Blackburn given new opponents as Poles are expelled
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Your support makes all the difference.Blackburn will face the Lithuanian side FK Vetra in the Intertoto Cup third round after Uefa yesterday expelled Legia Warsaw from the competition following crowd trouble at the weekend.
The second-round match in Vilnius was abandoned after fans of the Polish club clashed with police and fired missiles on to the pitch. FK Vetra had been winning 2-0 when the disturbances started.
As well as their expulsion from this season's Intertoto Cup, Legia will also be banned for one future campaign should they qualify within the next five years.
Rovers' manager, Mark Hughes, said he faced a trip into the unknown after admitting that he had only made plans to face Legia.
"We were planning for Legia Warsaw, to be honest," he said. "They have a decent record in Europe and they've played a lot of games at a high level, the Champions League as well, so they were the team we expected to meet. We'll now have to look at Vetra."
Liverpool have signed the 17-year-old Millwall striker David Amoo for an undisclosed fee. And the Port Vale chairman, Bill Bratt, has confirmed the League One club have made an approach to sign the former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler. The 32-year-old is a free agent after leaving Liverpool at the end of last season.
Rangers were last night putting the finishing touches to the deal that will make Scotland international Lee McCulloch their eighth major signing this summer. A fee of around £2m has been agreed for the 29-year-old who will be reunited with his former Scotland manager, Walter Smith, at Ibrox.
His debut could come as soon as Friday, when his new side take on FC Gutersloh in a friendly.
Marc Bircham has revealed he had the chance to be David Beckham's midfield partner at LA Galaxy after leaving Queen's Park Rangers but turned it down in favour of Yeovil.
"It might be exciting to play with Becks, but Galaxy didn't feel like the right fit and for a number of reasons it wasn't something I wanted to pursue," he said.
"Of course another factor was that my wife said I look good in hoops and after QPR there weren't that many options."
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