Football: Short cut for Blades

Sheffield United will be missing Chris Short from their defence for the First Division play-off final against Crystal Palace at Wembley on Monday.

He sprained his ankle badly yesterday and has had it heavily strapped. Alan Kelly, the Blades' Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper, also faces a struggle to overcome a knee injury in time.

Sunderland have completed the signing of the Volendam goalkeeper Edwin Zoetebier for a fee of pounds 300,000. The former Dutch Under-21 international has agreed personal terms with the club's manager, Peter Reid, but has returned home to play in his club's last two games of the season.

The Nottingham Forest manager, Dave Bassett, has placed the club's second- choice goalkeeper, Alan Fettis, on the transfer list after holding talks with Kevin Miller, of Watford. Miller, a 27-year-old valued at pounds 1.5m by Watford but out of contract, travelled to the City Ground yesterday to open transfer negotiations.

Everton are expected to announce on Tuesday whether they are to leave Goodison Park after 105 years. A ballot of supporters on plans to move the club to a new 60,000 all-seater stadium in Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, closed on Wednesday.

Derby's new home will be called the The Pride Park Stadium. The Rams waved goodbye to the Baseball Ground on the final day of last season. The Queen will perform the official opening of the new stadium in July.

Steve Bruce has denied reports linking him with the vacant manager's job at Stoke. Bruce, who joined Birmingham from Manchester United last summer, is content to see out his contract with Birmingham. "I have a year left on my contract and I would hope that by the end of it I will have helped the club to get into the Premiership," he said.

Tony Yeboah wants the chance to prove his worth to Leeds United's manager, George Graham. Yeboah, whose season was ruined by injuries and disagreements with the Leeds management, is wanted by Japanese clubs, but his agent, Hayden Evans, said Yeboah hopes to stay at Leeds for the remaining year of his contract.

"Tony loves the club and their fans and if he felt he would be given a fair crack of the whip he would stay," Evans said.

Stan Collymore scored a goal on his debut for Aston Villa, a 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy in a friendly match on Wednesday. Collymore, signed last week from Liverpool for pounds 7.5m, slipped through a static defence to nod home a Mark Draper cross in the 75th minute. Welton, a Brazilian, had given the Galaxy the lead after an hour.