Moyes wants Bent as Rooney strike partner

Alan Nixon
Thursday 20 February 2003 01:00 GMT
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David Moyes, the Everton manager, is leading the race to sign the Ipswich Town striker Darren Bent, who is drawing interest from several Premiership clubs.

Moyes travelled to Suffolk last night to check on Bent and is considering a £3m move for the teenager. Bent was the target of a joint £3m bid – along with the midfielder Darren Ambrose – from Newcastle United, but could be sold on his own if the price is right, with Ipswich in financial peril.

Moyes is looking for more pace and width in his attack for next season and Bent is the type who could keep up with Wayne Rooney in a threatening attack.

Ipswich, who are in administration, are expecting a bigger bid from Newcastle for both Bent and Ambrose and several other sides have alerted them about possible interest.

Frédéric Kanouté has apologised for the "very stupid" red card which rules him out of West Ham's Premiership relegation encounter with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Sunday.

The French striker slapped the Leeds midfielder, Seth Johnson, around the head as the Hammers slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Elland Road 11 days ago.

"I would like to apologise to the fans for my red card," Kanouté said. "I was very stupid and naïve to react in the way I did, with the team in the trouble we're in. It was the last thing we needed. I can only promise I will not behave like that again."

The planned boycott of next month's Worthington Cup final by Manchester United's official disabled supporters club has been lifted after Football League officials opted to let ticket holders in for free.

The compromise came after a sustained campaign highlighting the inadequacies of viewing areas for wheelchair-bound supporters at the Millennium Stadium. Although the viewing areas cannot be upgraded in time for the 2 March meeting with Liverpool in Cardiff, Football League officials have pledged to investigate the issue and changes are anticipated for the end-of-season play-offs.

"This is an important victory for us," said Phil Downs, the secretary of the Manchester United Disabled Supporters Association. "While our members would no doubt prefer to pay for their tickets and be assured of a decent view, at least the problem cannot be ignored in the future."

MUDSA had been appalled by the League's initial response to its request for a viewing platform to be installed in front of existing seats. The League claimed it would have resulted in able-bodied fans having their view impaired, with Downs claiming the reply smacked of hypocrisy given the poor views offered at the back of the stand to wheelchair-bound supporters.

The United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and the striker Diego Forlan, whose sister Alejandra was badly injured in a road accident 11 years ago, both gave public backing to MUDSA's fight.

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