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Frank Lampard
Emmanuel Adebayor
Frank Lampard insists he was not punched by Emmanuel Adebayor during Sunday's Carling Cup final.

The Chelsea midfielder's agent Steve Kutner has told Sky Sports News that Lampard was not struck by the Arsenal striker at The Millennium Stadium.

Adebayor was sent off after becoming entangled in an ugly brawl which marred the closing stages of Chelsea's 2-1 win.

He was handed a three-match ban after failing to have his red card overturned, but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger remains bitter about the incident.

Speaking after his team's 1-0 FA Cup replay loss at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night, Wenger challenged Lampard to dispute the linesman's version of events.

"I feel we were really unlucky to lose Adebayor. Especially under the circumstances we lost him," Wenger told Sky Sports News.

"I don't agree at all with the match report, with what the linesman said. It's a complete lie what is said in the match report and we cannot accept that.

"The linesman said that Adebayor punched Lampard. I would like to ask Lampard if he was punched by Adebayor.

"I feel the whole decision from The FA is wrong. There's a lot of things in there that are not true.

"I don't want to prove anything. I'm just giving my opinion. There are players that have punched that haven't been charged."

Lampard has now responded by confirming that he was not punched by Adebayor in the melee, which was sparked by John Obi Mikel's shirt tug on Kolo Toure.

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Ledley King
Tottenham captain Ledley King still hopes he can make his comeback from injury next month.

The England defender has yet to make an appearance for Spurs this year due to a stress problem to his left foot.

Despite the fact there is no break, King has suffered major discomfort throughout the last few weeks but he is now back on the road to full fitness.

King's absence has been a massive hindrance to Spurs, but he hopes he can soon put things right.

"At the moment, I'm just running every other day," said King - who insists he will not rush himself back after a previous comeback ended in failure.

"In between that, I do bike work and swimming. It is about building up my fitness without overloading the foot. It seems to be going fine.

"But I thought that last time and when I was ready to come back, I had a bad reaction. I'm taking it quite slowly this time.

"I realise that it's not going to be easy to just jump back into training. I tried to come back last time after three or four weeks so I'm much further behind now. I hope to be back some time in March."

King is still hopeful Spurs will bring home some silverware this term, as they continue to battle on in the FA and Uefa Cups.

"All the work we did earlier in the season is paying off now," he told The Times.

"We are getting closer to the prizes and there are big games to come. We're desperate to win either the FA Cup or Uefa Cup. To win something would ease the pain of me missing a chunk of the season.

"To get Chelsea in the FA Cup makes it difficult for us but we've beaten them already this season and there is a belief that we can do it again.

"The expectations from last season were rightly high and we all wanted to be involved heavily in everything this season.

"Our league form has been dented from that but I'm sure it can still be a great season."

Robbie Keane's brilliant brace eased Tottenham Hotspur into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a comfortable 4-0 win at London rivals Fulham.

Spurs' Premiership travails have been put to one side in cup competitions this season, and so it proved again at Craven Cottage as Martin Jol's men possessed a cutting edge, and touch of class, lacking in Fulham.

Keane struck early on with an unerring volley and his second midway through the second half was of similar quality before substitute Dimitar Berbatov added two late goals to finish off a fancied Fulham side, who had Vincenzo Montella sent off in injury-time.

Spurs took the lead six minutes in via a simple move finished in stunning fashion. Mido flicked on Paul Robinson's punt up field and Keane's sumptuous volley zipped past the motionless Jan Lastuvka.

Fulham's feisty response saw Papa Bouba Diop booked for a foul on Aaron Lennon and there was no shortage of desire on show.

However, goalscoring chances were scarce, although Robinson showed sharp reflexes to turn Brian McBride's deflected shot over the crossbar.

Franck Queudrue was also cautioned after being embarrassed by the lively Lennon as Spurs sought to keep Fulham at arm's length.

Indeed, Spurs were more in danger of creating problems for themselves as Robinson produced a fine one-handed stop to push out Mido's back header after Moritz Volz had glanced on a long throw-in.

There remained an upbeat tempo at the start of the second half, with Robinson saving low down from McBride's angled drive.

The Spurs keeper was also proving to be his side's most creative outlet, when another long punt - after a Fulham corner - sent Lennon scampering clear only for the winger to be denied at the near post by Lastuvka.

Chris Coleman introduced Montella and Collins John in an attempt to give his attack more bite and his side could even have had a penalty after Volz was knocked off balance by Anthony Gardner's challenge.

But just moments after Coleman had brought on his third substitute - Clint Dempsey - Fulham conceded a second goal bearing all the hallmarks of the first.

This time it was Gardner with the long ball forward, Mido flicked on and again Keane lashed home a superb volley.

Despite playing at right-back, Volz was among Fulham's more potent attacking players and his fierce drive saw Robinson save well.

A perceptive pass from Diop released John inside the area, but the Dutch striker volleyed over the bar before any hope of a stirring Fulham comeback was snuffed out.

Berbatov, on for a matter of minutes, struck his first attempt against the post with his right foot, but was in the perfect position for the rebound to place his left-footed effort past Lastuvka.

The Fulham keeper could have done better with that shot and then almost conceded a penalty when appearing to clip Lennon's ankle before the ball ran out of play.

Keane, sniffing a third hat-trick in Spurs colours, should have done better with his simplest chance, but he shot straight at Lastuvka after being played in by Teemu Tainio's clever pass.

In injury-time, Keane turned provider for the fourth goal, cushioning the ball into the path of Berbatov, who executed a dainty lob over Lastuvka in nonchalant fashion.

And there was still time for Fulham to suffer further ignominy after Montella was shown the red card for swinging an arm at Keane.

Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough have been fined by the Football Association and warned about their future conduct for the unseemly tussle during their December 5 meeting at White Hart Lane.
Spurs have been fined £8,000 and Boro £4,000 - with half of each fine suspended for 12 months - after being found guilty of failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.

A disciplinary commission hearing today found both clubs - who denied the charges - guilty and warned them as to their future conduct over the incident which saw Boro captain George Boateng sent off.

Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly fighting it out for Egyptian striker Hossam Mido's services.

The 23-year-old performed impressively in his 18-month loan spell at White Hart Lane from January 2005.

But he has since returned to parent club Roma, turning down the opportunity to join Blackburn Rovers in favour of resurrecting his career at the Stadio Olimpico.

Despite his apparent desire to remain in Serie A the links with English sides refuse to die down.

Rumours of a rift with coach Luciano Spalletti have fuelled the speculation, and the Italians have refused to rule out the possibility that he may return to England.

With the transfer deadline looming large on Thursday, Glenn Roeder and Martin Jol's men could yet make loan move for the Giallorossi striker.