Grobbelaar set to carry on playing

Rupert Metcalf
Friday 17 March 1995 00:02 GMT
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Hans Segers and Bruce Grobbelaar both returned to training yesterday after their enforced absence in police custody - but only the Southampton goalkeeper is likely to feature in tomorrow's FA Carling Premiership programme.

Wimbledon dropped Segers before he became one of three players arrested on Tuesday in an inquiry by Hampshire police into match-fixing allegations, and he has been told that he will not be recalled for the Selhurst Park derby against the Dons' landlords, Crystal Palace. The other player held, Aston Villa's John Fashanu, is a long-term absentee with a serious knee injury, but Grobbelaar is due to replace Dave Beasant at Nottingham Forest tomorrow.

Segers, however, will continue to understudy his deputy of the past six years, Neil Sullivan, against Palace. The Wimbledon manager, Joe Kinnear, said: "It's a tactical situation and an opportunity for the kid [Sullivan] to come in and do well. The decision was made after the Manchester United game" - when an error by Segers allowed Steve Bruce the winner.

Yesterday Segers said: "I'm innocent . It's been very destroying for me and my family and I hope this is the end of it all." He has been asked to report back to Hampshire police on 4 July; his two fellow players are also on police bail along with Fashanu's girlfriend, Melissa Kassamapsi, and Heng Suan Lim, a Malaysian businessman.

The Football Association has raised no objection to the two goalkeepers returning to action. Its chief executive, Graham Kelly, said: "They are free to play. There are no powers under football rules that could prevent them playing and I'm not so sure that there should be."

Southampton's director of football, Lawrie McMenemy, said: "We are thoroughly behind Grobbelaar. He is very embarrassed by what he has brought on the club, but he can honestly say that he is not guilty of anything." The Zimbabwean international trained for 90 minutes with Southampton's reserves behind closed doors at The Dell yesterday and left by a back entrance.

Gordon Cowans, the man whose goal kept Wolves in the FA Cup at Selhurst Park last weekend, is almost certainly out of the quarter-final replay against Crystal Palace next Wednesday. The veteran midfielder suffered suspected knee ligament damage at West Bromwich on Wednesday.

Jeff Kenna, the Republic of Ireland full-back, has completed his £1.5m move from Southampton to Blackburn Rovers.

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