He is bubbly in training and is the type of player that can get at defenders, put them under pressure and take people on. He has been an asset to us.”Paul Konchesky yesterday clinched a one-month loan extension at Tottenham Hotspur – saving him from a “horrible” return to Charlton. We’ve now got to be patient and see how it all pans out.”The West Bromwich chairman, Jeremy Peace, added: “We still have to agree personal terms with Darren and his agent and there are other clubs interested in him.”Arsenal have agreed to allow the winger Jermaine Pennant to remain on loan at Leeds for a fifth month. The 20-year-old joined the Elland Road club in mid-August and has so far proved a tremendous success, scoring his first goal for Leeds in the recent 1-1 home draw with Chelsea.Although Pennant played for Leeds against the Gunners in the 4-1 Premiership defeat on 1 November, he will not be allowed to face his employers in the FA Cup third-round tie at Elland Road on 4 January.The Leeds caretaker manager, Eddie Gray, said: “The boy has been terrific. West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City will fight it out for the signature of the Manchester City striker Darren Huckerby.

Substitutes not used: Shaaban (gk), Papadopulos, Simek.Referee: M Messias (York).. Substitutes not used: Murphy (gk), Chambers.Arsenal (4-4-2): Stack; Lauren, Keown, Tavlardis, Clichy; Kanu, Parlour, Edu, Bentley (Thomas, 81); Aliadi? (Fabregas, 73), Wiltord. Scott Dobie hit the bar with a powerful shot and Hughes missed by a coat of paint with a solid header.West Bromwich Albion (5-3-2): Hoult; Haas, Gregan, Gaardsoe, Volmer (Gilchrist, 65), Clement; Wallwock, O’Connor (Sakiri, 71), Johnson (Hughes, 38); Dobie, Hulse. The Albion goalkeeper was not helped by a carelessly hit back-pass by Thomas Gaardsoe but will kick himself for allowing Aliadi? to intercept his attempted clearance, the young Frenchman running the ball into an unguarded net to add to his two goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the previous round.A calf injury to Messias, fortunately not serious enough to require another change of official, caused another interruption before Albion tried again in vain to find a way back into the contest. The increasingly impressive Stack closed the angle well to save from Hulse, but Hughes wasted a clear opportunity from 12 yards by blazing high over the bar.Arsenal were handed their second goal by a catastrophic error from Hoult that effectively booked the Gunners’ passage to the last four only 11 minutes into the second half. The Premiership referee Dermot Gallagher — at the ground as a guest in Albion’s VIP lounge — took over from Barry Knight as the fourth official after volunteering his services.Immediately after the resumption Albion had two good chances.

The header by O’Connor ruled out for offside appeared on replays to have been wrongly disallowed and after Megson had replaced Johnson with Lee Hughes, his fellow striker, Rob Hulse, brought a good save from Stack with an overhead kick.There was a delay to the start of the second half, caused when one of the referee’s assistants was injured. Russell Hoult made a superb reaction save but could do nothing to prevent Kanu following up to score.Undeterred, the home side maintained their work-rate and might have sneaked an equaliser before half-time. There was encouragement when the first of several well-struck free-kicks by Neil Clement was fumbled by the Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack before being swept away for a corner.But after a Clement cross-shot had grazed the angle of post and crossbar, Arsenal went in front, Kanu meeting a deflected cross by Lauren with a powerful header. “Andy Johnson felt he should have had a penalty and the header by James O’Connor that was disallowed was not offside.”After their victory over a Manchester United XI in the previous round, the home side, who had suffered a blow when their key midfielder Jason Koumas cried off with a hamstring injury, were confident enough early on to test the capability of Arsenal’s less familiar names. “We made some basic mistakes and paid for them but I thought we deserved to score,” he said. It was a very physical game and we needed the experienced players to be out there,” he said. “Albion fought for every ball and we needed to be focused for the full 90 minutes.”The Albion manager, Gary Megson, admitted that his side “probably did not deserve to win the game” but had reason to feel badly served both by luck and the officials, having been denied at least one clear penalty against Martin Keown and having had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside.

Goals by Nwankwo Kanu in the first half and the 20-year-old French striker J?mie Aliadi? in the second gained a semi-final place for the Premiership leaders.
It was not an impressive performance, perhaps understandably given the unusual mix of personnel, but the Arsenal manager, Ars? Wenger, said he had anticipated a physical contest that would demand a high level of concentration and was clearly satisfied with the outcome “I thought it was the right mix. Arsenal maintained their interest in the Carling Cup despite taking on the side at the top of the First Division with a combination of squad players and potential future stars at The Hawthorns last night. The fifth offer to buy a major share in the club was made one hour after Friday’s deadline for potential investors to come forward.The club have not revealed any further details, but have stressed it is not connected with the pop star and Vale fan Robbie Williams or Stoke City’s Icelandic owners, both of whom have been linked with the Second Division side.. That may well be led by Ming, who is also chairman of the Chinese Division A side, Dalian Shide. McKenzie, confirmed on Monday that he will not be standing for re-election at next Tuesday’s annual general meeting.Port Vale’s board of directors are set to discuss a new takeover bid for the club this week. A Chinese tycoon has emerged as a prospective buyer who would prevent debt-ridden Leeds United from falling into administration.