Rovers ready to rescue Alpay from Villa

Blackburn Rovers have made a £2m bid for Aston Villa's unsettled Turkish World Cup player Alpay Ozalan, but Graham Taylor, the Villa manager, is holding out for £5m for the defender his club signed two-and-a-half seasons ago.

The 29-year-old centre-back, who earns £25,000-a-week, is out of favour with Taylor and has spent the majority of the season stuck in Villa's reserves.

Henning Berg, the Blackburn defender, will leave the club and return to his native Norway at the end of this season. The veteran centre-back, who is in his second spell with Rovers and is near to making a comeback from his Achilles tendon injury, said: "It's definitely my last season before I return to Norway, so the sooner I get back in action the happier I will be."

Craig Hignett, the Blackburn midfielder, has returned to the club after breaking his leg while playing on loan for Coventry. The attacking midfielder picked up the injury at the weekend but only discovered the damage yesterday, and is now expected to be out for four months.

Coventry hope to complete the signing of the striker Dean Holdsworth from Bolton. Holdsworth has been playing for the First Division club on loan.

Kevin Campbell, the Everton captain, has been given the all-clear after injury. Campbell underwent X-rays on both calf and ankle injuries, but has since learned that he has only suffered severe bruising rather than a tear in the calf and ligament damage in his left ankle as initially feared.

Campbell may now be fit for tomorrow's encounter with Manchester City. David Moyes, the Everton manager, will nonetheless continue his search for a loan signing as a reserve for Campbell.

Paul Gascoigne has been treated in hospital after losing the feeling in one side of his face. The 35-year-old went to a hospital in Gateshead at the weekend, complaining that the left side of his face was numb. His father John said last night that he had suffered a trapped nerve.