Football in brief: 30/09/2009

McAllister snubs Hart approach for assistance

Portsmouth: The club have failed to agree a deal for Gary McAllister to join them as assistant manager. The former Scotland midfielder held talks over the position – vacant since Brian Kidd's departure for Manchester City in the summer – yesterday.

But no agreement was reached, leaving Pompey still searching for a No 2 to Paul Hart. Hart said: "We couldn't agree anything. He was the man I wanted so it's disappointing." McAllister also turned down a part-time job as assistant to Scotland manager George Burley this month, preferring to seek a role with a Premier League club instead.

Pienaar struggling to be fit for Europa BATE date

Steven Pienaar is almost certainly out of his side's Europa League match with BATE Borisov this week and may well also miss Sunday's home league game with Stoke, but the club believe he is not due for a long spell on the sidelines. The midfielder picked up a knee injury in Saturday's win at Portsmouth, and has been on crutches since. Everton's medical team have assessed the injury and hope that it is just heavy bruising. But they plan further checks this week and will have a better idea of the injury when the bruising has reduced. Everton leave for Minsk today for tomorrow's match.