, but only catching my two players, so Mr Muscat can get free to head in."

But Leijer says his team deserves credit for that performance and had improved greatly under caretaker coach Mehmet Durakovic, who took over from Ernie Merrick, after a 5-1 belting from Gamba Osaka in the opening ACL match.

Durakovic planned to start star striker Robbie Kruse, whose performance off the bench was critical to Melbourne overcoming an early deficit in the previous match.

The coach says with Archie Thompson and Isaka Cernak also in the side, they will be chasing hard for a win.

"We want to push up as much as we can, we want to push Robbie as much as we can forward, we want to push Isaka as much as we can forward, help Archie up there," he said.

"We'll be going with an attacking line-up, hopefully with three up front, so we'll see how we go."

Zoric is out suspended.

- AAP

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