Sullivan's blunt warning

The Birmingham City owner, David Sullivan, has given the Football Association his backing should they choose to ban the club's fans from away games following violent scenes at the end of Saturday's First Division game at Manchester City.

"If they are not careful, we won't have a club in Birmingham and the ground will be shut down," Sullivan said.

The Wimbledon manager, Joe Kinnear, yesterday insisted he wants to keep Dean Holdsworth even though the pounds 5m-rated striker is still on the transfer list, and has once again been linked with Everton. The Leicester City striker, Mark Robins, has put in a transfer request.

The elimination of the holders, Bayern Munich, from the Uefa Cup last night is bound to increase speculation that their former Spurs striker, Jurgen Klinsmann, is poised for a return to English football. Klinsmann missed a penalty in the 1-0 defeat of Valencia, a result that left the Spanish team 3-1 aggregate winners.