Ronnie Baxter (9/2 To Qualify For The Play-Offs) returns to the big stage on Thursday determined to break into the top four for the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts.

The Blackpool-based fans’ favourite (50/1 Premier League - Outright) makes his Premier League comeback at the O2 Arena in London against Terry Jenkins (Baxter 15/8 tie 4/1 Jenkins 4/5 match betting) – four years since his last appearance.

Baxter has slipped off the radar since 2006 but reached three televised semi-finals last year and is excited at the prospect of performing in front of a packed house.

“Obviously finishing in the top four is the obvious goal for me going into this year’s tournament, and then you want to go on and win it,” said Baxter.

He added on pdc.tv: “One of the big changes since I was last involved in the Premier League is the size of the crowds, because the biggest audience then was at Bournemouth when we had 3,000 fans and now we’re talking between 8,000 and 10,000 at The O2.

“That’s great, bring it on!”

2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts

Week One

February 11 - The O2, London

Ronnie Baxter v Terry Jenkins
Mervyn King v Adrian Lewis
Raymond van Barneveld v James Wade
Simon Whitlock v Phil Taylor

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Roberto Mancini has said his Manchester City players must learn to get nasty if they want to realise their ambition of securing Champions League football for next season (Man City 8/11 Premier League without Big 4).

The Italian was unimpressed by the manner in which his top-four hopefuls were bullied by relegation-threatened Hull in a 2-1 defeat at the KC Stadium on Saturday and has demanded a marked improvement for the visit of north-west rivals Bolton (Man City 4/11 draw 16/5 Bolton 6/1 Premier League match betting) on Tuesday.

Jozy Altidore opened the scoring in the 31st minute with his first Premier League goal and veteran midfielder George Boateng added a stunning volley to give the Tigers a first win since November on a day to forget for City in which Wayne Bridge was subjected by boos by the home crowd and Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson made their debuts off the bench.

Emmanuel Adebayor halved the deficit with a consolation goal but Mancini was left with plenty to think about on a weekend when Liverpool grabbed fourth spot.

He said: “If we want to make the top four, we must win away and we must fight. We must be aggressive away, not like the first half.”

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Arsene Wenger does not expect Chelsea to be weakened by the furore caused by allegations about John Terry’s private life and insists Arsenal will not be intimidated when they go to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (Chelsea 3/4 draw 13/5 Arsenal 18/5 Premier League - match betting).

Terry was replaced by Rio Ferdinand as captain of England on Friday in the wake of week-long revelations about an alleged affair with the ex girlfriend of former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti insists Terry still has the support of the players and Wenger does not expect the media storm to have any impact when the two London sides clash at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

“I don’t want to go into that stuff about role models that you hear everywhere. It is quite a bit tiring,” said the Arsenal manager.

“We do not have to interfere with Chelsea’s problems.”

Wenger said he expects to see a reaction from his players following their 3-1 home defeat by champions Manchester United last Sunday - and 3-0 drubbing by Chelsea in November last year at Emirates Stadium (Arsenal 9/1 Premier League - Outright).

“I believe we should be more relaxed at this time because at the start of the season nobody expected us in the top four or in the title race,” he added.

“Now, instead of being intimidated, I believe we have to really have a go because we are entitled to have it.”

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Carlo Ancelotti has said he will no qualms about making under-fire captain John Terry face the music when Chelsea entertain Arsenal in Sunday’s Premier League showdown at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea 3/4 draw 13/5 Arsenal 18/5 Premier League - match betting).

Terry was sacked by coach Fabio Capello as captain of the England team on Friday in response to allegations about his private life.

The 29-year-old is alleged to have had an affair with an ex-girlfriend of former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.

However, Ancelotti insisted the media storm would not disrupt Chelsea’s mission to dethrone Manchester United as Premier League champions.

When asked if Terry (18/1 First and Last Goalscorer) still had the backing of the Chelsea players, the Italian coach replied: “I think so.”

Ancelotti revealed he had not even spoken to Terry about the week-long headlines regarding his private life and that he will be mentally right to face Arsenal on Sunday.

He added: “I have not spoken to him. It’s not necessary for me to speak to him about his private life.

“It’s his private life and I don’t want to know anything about this. I’m only interested in his professional behaviour and that is the best.”

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Jose Reina has said Liverpool must not look beyond Saturday’s Merseyside derby opponents Everton in the race for Champions League football (Liverpool 8/11 draw 9/4 Everton 10/3 - Premier League match betting).

An upturn in form in recent weeks – Liverpool are unbeaten in six Premier League matches – has given supporters fresh believe that a top-four finish is achievable.

Victory in the early fixture against David Moyes’ men would lift Liverpool back into Champions League contention and pile the pressure on Tottenham ahead of their home game against fellow top-four hopefuls Aston Villa at White Hart Lane.

However, 27-year-old goalkeeper Reina (Liverpool 13/10 To Keep A Clean Sheet) has told his team-mates they must focus on the job in hand and not get ahead of themselves.

“It is a big match and we know that but we play at home once again and we know the supporters will be right behind us,” said the Spain international.

“Our target is to beat Everton, that is the only one at the moment.

“We cannot think any further ahead than that because we are not in the same situation as last season when we were fighting for the title.”

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A tearful Andy Murray insisted he was good enough to win a Grand Slam in reaction to his 6-3 6-4 7-6 (13/11) defeat by Roger Federer in the Australian Open final on Sunday (7/4 ‘Yes’ Murray Wins A Grand Slam In 2010).

The 22-year-old (10/3 second favourite 2010 Wimbledon Men’s Outright) succumbed to his second major final defeat to the same opponent following his 2008 US Open straight sets shocker by Federer, but was hearted by his performance in reaching the final at the Rod Laver Arena.

Muray said: “I’m getting closer (to a Grand Slam). My results in the Grand Slams would show that.

“I’ve just got to keep working hard.”

The Scot will now rise to number three in the world ranking and is pleased to be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Murray said his run to the final at Melbourne Park had given him the belief that he could now go on and make his Grand Slam breakthrough.

He added: “I worked really hard to get to this stage. I wanted to win the tournament.

“It was pretty emotional at the end of the match, but I’m hungry to win one. It’s something I’ve wanted since I was 16 or 17, but so far it’s not been good enough.

“I’m sure one day it will be. When it comes, maybe because of the two losses, it will be even better.”

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Darren Bent has warned his Sunderland team-mates they must start to pick up points quickly – starting against Stoke (Sunderlad 21/20 draw 12/5 Stoke 5/2 Premier League match betting) on Monday – to avoid being sucked deeper into a Premier League relegation scrap.

An alarming run of form of just one win in their last 11 games in all competitions - against non-league Barrow in the FA Cup – has seen the Black Cats slip to just three points above third-from-bottom Burnley.

World Cup hopeful Bent (9/2 First and Last Goalscorer) has scored 15 goals this season and knows consecutive home clashes with the Potters and Wigan at the weekend can raise confidence at the Stadium of Light.

He said: “These next two games are very important. There was a period not so long ago that if we had won one or two games, we would have been in the top four.

“It can change so quickly. We have let our standards slip and we have fallen off. We are ready to get back to that.”

With just five points separating the relegation-threatened Clarets and Monday’s opponents Stoke in 12th, Bent knows how important wins can be at such a critical stage of the season.

He added: “We have got two massive games now and hopefully we can take full points from those two games.

“Fortunes can change so quickly. It has gone from good to bad, but it can easily go back to good again.”

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Defending champion Serena Williams (8/13 2010 Australian Open - Women’s Outright) admitted she had resigned herself to defeat before storming back to reach the semi-finals and shatter the Australian Open dream for Victoria Azarenka.

The top seed came from a set and 4-0 down to post a 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 win on the Rod Laver Arena to set up a last-four showdown with surprise package Li Na (16/1 2010 Australian Open - Women’s Outright) of China.

The big-hitting American, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2003, revealed she was thinking of her flight home at her lowest point against Azarenka.

The match turned on its head towards the end of the second set when Williams, who said she was “shocked” and “surprised” to get through, rallied to win five games in a row.

“I didn’t expect to win when I was down 0-4,” said Williams.

“I was actually thinking ‘if I lose today and I lose in doubles I think I can catch a flight on Friday’. That’s not what a champion is supposed to think, but that’s what I was thinking.

‘I’m just happy to still be here.”

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Tournament fourth seed and world number four Caroline Wozniacki vowed she would return “stronger” in reaction to her disappointing 6-4 6-3 round four defeat by China’s Li Na at the Australian Open (Wozniacki 20/1 - 2010 Wimbledon Women’s Outright).

Li, the 16th seed, who will now tackle Venus Williams of America, joins countrywoman Zheng Jie (Kirilenko 11/10 Zheng 4/6 match betting) for the first two Chinese women have reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.

Wozniacki appeared troubled by a thigh injury which required a bandage and Li, who beat the US Open finalist in Sydney earlier this month, was able to take control and serve out the match.

Wozniacki said: “I had my chances, especially in the first set leading all the time. I had my chance for 5-2 and I didn’t take it. Then she started well with the new balls.

“There’s a long way to go (in 2010). There’s a long year ahead of me. Now I’m going to go and practice and work even harder and come back stronger hopefully.

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World number one Roger Federer suggested he has not yet hit top gear at the Australian Open in response to his 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over 31st seed Albert Montanes.

Montanes was not allowed a single break-point opportunity in what was a one-sided third-round encounter on the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

The win secured Federer his 50th victory at the Australian Open and keeps the Swiss superstar in contention for a fourth title.

“I feel good, I feel confident,” Federer said.

“Physically I’m fine and fresh and that’s how you want to feel going into the second week.”

The 15-time Grand Slam champion, contesting his 11th successive Australian Open, will next face the winner of the match between home fancy Lleyton Hewitt and 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis (Baghdatis 11/10 Hewitt 4/6 In Play) in round four.