Bannan expresses drink-drive regret

Aston Villa midfielder Barry Bannan has admitted there would have been "no point in me living" had his drink-fuelled motorway crash resulted in any loss of life.

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Bannan had an accident in his Range Rover Sport on the M1 near Watnall on October 23 whilst over the legal drink-drive limit. He fled the scene, and was arrested in a taxi office. The Scotland international, who only held a provisional licence, was fined £4,500 and banned from driving for 18 months.

Despite this, the midfielder believes he has had a lucky escape, and said: "It still goes through my head now, it was a huge mistake and I regret everything I've done. It will never happen again. As much as I regret it, I'm so lucky to be still here today."

He added: "If I hit another car and killed someone else, then there's no point in me living, really, after the things that would be going through my head.

"I'm lucky to be where I am today."

Bannan was speaking as the new face of the West Midlands Police 'Christmas Don't Drink and Drive Campaign', and added that he won't be tempted to repeat his mistakes this festive season.

"It'll still be with me for the rest of my life in the back of my head," he said.

Villa manager Alex McLeish has backed Bannan to put the incident behind him and continue his football education.

McLeish said: "He's got to now totally concentrate and be totally professional and try to make himself the best he can possibly be."

Bent committed to Villa

Darren Bent has pledged his future to Aston Villa after again apologising for going out shopping when injured during the latter stages of Sunday's clash with Liverpool.

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The club's record signing says he is "fully committed" to the midlands club after his £18million move from Sunderland in January. Bent has been the subject of speculation and rumours linking him with a move next month to QPR, but the England striker insists he came to Villa to "achieve things" and that nothing has altered.

Bent said: "I can assure the Villa fans that I'm committed to the football club and I love playing for Villa. With January coming up there is always going to be rumours. I moved last January and, with this whole thing (going shopping) over the weekend, these things quickly grow out of proportion. But I just want to reiterate, I'm fully committed to the football club."

He added: "I am passionate about Villa and playing here and I want to score goals for the team to do my best for the Villa fans.

"People sometimes forget where Villa were in the Premier League table (near the bottom) when I came here when Sunderland were sixth at the time. But I wanted to come here and achieve things and that has not changed."

Bent was told by Villa's medical staff to go home after being treated on the morning of the Liverpool game for a thigh injury. But he popped out to do some Christmas shopping after watching most of the game and this led to some fans being upset after a picture of him was posted on the internet.

Bent said: "I think it has all been blown of proportion. I watched a large chunk of the game - up to about 70 minutes or something - so I haven't missed hardly anything.

"I suddenly remembered I had to go out to the shops to get a Christmas present so I nipped out. It was not like I'd been strolling around all day.

"I popped out to pick up an item and someone has obviously got a camera phone and taken a picture.

"It looks worse than it is and I can assure people that was all that happened. There is no other agenda here and I haven't fallen out with the manager."

McLeish: We won't gamble with Bent

Aston Villa are hoping Darren Bent will be fit for Wednesday's home game with Arsenal after playing down his shopping excursion during Sunday's defeat to Liverpool.

Bent missed the 2-0 loss at Villa Park with a thigh problem and some supporters voiced their displeasure at a picture posted online of the record signing buying Christmas presents during the game.

However, Press Association Sport understands Villa are completely relaxed about the situation and are keeping their fingers crossed Bent has recovered in time to face the Gunners. Villa manager Alex McLeish said: "We can't gamble with Darren. He has to tell me he's not feeling it (the injury) and say 'I'm okay to start.'"

"Then he'll be back in the reckoning without question. He has got a thigh-cum-groin kicking strain. He came off the training pitch on Tuesday after having a shot at goal.

"When it's not a clash between two players and they pull up, it means something else has happened and it can be quite serious. But the doctor seems to think he should be quite close to being ready for Wednesday. We'll keep our fingers crossed that he is okay."

Bent reported to the club's Bodymoor Heath training ground on Sunday morning and underwent two hours of treatment. He was told by the club's doctors to go home, where he watched the majority of the Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool on television.

It was then that Bent decided to go shopping, which led to consternation from some supporters.

Jonathan Fear, editor of the fans' website Vital Villa, told Press Association Sport: "If Darren was told to go home by the club doctors then that explains things and why he wasn't at the game.

"But even if he does care for Villa, symbolically going out shopping during the latter part of the game makes it look to the fans that he doesn't give a stuff for Villa."

Bent has already issued an apology on Twitter, which read: "Nothing is more important to me than playing football, sadly injury meant I wasn't able to do that today. Gutted not to be involved. I hope to be back very soon. Watched the majority of he game on tv. Never knew popping out would cause an issue and for that I apologise."

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Suarez impresses Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish praised the performance of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, who put his off the field issues behind him to inspire his side to a 2-0 win at Aston Villa.

Suarez's build-up to the game was affected with an Football Association hearing into allegations he racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra hanging over him. However, the Uruguayan striker showed no ill-effects and was in irresistible form against Villa, with the woodwork twice denying him a goal.

Dalglish said: "Suarez has been sat in a hotel room for three days. He only trained on Tuesday and Friday.Then he put in a performance like that. It speaks volumes for the man."

As regards the FA hearing, Dalglish said: "We can't comment on that. It's not my choice. We'd love to comment.

"I'm afraid we wouldn't like to prejudice anything. We've been respectful all the way through and I don't think at this stage we'd want to be accused of losing that respect."

Dalglish also shrugged off the verbal abuse aimed by Villa fans towards winger Stewart Downing after his £20million summer move to Anfield.

The Scot said: "You must lead a sheltered life if you think that (reception) was tough. It's sad. It would have been better giving their support to their own players because it wasn't going to upset Stuart.

"He was excellent, so obviously it worked!"

Dalglish added: "We did have a lot chances in the game. We're there to try and create them. Obviously one day we're going to finish them off. One day we're going to do it.

"It never probably seemed as comfortable from the sideline as it was. We've got really good spirit in the dressing room and that shows on the pitch."

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David Beckham Praises Chicharito

David Beckham, LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy superstar David Beckham has some good advice for Man United striker Chicharito.

"Enjoy playing for Manchester United. It’s the best club in the world."

Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is growing into an outstanding player under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson..

"Chicharito has been exceptional when he’s played," said Beckham.

"He scores goals, he takes chances, he works hard for the team.

"It’s great to see that. It’s great to see a young player doing really well who is from a different part of the world. To go to Manchester United and do well is exceptional."

"He wouldn’t be in the team and he wouldn’t be scoring goals if Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t think he was a good player," Beckham said.

"It says a lot that he’s playing, it says a lot that he’s getting minutes on the field, obviously, the manager thinks a lot of him. Good luck to him."

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Premier League Upcoming Matches

The buzz in the Premier League is about Arsenal receiving two disgracefull decisions in their recent game with Liverpool.

Nani was carried off and sidelined as a result of an injury inflicted by Carragher’s first-half tackle during the 3-1 defeat at Anfield - which resulted in referee Phil Dowd brandishing a yellow card to the Liverpool defender.

Jamie Carragher was not sent off for a blatant assault on Nani. It was a high, reckless, illegal tackle - and a red should have been shown. Carragher recieved only a yellow for the tackle, while Edwin van der Sar recieved the same punishment for simply expressing his anger at the decision. The high tackle resulted in a deep wound and it is the height of the tackle which is the despairing part of it - without douby, Jamie Carragher should not have been allowed to stay on the pitch.

Going into the weekend, Manchester United sits on top of the English Premiership followed by arch-rival Arsenal. The rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger is intense this campaign with Manchester united and Arsenal in direct competition for the FA Cup and Premier League trophies.

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