Europe
Nelsen hasn’t been seen since Rovers’ 3-1 loss to Aston Villa in August – his only appearance in the Premier League this season due to an operation on his knee – but the sight of him being put through his paces with the reserves will have been a welcome sight for Blackburn fans.
Manager Steve Kean told the club’s website they were trying to ease the influential defender back to full fitness by January after his early season setback.
“Ryan came through 45 minutes in a behind-closed doors-friendly match against Carlisle and came through that well,” Kean said.
“The progress for him now will be an hour’s match next week behind closed doors and then it is a case of building up his match time to tick all the boxes and make sure he isn’t in any discomfort or any type of pain. Such was the extent of the operation he had, it had a prognosis of anywhere between four and nine months out.
“When he came back in the Aston Villa game it really knocked him back a bit unfortunately. So we want to make sure he comes back right, by January we expect him to be getting 90 minutes under his belt for the reserves and we’ll see how his knee holds up after that.”
Fellow defender Winston Reid is still sidelined for West Ham United, who lost 3-0 at Reading in the Championship but Chris Wood’s mid-week birthday goal earned him a start for Birmingham City, who beat Doncaster Rovers 2-1 at home.
In the Scottish Premier League, Rory Fallon put Aberdeen 2-0 ahead in 17th minute but the Dons couldn’t hang on to their lead and finished all square with St Mirren, two goals apiece.
Down in Wales, Greg Draper scored his 11th league goal of the season as The New Saints claimed a 1-1 away draw with Aberystwyth Town which sees them drop to third place, two points off the lead in the Welsh Premier League.
In Malta, Kris Bright scored his fifth goal of the season in a 3-2 win over second-placed Hibernians, striking just before halftime to help set up the upset victory.
The Football Ferns’ Bundesliga contingent enjoyed an unbeaten weekend and all got starts for their respective German clubs.
Rebecca Smith’s VfL Wolfsburg won 2-0 at home over Essen-Schönebeck to close to within one point of the Champions League places, while Ria Percival and FFC Frankfurt held second-placed FCR Duisburg to a 1-1 draw to do their Champions League chances no harm.
Katie Hoyle and Sarah Gregorius enjoyed a 3-0 win with Bad Neuenahr at Bayer Leverkusen to consolidate seventh position, while Amber Hearn’s USV Jena drew nil-all away to Freiburg to move up to eighth.
Asia/Oceania
Ben Sigmund’s towering late header from a Leo Bertos corner sealed a 1-0 win over Shane Smeltz’s Perth Glory at home and moved the Wellington Phoenix up to seventh spot in the A-League, one point outside the top six. Tim Brown and Tony Lochhead both started for Wellington but Lochhead could now be sidelined after suffering a groin injury.
Glen Moss was in typically defiant form for the bottomplaced Gold Coast United but unlike recent weeks his efforts were rewarded with a clean sheet in a goalless draw with Sydney FC.
Michael McGlinchey got one over All Whites team mate Jeremy Brockie as the Central Coast Mariners defeated the Newcastle Jets 2-0, with a McGlinchey corner supplying the opening goal.
Marco Rojas was a late substitute for Melbourne Victory in a 1-1 draw with Adelaidem United, and he almost stole all three points for Melbourne but his dangerous ball across the face of goal eluded everyone.
In the Australian W-League, Abby Erceg and Anna Green both played full games for Adelaide, who remain bottom after a 2-0 away loss to Brisbane.
In Japan, Michael Fitzgerald played 90 minutes for Zweigen Kanagawa in 3-3 away draw with Yokogawa Musashino as they slipped further off the top-four pace in the Japanese Football League.
Also in Japan, Oceania champions Auckland City were eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup by J-League winner Kashiwa Reysol in Toyota City on Thursday night.
Auckland were comfortably beaten 2-0 but put up a good fight, especially late in the second half when All Whites David Mulligan and Ivan Vicelich forced classy saves from Kashiwa goalkeeper Takanori Sugeno.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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