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David Moyes has confirmed Everton striker Louis Saha is set to miss the rest of the season through injury.

Saha suffered an ankle injury during the 2-1 victory over Fulham last month and has since undergone surgery on the problem.

The striker had scored nine goals already in 2011, and his injury now leaves Everton with a shortage of strikers and means a heavy reliance on Jermaine Beckford for the final weeks of the season.

Everton are also suffering from injuries in midfield and defence, with Mikel Arteta and Marouane Fellaini certain to miss Saturday’s game at home to Aston Villa on Saturday and Jack Rodwell, Seamus Coleman and Tim Cahill all doubtful.

“We have got a lot of injuries,” Moyes said. “Louis has had an operation this week which will probably rule him out for the season.

“It is football, isn’t it? You pick up injuries and we try not to talk too much about them but we have a spate of them at this present time.

“Mikel has been away in Spain for a few weeks, recuperating and recovering from his hamstring problem. He is due back over the weekend and we will see how he is.”

Moyes believes international friendlies, such as England’s game against Ghana on Tuesday, are contributing to clubs’ injury problems.

“To have a friendly at this stage of the season is difficult,” he said. “I understand why the national teams want them but we are into the last six or seven weeks of the season and you can see the amount of injuries players are having, probably on the back of the World Cup and other international tournaments.

“I think that is why you are probably seeing so many injuries if you look around the Premier League. People are probably not getting to see the best players right now because the football is taking its toll on them.

“They are all involved in so much football and they need a break.”

He added: “I do take a lot of pride because I want them to be selected for their country, but I am beginning to doubt if that is what I want.

“I am just beginning to look and say, ‘Is it worth it?’. We have lost quite a few players. They don’t pay the players’ wages – we have to.”

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Andrei Arshavin believes Arsenal’s end of season run-in gives them the edge in the race for the Premier League title.

Second-placed Arsenal trail leaders Manchester United by five points, with a game in hand, but have a much less congested schedule after being dumped out of the Carling Cup, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.

Meanwhile, United face neighbours Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and must play both Arsenal and the Blues in the league next month.

Arsenal, who have not won a trophy for six years, only have the Premier League title still to play for and while Arshavin would prefer to be fighting on all fronts he feels a sole focus could be beneficial.

“I think our schedule is not so bad, that is why if we win all our games we have a good chance to be champions,” Arshavin told Sky Sports News.

“I think everyone in our team would prefer to have more possibilities than only one trophy, but everything is in the past, that is why we have to concentrate on the Premier League matches.

“Straight after it was very difficult for everyone, but now we have come back after the internationals and have refreshed our minds and maybe it will help us. I think we are in the race.”

Arsenal resume their Premier League campaign with a home clash against struggling Blackburn Rovers while United face a tricky trip to West Ham. Arshavin joked: “I met with Avram Grant yesterday, we had a chat and I have asked him to steal some points from Manchester United this weekend!”

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Jose Mourinho has hinted that Real Madrid stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema will not be fit for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s La Liga clash with Sporting Gijon, Mourinho claimed Ronaldo, Benzema and Marcelo would not be available until next weekend game against Athletic Bilbao.

The news will come as big boost for Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp who is suffering a defensive injury crisis and is preparing to go into the game with just two fit centre-backs.

Mourinho said: “Cristiano, Marcelo and Benzema can only play in Bilbao.”

Ronaldo, Real’s leading goalscorer, has been struggling with a hamstring injury while fellow forward Benzema, who is in a rich vein of form, picked up a slight thigh strain on France duty and full-back Marcelo suffered a blow to the ribs while training with Brazil.

On a brighter note for Madrid, Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain could make an earlier-than-expected return following back surgery.

Higuain has been included in the squad for Saturday’s game against Gijon, and Mourinho said: “His recovery is a positive surprise because we thought he may miss up to the final 15 games of the season and having him is important.”

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Friday night’s Bundesliga game between St Pauli and Schalke was abandoned with two minutes to go because of crowd trouble at the Millerntor-Stadion which saw an object thrown at an assistant referee.

In a stormy game which saw the home side have a goal disallowed and two men sent off, Schalke were leading 2-0 when the action was halted after goals from Raul and Julian Draxler.

With moments to play, referee Deniz Aytekin took the players off the field after his assistant Thorsten Schiffner was struck by an object, apparently a mug of beer, thrown from the crowd.

“There is no explanation for this,” St Pauli coach Holger Stanislawski was quoted as saying on Kicker. “Things like this should never happen in a football stadium.

“We on the bench do shout and scream a lot and there’s always a lot of aggression on the field but anyone who throws things is always endangering other people.

“In the name of St Pauli Football Club I would like to apologise to the assistant referee.”

The German football association (DFB) must now decide whether the result will stand, with the possibility of a 3-0 defeat and further sanctions hanging over the Hamburg-based side.

Raul had already hit the bar when he put Schalke ahead in the 26th minute, the former Real Madrid man heading home after Jefferson Farfan whipped in a corner.

Fin Bartels sent a swerving shot just over as the hosts finally enjoyed some pressure but Schalke almost doubled their lead when Edu headed wide while Raul sent a 45-yard chip on to the roof of the net on the brink of half-time.

With 25 minutes left, St Pauli were denied a goal thanks to a dubious offside decision and Schalke went down the other end to score, Draxler bundling the ball over the line for his first Bundesliga goal.

Just three minutes later St Pauli were down to 10 men when Jan-Phillip Kalla received his second yellow card for a challenge on Farfan.

Eleven minutes from time, St Pauli’s woes worsened when Bartels was given a straight record for a lunge on Farfan.

And the Hamburg club’s evening came to the worst possible end when the match was called off in the 88th minute.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has rubbished the Premier League’s new crackdown on referee criticism, claiming it is “not an issue” despite being in the middle of a five-match ban for just that.

Manchester United boss Ferguson criticised Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore’s role in the plan, saying he has not thought about it, while insisting there is no disrespect of referees from club managers.

Scudamore this week announced a new campaign, backed by the top-flight clubs, targeting “unacceptable” criticism of and behaviour towards referees by players and managers.

Ferguson, who picked up a five-match touchline ban last month for his comments about referee Martin Atkinson, said: “Richard Scudamore doesn’t have a lot to do. He is trying to elevate the Premier League. That is good. That is his job. But I feel he is jumping off a high diving board here without thinking about it.

“It is not an issue for me. I don’t think managers disrespect referees. I got done for what I considered a fair comment. They gave me a five-match ban. That’s fine. That doesn’t mean I don’t respect referees. It is a difficult job. We all know that. I wouldn’t referee a game. We do need them.”

Scudamore, due to give evidence to the Parliamentary inquiry into football governance on Tuesday, announced the new measures following a meeting of chairmen on Thursday. Professional Footballers’ Association chairman Clarke Carlisle gave qualified backing, warning there must be no grey areas in the new rules.

He told Press Association Sport: “As long as the guidelines are clear we will support them. They need to make sure there are no grey areas so that referees can apply them consistently and players know where they stand.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said football should follow the example set in rugby, where only the captain is allowed to approach the referee.

Wenger said: “The managers are always under pressure and sometimes we get a little bit too far, but many times it’s just after the game in moments when it is very difficult for any manager to keep the right distance with what happened on the pitch. We can be inspired by what happens in rugby, for example, but sometimes the referees get too close to the players as well and they have to keep the right distance with the players.”

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has called for a “cooling-off period” directly after the match in order to give managers time to collect their thoughts, rather than be immediately exposed to television interviews.

“You get a microphone shoved in front of you after 10 minutes of the game finishing and sometimes feelings are running high,” he said. “You say things on the spur of the moment, and it’s not easy. There should be a cooling-off period and maybe a chance to speak to the referee after the game about the decisions he has made before you go on the TV.”

He did stress, however, that the sight of players harassing officials repulses him.

Redknapp added: “Players want to question decisions but they should be kept away. You get nothing out of chasing referees. It’s very rare that they change the decisions so chasing and harassing referees is not a lot of use to anybody and it shouldn’t happen. It’s not an easy job, so you have to give them all the respect in the world. They do an honest job and sometimes they make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes.”

The Football Association chairman David Bernstein was present at the meeting of top-flight chairmen on Thursday and said this was support for his organisation’s Respect campaign.

Bernstein said: “I’m delighted that the Premier League has pledged its renewed support to contribute to the Respect agenda. I made it clear, from the first day of my appointment, that Respect is one of my key priorities as FA chairman and, having been present at yesterday’s Premier League shareholders’ meeting, I was encouraged to witness strong support on this matter.

“We need more and better role models for young people throughout the game and it is clear that any examples of unacceptable behaviour towards referees can have an influence on the wider football world.”

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