Live – Tuesday football

Football League Nathan: “Nottingham Forest’s game in hand against the promotion pack comes with an away trip to Middlesbrough. Boro were torn apart by QPR on Saturday and Swansea put four past them the week before and if Forest can get a 2-0 win tonight they’ll move up two places into third spot. Derby and Doncaster are 18th and 19th in the table and level on 39 points. A win for either side would surely make them safe. Scunthorpe though need a fair few wins yet to guarantee their Championship safety, the Iron are at mid-table Portsmouth tonight.”

1924: On to more important things, however…

Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson: “Mark Clattenburg dealt with it [the Rooney incident] at the time and he’s the only person who comes out of this incident with any credit at all. Wayne Rooney is a bit fortunate – it was a clash and it was a silly thing to do, but it’s finished now. As for the game, we have to win tonight. We’re four points clear but it’s not a commanding lead.”

1919: I must point you in the direction of a couple of things Chelsea-Man United-related. First up is

a cracking photo gallery of past clashes between the two teams,

featuring The King, Georgie Best and Gordon ‘Jukebox’ Durie, among others. Next is

a brilliant piece on Ryan Giggs in The Guardian

about the Welshman’s 20 years as a United player. Sample Giggs quote? “You’re talking about a player coming into a successful team at the age of 17 and staying there for 20 years. It’s not impossible, but it’s tough to think it will happen again.” Tonight, Giggs, who made his United debut on 2 March, 1991, will make his 606th league appearance, equalling Sir Bobby Charlton’s club record. One of the great role models of his or any generation.

From houstycool65 on Twitter:

“RIP Peter Osgood, King of the Bridge, died five years ago today. Let’s hope one of our current strikers can play like Ossie tonight.”

Chelsea v Manchester United team news:

Phil McNulty reports:

“Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti may be signposting the future here by again using Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka as his main attacking forces and leaving Didier Drogba on the bench. Wayne Rooney, who escaped further punishment for his elbow on Wigan’s James McCarthy, will be hoping to make headlines of a different kind tonight as they seek the result that will keep them on course for a record 19th title. Sir Alex Ferguson’s faith in Javier Hernandez is confirmed by his selection ahead of Dimitar Berbatov.

Chelsea v Manchester United line-ups:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Lampard, Ramires, Anelka, Torres, Malouda.
Subs: Turnbull, Drogba, Mikel, Bosingwa, Zhirkov, Kalou, McEachran.
Man Utd: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Nani, Hernandez, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Brown, Berbatov, Giggs, Fabio Da Silva, Rafael Da Silva, Gibson.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)

From James, Salford, on text: “Stevo, I think you’ve lost it mate. Chelsea don’t stand a chance! 1-0 United. Absolutely chuffed Hernandez gets a start in a big game. He will get the winner. C’mon you Reds!”

Everton v Reading team news:

Saj Chowdhury reports:

“Everton midfielders Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill miss out because of injuries and Jack Rodwell and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov come into the starting XI. Louis Saha starts up front, two days after escaping unscathed following a car accident. Reading make two changes, bringing in Zurab Khizanishvili and Brynjar Gunnarsson for the injured Ivar Ingimarsson and Shaun Cummings.

Everton v Reading line-ups:

Everton: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Coleman, Rodwell, Arteta, Bilyaletdinov, Osman, Saha.
Subs: Mucha, Hibbert, Heitinga, Beckford, Anichebe, Duffy, Baxter.
Reading: McCarthy, Gunnarsson, Mills, Khizanishvili, Harte, Kebe, Tabb, Leigertwood, McAnuff, Long, Hunt.
Subs: Andersen, Karacan, Antonio, Church, Robson-Kanu, Howard, Armstrong.
Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands)

1900: Stevo’s Predos:
Chelsea 2-1 Man United
Everton 3-1 Reading

1858: Breaking team news: Fernando Torres starts for Chelsea, so Didier Drogba is on the bench. Man United are unchanged.

From Sam, Manchester, on text: “It’s been a while since we’ve won at Stamford Bridge, but with Chelsea not doing well recently and with us kicking onto the final chapter of the season I’m quietly confident we’ll get a result.”

Everton v Reading scene-setter:

Saj Chowdhury reports:

“This FA fifth-round tie finally takes place after Everton and Chelsea found a window in their diaries for a replay which was

decided by a thrilling penalty shoot-out.

The Toffees and the Royals have only met seven times in the past on a competitive level, while Reading knocked out Stevenage in the last round. This week, manager Brian McDermott revealed in the

Reading Post

that Alan Pardew, whose Newcastle side were defeated by Borough in the third round, did not think they would beat Stevenage. With mates like those Brian…”

1846: Firstly, if you’d be so kind to indulge us, I’d like our match report writers to set the scene for tonight’s events in far more erudite fashion that I could ever manage…

1845: Now, bear with me on this because there have been a few changes around here since I last presided over one of these. First things first – I’m

Jonathan Stevenson,

and if you want to hit me on Twitter, please feel free. If you do use Twitter, can I urge you to use the hashtag (funny word)

#BBCFootball?

Triffic. Finally, if you’re old skool, whack us a text on 81111. Not that old skool, obviously.

1844: Ooh, Everton v Reading starts at 1930 GMT. Oops.

From dandelacour on Twitter:

“Chelsea need a good result tonight. Draw or lose and their out of the title race for sure. Big night for Drogba + Torres.”

1839: Plenty of lower league action too, so Football League Nathan will be along in a little while to tell us what the evening has in store. As long as he delivers us a Forest win at Middlesbrough, I think we’ll all be happy (sorry Smoggies).

1834: So, can Ashley Cole help shoot down Manchester United’s Premier League title hopes at Stamford Bridge this evening, or, come full-time, will there be more power to Wayne Rooney’s elbow in the visitors’ hunt to displace champions Chelsea?

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