De Goey to fight for his place

Chelsea goalkeeper Ed De Goey has not given up the fight to regain his first team place after rejecting a loan move to First Division promotion hopefuls Bolton.

Chelsea managing director Colin Hutchinson denied that a loan deal had been agreed although he confirmed Bolton had made an enquiry for the 34-year-old Dutchman, who is now third choice behind Carlo Cudicini and Mark Bosnich at Stamford Bridge.

Hutchinson explained: "Bolton made an enquiry and we asked Ed whether he wanted to go there on loan but he told us that he would rather fight for his place at the club."

Hutchinson also admitted that Chelsea are interested in Rangers midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

However, he stressed that van Bronckhorst had not been part of discussions when they sold striker Tore Andre Flo to the Glasgow club for £12 million.

Hutchinson added: "The player has been linked with us and we know all about him but it is nonsense to suggest that we were involved in talks with him when we sold Tore.

"He has been out for five months with injury and he is one of the many players we are looking at."

Chelsea will have Croatian midfielder Mario Stanic and Dutch defender Mario Melchiot, who have recovered from injury, back in their squad against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

Sunderland's 34-year-old striker Niall Quinn, who has been advised by a specialist to forget all about football for the next month because of a recurring back injury, says he wants to play.