English Premier League: Terry expects Sunderland to restore form under Di Canio

West Ham will be a difficult game for Liverpool, says Rodgers.


Afp April 06, 2013
Torres’s brace against Rubin Kazan in their Europa League first-leg clash took him to 18 goals for the season as the player eyes more success. PHOTO: AFP

LONDON:


Chelsea captain John Terry has backed Paolo Di Canio to revive Sunderland as the controversial Italian prepares to take charge of his struggling side for the first time at Stamford Bridge today.


Di Canio’s arrival on Wearside as successor to the sacked Martin O’Neill triggered a storm of negative headlines about the Italian’s notorious political views which support right wing extremism.

But Terry, a man who is no stranger to controversy himself, has fond memories of Di Canio and is convinced the former Lazio, West Ham and Celtic forward will make an instant impact.

“He was just a really nice guy on the pitch and I spoke to him after games,” said Terry. “He said to me ‘maybe you should do this and do that’, which was really nice at the time.

“He would always give a battle and if there was a little tussle he would get up and shake your hand afterwards.”

Sunderland arrive in west London on a dismal run of eight games without a win, but Di Canio, never short of self-belief, is relishing the chance to stun the Blues.

“We’re playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in my first game,” said Di Canio. “What can you say? I can’t wait to get started.”

Meanwhile, Spanish Euro and World Cup winning striker Fernando Torres pledged yesterday to try his heart out to regain the form that saw him become one of the most feared marksmen in world football.

The 29-year-old – capped over 100 times by his country – has failed to replicate the form for Chelsea that earned him a £50 million move in January 2011 from Liverpool.

“I am training every day and I will never, ever give up,” said Torres.

Reds boss Rodgers remains a Eurosceptic

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers claims he has put the prospect of qualifying for the Europa Leage to the back of his mind ahead of his team’s meeting with West Ham today.

“I am not even thinking about it,” said Rodgers. “We just need to win the next game. We’ve won six out of our last seven in all competitions. Hopefully we showed the Southampton performance was a blip.

“West Ham will be a difficult game for us. They’re a tough team to play against and they have some very good players. So we’ll need to be at the top of our game, physically, mentally, tactically, to get something from it.”

Meanwhile, Tottenham’s Champions League credentials are set for a stern test when they take on Everton at White Hart Lane without top scorer Gareth Bale.

In other matches, Newcastle face Fulham, while QPR take on Wigan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2013.

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