Crystal Palace boss George Burley is relieved to have kept hold of Julian Speroni after revealing Fulham made a late bid for the goalkeeper.

Cottagers boss Mark Hughes wanted to bring in the Eagles shot-stopper, with first-choice keeper Mark Schwarzer linked with a move to Arsenal, but the deal fell through.

“There was an interest but nothing materialised,” Burley told the South London Press.

“We’ve managed to keep hold of Julian, certainly until January at least, which is great.

“He has proven himself to be a fantastic keeper over a number of years and I’m very pleased he’s still at the club.”

Goalkeeper Michael Fraser admits he is “gutted” at being released by Motherwell, who have also sent three players to Albion Rovers on loan.

The 26-year-old keeper joined the Fir Park club on a pre-contact agreement from Inverness last summer, but struggled to hold down a first-team place.

He was back-up to John Ruddy last season and has found himself third in the pecking order this term, behind Darren Randolph and Lee Hollis.

Despite having nine months left on his contract, Fraser came to agreement to leave early in order to find regular first-team football.

“I am really gutted to be leaving because I love the club and the people at the club,” he told the club’s official website.

“Things didn’t work out for me and I am sad about that but, you know, that’s football.

“I stay in Uddingston, I really like the area, so ideally I would like to stay down here and get a club in the central belt.

“Craig Brown and Archie Knox have been brilliant with me; they’ve not forced me out or cut me adrift. It’s just one of those things.

“I would like to thank Motherwell FC for the opportunity and wish them all the best going forward.”

Motherwell announced four departures in total today with Steven Meechan, Steven Lawless and Peter Innes all having joined Albion Rovers on six-month loan spells.

Well boss Craig Brown said: “These three going out on loan is a part of the strategy we have in developing our young talent, preparing them for life in the first-team squad.

“We already have Dario Quinn at Linlithgow Rose, Jordan Halsman at Annan and Gary Smith at Dumbarton.

“Competitive football will do these guys the world of good and we hope when they return they will be in a much better position to challenge for a spot in our starting XI.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis has spoken of his frustration at the situation he finds himself in with wantaway goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and branded it as a “disease” in football.

I’m disappointed that the kid (Begovic) has come out now and said that it wasn’t him who decided he wasn’t going to play.

Tony Pulis

Begovic has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea, and missed Stoke’s 2-1 League Cup victory over Shrewsbury, with Pulis claiming afterwards that the 23-year-old had refused to play.

Ironically Stoke travel to Chelsea for a Premier League game on Saturday in which it is unlikely that Begovic will be involved. On the Full Time Result market Chelsea are heavily fancied at 1.11, with Stoke the outsiders at 23.00 and the draw 9.00.

Yesterday the PFA revealed Begovic subsequently contacted them saying that he did not refuse to play, but had indicated, when asked by Pulis if he was 100% fit and ready to play, that “his mind was a little bit scrambled” and that he would prefer not to play if there was an alternative.

This does not seem to have improved the Bosnian’s relationship with his manager though.

“I had a good meeting with (Stoke chairman) Peter (Coates) yesterday and we’ll deal with it internally,” Pulis said.

“I’m disappointed that the kid has come out now and said that it wasn’t him who decided he wasn’t going to play. I think that is desperately disappointing and I will speak to him about that.

“We had a (team) meeting on Tuesday, I picked the team, he was in it and then we went out and trained. I told Carlo Nash he was going to be on the bench, I told Thomas Sorensen he wasn’t involved, and I will leave you to decide then who changed who’s opinion.

“I’m really disappointed with the stuff that has come out, but we’ll deal with it in-house and we certainly won’t be pushed or bullied into a situation where we are releasing players, never mind what the situation is.”

Begovic has only been at Stoke since the end of January and Pulis has vowed to stand up for the Potters against anybody looking to tempt the player away.

“He’s a good kid and he has been smashing ever since he joined this club, but something has turned his head,” Pulis said.

“I think you have to be strong enough as a football club, no matter how much pressure is being put on, to stand up at times and really protect your club.

“We paid good money to buy him and pay him good money to be here and play for this football club.

He continued: “He is a grown-up, but you have got experienced players getting involved in this as well.

“It is the not the first time it has happened and it will not be the last. It is just a disease which has grown and grown and grown.”

Stoke are 5.50 to be relegated from the Premier League 2010/11.

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Hearts manager Jim Jefferies has expressed his pleasure at the early goalscoring prowess of his side after they made it back-to-back 4-0 wins.

The Jambos began the season with a draw against St Johnstone but have since routed Hamilton and then Elgin in the Co-operative Insurance Cup last night.

Six players have scored Hearts’ nine goals so far this term and Jefferies is delighted to see players taking the burden off the shoulders of Kevin Kyle.

He said: “It was virtually a 4-2-4 formation against Elgin, with the two young boys (David Templeton and Novikovas) having a licence to go and play and get at them, get the crosses in.

“That is also why I played Craig Thomson at right-back because he has got great delivery and I knew he would get on the ball wide.

“I think it was him who put the cross in for Kyle’s goal, which was fantastic.

“There were two or three great balls in and the goalkeeper made marvellous saves.

“Eggert, Kyle, Novikovas and Robinson shared the goals around which is good.

“Kevin could have had a hat-trick if hadn’t been for their keeper and Ryan Stevenson was unlucky with one as well. We were very pleased.”

Hearts last lifted the League Cup in season 1962-63, but Jefferies is refusing to get carried away after progressing against the Third Division’s bottom club.

The former Kilmarnock boss, who lifted the Scottish Cup in his first spell at Hearts in 1998, knows the luck of the draw is crucial to their hopes.

He added: “It would be nice to get to another final and then have a crack at it, but you just have to see what the draw brings and do the best you can.”

Calum Elliot missed the win over Elgin with a knee injury but was due to have a scan today that could show he has a chance of facing Dundee United on Sunday.

“It’s not the knee he had problems with before, it’s the other one,” Jefferies told Edinburgh Evening News.

“He caught his studs in the turf as he turned and we feared the worst.

“The doctor looked at it last night and it looks like it’s not as bad as we feared.

“We thought it might have been his cartilage but the doc doesn’t think so.

“We will scan it just to get it right but the doc doesn’t think it’s the cartilage.

“If that’s right he’ll have a chance for the weekend.

“It was a blow to us that Calum wasn’t available last night because we would have played him with him being on fire right now.

“He’s probably wishing he did play because he might have got a few goals as we were in such command.”

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis is to have showdown talks with Asmir Begovic after the goalkeeper refused to play for the club.

To do what he has done is totally disrespectful.

Tony Pulis

Begovic, who only arrived in January from Portsmouth, was selected to start against Shrewsbury in the League Cup last night but it was Carlo Nash who lined up between the posts.

The goalkeeper has been linked with a transfer away from the Britannia Stadium and it appears that he is set on a move.

Tony Pulis revealed after Stoke’s 2-1 win: “He said he did not want to play.

“I find that very disappointing. We pay his wages and he has a responsibility to the club. We have a lot of supporters who idolise this club and love it.

“We have a management team and people around who have been here a long time. They respect the club and like it as much as the supporters do. To do what he has done is totally disrespectful.

“Obviously people have been blowing in his ear. That goes on. I will have a chat with him.”

Asked if Begovic’s actions would push the player closer to the exit door, Pulis responded: “With our chairman (Peter Coates) it is less likely. I do not think Peter will be pushed around.

“We won’t be giving him (Begovic) away and doing a deal because of what he has done. There has been interest from one or two clubs but nowhere near our valuation. We think he is a good goalkeeper and we want good players.”

Begovic aside, it was a good night for Stoke who are safely through to the third-round thanks goals from Jon Walters and Tuncay.

Walters made the breakthrough with his first goal for the Potters in the 26th minute.

It was some retribution for Walters, who was left frustrated on Saturday when he thought he had equalised against Tottenham in stoppage time only for referee Chris Foy to wave play on.

Eleven minutes later Tuncay added Stoke’s second, both goals coming from headers, while Steve Leslie replied late-on for the npower League Two side.

Shrewsbury manager Graham Turner said: “We were too cautious in the first half and afraid of what Premier League players might do.

“But we then pushed on and passed with more purpose. Overall the effort from my players was very pleasing.”

Next-up for Stoke is a daunting trip to Premier League champions Chelsea on Saturday. The Potters can be backed at 23.00 to get a shock result, while Chelsea are fancied at 1.11 and the draw is 9.00.

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