Pat Murphy
BBC Radio 5 live

"West Brom boss Tony Pulis believes the FA Cup is being devalued this year by the scheduling of midweek Premier League and Championship matches after the third and fourth rounds.

"'I'm a traditionalist who thinks the FA Cup is the greatest cup competition in world football and it deserves a clear run, so that managers can pick their strongest sides without being concerned about a league match a few days later.'"

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also discussed the current situation regarding the purchase of midfielder Mohamed Elneny from Basel...

"It is complicated a little bit but we will work hard on it and get to the end of it in the next few days," he said.

On other transfer news, he added: "Mathieu Debuchy has an opportunity to go but we have not been in touch with any club."

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

It was suggested to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger a number of times that his team have bigger targets than the FA Cup this season, but he was in no mood to bite...

"The FA Cup an important competition as always," he told reporters. "There is only one way to deal with the next game and that is to win it. We are confident because we know when we perform we can beat anyone. 

"We play at home in front of our crowd and we feel we can qualify. But Sunderland are dangerous on the break and it was a hard-fought win against them in the Premier League.

"We want to win every competition we participate in and the FA Cup is one of those.

"Everybody dreams to win the FA Cup. There might be priorities at some stage in the season but we have a big squad and re equipped to deal with all competitions.

"Being the holders - we won it twice in the last two years - and we want to do it again."

 Norwich City boss Alex Neil, on the signing of defender Ivo Pinto, said: "Ivo has had Champions League experience this season, playing against Arsenal and Bayern Munich where he did very well. "He’s a Portuguese Under-21 international and at only 26 has his best years ahead of him. He is an athletic and good defender and will bring us options at the back." 

 Norwich's new signing Ivo Pinto said:  "I'm very excited to come here and play for a big club in the Premier League. "I'm looking forward to starting work to help the team achieve their goals."

Ivo Pinto, a 26, has joined Norwich on a three-and-a-half year deal. 

The Portuguese defender joined Dinamo Zagreb in 2013 and has made over 100 appearances in all competitions to help his side to the Croatian league title in both 2014 and 2015, as well as the 2015 Croatian Cup. 

Pinto also gained Champions League experience, playing in Dinamo’s 2-1 home victory over Arsenal last year.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City have completed the signing of Portuguese right-back Ivo Pinto from Dinamo Zagreb for an undisclosed fee.

Next up is Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, speaking ahead of this weekend's FA Cup tie with Sunderland: "Everybody is available from last week and Mikel Arteta is back. Alexis Sanchez is a bit short to be involved in the squad but he is not far. 

"Arteta has been in and out since the start of the season and now I hope he will be a consistent presence in the team.

"Tomas Rosicky is not far off and Danny Welbeck may be three or four weeks."

Roberto Martinez says captain Phil Jagielka might be in contention on Saturday, after recovering from a knee injury.

"Phil is a real calm influence,he is somone who has been through every single situation. he is very helpful to have around. It would be a good opportunity to see him back on pitch."

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has spoken about the possibility of Republic of Ireland pair Aiden McGeady and Darren Gibson leaving the club.

"There has been a lot of interest shown in the pair, we will have to sit down and consider what the next step is. They are both working well in training, they are disappointed to not be getting many minutes and it is important that they are playing ahead of the Euros, that is something we have to look at."

Roberto Martinez on rumours surrounding the futures of John Stones and Romelu Lukaku:  "We are a football club that do not rely on selling player to balance the book. Window to window we want to make the team stronger, that is the end of the matter. The past five windows we have improved the squad, given  the young players bigger role and developed in an incredible manner and we will carry on doing that. No one will be sold to balance the books/

Roberto Martinez on team news for the FA Cup third round match: "I don't expect Seamus Coleman , Romelu Lukaku or Tom Cleverley to be available on Saturday. They are reacting well to treatment."

Everton manager Roberto Martinez: "Our Club has a unique connection with the FA Cup. We understand that and we look forward to Saturday.

"We expect it to be a tough encounter."

Roberto Martinez is in place, the news conference has started, so stand-by for updates ahead of their match with League Two side Dagenham and Redbridge.

Mike Hughes
Reporter, BBC Radio Merseyside Sport

The downside for Everton's memorable victory over Manchester City in the League Cup semi-final midweek was the number of injuries to key players.

Seamus Coleman is out for three to four weeks with a calf injury. Tom Cleverley aggravated an achilles problem and Romelu Lukaku suffered an ankle injury.

Image source, Getty Images

Coleman's injury is problematic for Roberto Martinez as he has little obvious cover at right-back at the moment.

The candidates include John Stones, Aaron Lennon, youngster Matthew Pennington, or perhaps even Leighton Baines.

There's likely to be quite a few changes to the starting line up tomorrow, given Everton's hectic January schedule, though Joel Robles is set to continue in goal.

Roberto Martinez news conference on the way at 09:00 GMT.

Very shortly (they say 09:00 GMT)  we will be hearing from Everton manager Roberto Martinez and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, so stayed tuned.

Image source, Getty Images

Alan Curtis will be a happy man this Friday.

Swansea City have announced the caretaker boss will remain in charge for the rest of the season.

The 61-year-old took charge after Garry Monk was sacked and led the team to one win, two draws and two defeats in five games, including three clean sheets.

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has been talking about new loan signing Juan Iturbe.

The 22-year-old Argentine has signed from Serie A side Roma until the end of the season, but will not be making his debut on Saturday, due to work permit issues.

Howe said: "It's exciting to have a player like Iturbe. We are doing all we can to help him settle & we have an interpreter.

"There is no update on Iturbe's work permit, it is ongoing. We hope to have an outcome by next week, maybe Tuesday.

 "Any new signing needs time to fit in. There is no pressure on Juan or anyone we sign to change our season."  

Image source, Getty Images

We will be hearing from A LOT of managers today ahead of the FA Cup third round (there are 64 teams involved).

First up is Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, who takes his side to St Andrew's on Saturday.

 "We will make changes for Birmingham, we have rotated in previous seasons and have had success with that format too

"We want to win, make no mistake about that. Winning is a habit and we want to go to Birmingham to win."

Image source, AFP

Michel Platini has announced he will not stand in the Fifa presidential election next month.

Platini, along with Fifa president Sepp Blatter, has been banned from football-related activities for eight years by world football's governing body.

Both men were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) "disloyal payment" made to Platini in 2011.

They are appealing against their bans, but Platini says the timing of the 26 February election means he cannot run.

The 60-year-old said: "I don't have the means to fight on equal terms with the other candidates

"I have not been given the chance to play the game. Bye bye Fifa, bye bye Fifa presidency."