Stuart Pearce is confident that there is enough quality in the Manchester City squad to ensure the genuine prospect of relegation does not occur. Our job is to negotiate satisfactory terms with their clubs and the players to keep them here.”Middlesbrough is the place to be next season, so we only want players who match our ambition and are committed to helping us achieve more.”If we’ve got a full house, we’ve got the financial clout to compete in the transfer market in the summer and strengthen the team,” he said.. The Charlton Athletic plc chairman, Richard Murray, has confirmed the club will launch an unprecedented summer spending spree to compete with other top-half Premiership sides in the club’s centenary season. That figure comes from Scott Parker’s £10m sale to Chelsea, the £800,000 sell-on cut of Jermain Defoe’s move from West Ham to Tottenham and part of the £7m Charlton are set to receive in the Premier League’s final position pay-outs.”I can say significant funds will be available to Alan [Curbishley] in the close-season to strengthen the squad,” Murray said.

“That’s a position which will not be enjoyed by many other Premiership clubs.”Urging supporters to snap up 2004-05 season tickets, which went on sale yesterday, Murray added: “The fans can demonstrate they share Alan and the directors’ belief in the club by renewing their season tickets at the earliest opportunity.”. The Middlesbrough manager has delighted his chief executive Keith Lamb, as in three years he has transformed the Teessiders from a mid-table side into a genuine force.Boro’s season could yet pay further dividends with their best Premiership finish a possibility and Lamb is still looking forward: “Next year, our target has to be a very successful run in the Uefa Cup, another assault in the domestic cup competitions and to finish in the top six of the Premier League,” Lamb told a meeting of the official Middlesbrough supporters club.”We have some players who are out of contract or into the last year of their contract. We’re having talks with those players and I hope we can retain all of them.”Steve McClaren has also expressed his wish to keep Bolo Zenden and Danny Mills. He is not only a good goalkeeper but a good man and we are pleased to have him.”Gray’s job was not made any easier when it was discovered that the midfielder Seth Johnson will be out of action for the rest of the season after suffering knee ligament damage.Leeds also have Eirik Bakke (thigh) and Stephen McPhail (ribs) requiring treatment and resources are running thin at a crucial stage of the season.At the other end of the table Steve McClaren has the luxury of being in a relaxed mood knowing that a place in Europe has capped a fine season for his team.

In the 37th minute he turned over a long-range Smith shot which was destined for the top corner. However, the former England international could do nothing to keep out Milner’s 50th-minute equaliser.The Leeds’ caretaker manager, Eddie Gray, looked on the result as two points dropped. But he was not surprised it was Martyn who had denied them: “Nigel made some good saves but that is what he is paid to do,” said Gray. “You expected him to come here and, because of the circumstances [of his departure], put on a good display, but I was pleased with how we performed.”The Everton manager, David Moyes, was also full of praise for the 38-year-old goalkeeper. “There was no more fitting place to come back and have a blinder than Elland Road and he was terrific,” said Moyes.”I think he has been playing in that fashion all year. With Leicester City losing at Manchester United, Leeds could have pulled six points clear of Leicester and gone level with Portsmouth with a victory.Wayne Rooney’s 12th-minute shot from 20 yards surprised Robinson for the opening goal, but at the other end Martyn produced two top-class saves from James Milner and Alan Smith.Martyn made a superb one-handed save to deny Milner, who had curled in a shot from wide on the left.