Woodgate is told to stay away from Elland Road
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Your support makes all the difference.Jonathan Woodgate, Newcastle United's former Leeds United defender, has been ordered to keep his distance from Elland Road when his past and present clubs meet in the Premiership tomorrow.
Woodgate, 23, has recovered from a thigh strain that has prevented him from making his Newcastle debut but will not be returning to West Yorkshire three weeks after his transfer, which caused uproar among Leeds supporters.
The England international is unable to play this weekend because of a clause Leeds demanded in the £9m deal that took him to St James' Park – and Newcastle want him to keep well away from trouble.
"We are not taking him down to Leeds on Saturday, we're leaving him out of it," Newcastle's manager, Sir Bobby Robson, said yesterday. "We don't think there is any point in him being at Leeds this weekend. He would like to be there but we just feel that it is a situation where he should duck low and stay out of it. We think it is better if Jonathan stays home, or takes his dog for a walk or plays golf. I have had a chat with him about it today and he is fine."
Hugo Viana, Newcastle's Portuguese international midfielder, has returned to training following a long lay-off after dislocating a shoulder in a training-ground collision. "He just needs a week of hard training now because his shoulder is fine," Robson said. "He needs to build up his fitness but he looks very good in training."
Kevin Keegan is looking for a new Manchester City goalkeeper after deciding that the veteran Peter Schmeichel cannot continue in the role next season.
Schmeichel is due for contract talks soon and has an open mind about having another season at City after a season mixed with brilliance and injuries. The Dane has missed several matches as aches and pains catch up with him and Keegan has now ordered his scouts to draw up a list of goalkeeping targets for the summer.
On the wish list are the Turkish international Rustu Recber, who has also been linked with Arsenal, the Czech international Peter Ceh and a couple of highly-rated Frenchmen. Neither of Schmeichel's stand-ins, Carlo Nash and Nicky Weaver, has done enough to look like the answer although both will have chances to impress before the end of the season.
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