With no fresh injuries reported, it could well be an unchanged league side at Craven Cottage this weekend as Spurs make the short trip to Fulham.

William Gallas and Steven Pienaar both seem to have come through last night's game in Kazan unscathed but may have to settle for a slot on the bench.

The loss in Kazan last night has left Spurs needing to avoid defeat in their next two games against PAOK and Shamrock Rovers if they are to stand a chance of progressing to the next round of 32 and it raises an issue that has been burning since our Europa League qualification was assured.

The manager has never been shy in letting his feelings known about the validity of this competition and words such as annoyance and irritation are never far from his lips.

I'm pathetic at cards. I pick up the rules easily enough but then it's pretty much all a blur. So few numbers and colours, frankly it's not that complex, but if you waited for me to work out what to do, you'd be there all night. And people round the table, staring...Whatever the opposite of a poker face is, I've got it.

In light of the unexpected and unfortunate absence of normal daddy, the kids of Lilywhite's field trip to scary Russia this afternoon will be under the strict supervision of adoptive parents, Bond and Jordan. Or as I shall now call them, weekday daddy. One would imagine there'll be little p*ssing about with these two in charge.

Why I'm delighted by the chanting by those Chelsea fans

Over here in Kazan you get a real sense of what it feels like to be different. Stares in Moscow airport as if you have two heads. Children making as if they want to touch your hand to see what black skin feels like.

Whoever makes it on to the plane for Kazan this week won't be joined by their manager as Harry Redknapp will be dealing with what was first referred to as ‘unexplained medical problem' as opposed to making the journey himself.

The official statement on the club website reads: "Harry Redknapp is due to undergo a medical procedure tomorrow morning and will therefore not travel with the squad.

So, earlier today, the CL play-off draw took place
While I'm pretty sure most of us were hoping for some nice Odense action and praying to avoid the dark, cold depths of Kazan, the reality resulted, as it is always, somewhere in the middle.

Arsenal got Udinese Calcio in today's draw for the CL play-offs, with the matches to be played on August 16/17 and the return legs to be played a week later.

The Football Gods smiled on Spanish Football Club VILLAREAL in the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE pre-qualifier match-ups drawn today at UEFA headquaters. The Spanish Club could have landed powerful Clubs like Ruben Kazan, Udinese, Arsenal etc , but was drawn with relatively less powerful ( but no less dangerous ) ODENSE BK from Denmark The 1º leg match will be in Denmark on the 17th of August, with the

Dundee United are already a goal down following their defeat to Polish runners-up Slask Wroclow in the 2nd Qualifying round of the Europa League.

Rangers will face two qualifying rounds just to reach the group stages of the Champions' League where a whole new challenge will then await them.

The transfer that seemed to have died out was finally confirmed today by the Lech Poznań officials. Rafał Murawski, our starting central midfielder, returns to Poland after spending two years in Kazan playing for the local Rubin. This comes as a great news for the Kolejorz and Ekstraklasa fans, especially after an exodus of many talented players in the January transfer window, but is a worrying piece of information for those who value the success of the national team the most.