Beauty » o find a last-gasp signing.It would have been a bon

Melbourne Victory head to Bentleigh Greens for an FFA Cup quarter-final without Michael Essien but Kevin Muscat is confident his squad has enough firepower to see off the state league premiers and challenge for higher honours. Stitched Rangers Jerseys .Ghanaian midfielder Essien, a two-time English Premier League winner with Chelsea, turned down the chance to become Victorys marquee guest player last week.Coach Muscat said he was disappointed the move didnt come to fruition but wasnt scrambling to find a last-gasp signing.It would have been a bonus, he said.Weve done everything in our powers (to sign Essien) ... its well past us now and we moved on.Were very pleased with the squad weve assembled and looking forward were hopeful that its going to be enough for us to challenge and win trophies this season.The move means Victory will start the season without their full complement of five foreigners for the first time in three years.Muscat said his door wasnt closed to a late arrival but it wasnt a priority given what hes seen on the training track.Attackers James Troisi and Marco Rojas, in their second stints with the club, have impressed in non-competitive outings to date and should start against John Anastasiadis side in Tuesday nights Cup date.Muscat said hed seen a marked lift in intensity in training sessions on Goschs Paddock as the quarter-final and the A-League opener, against Brisbane on October 7, drew near.Its been tense, he said.The playing group has put almost in 12 weeks of work and they sense the games about to start and they want to be included.Our attitude has to be right. If you give away some ground in terms of your attitude, your opponent youre in danger of falling on your face.Bentleighs NPL rivals Green Gully have the chance to make it three Victorian sides in the last four when they take on Canberra Olympic in Tuesday nights other semi-final.Olympic are the first ACT-based side to make it through to the quarter-finals but Green Gully will be favoured to join Melbourne City and Sydney FC in the semi-finals when they meet at Deakin Stadium.Should Bentleigh fail to knock out the FFA Cup holders on Tuesday night, either Green Gully or Olympic will be assured of hosting a semi-final to be hosted on 18 and 26 October. Custom Texas Rangers Jerseys . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Texas Rangers Gear .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/ . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- With a big, white patch over his right eye and instructions from his doctor not to yell too loudly for fear of further damaging the surgically repaired retina, Mike Zimmer returned to the sideline for the Minnesota Vikings to lead them to a much-needed victory over Jacksonville.Whether Zimmers decision to come back after missing the previous game against Dallas was in the best interest of his long-term health or not, the grizzled coach sent an unmistakable message to the players he asks to play through pain for him.Im not missing any more games the rest of my life, Zimmer vowed after a 25-16 victory over the Jaguars stunted a freefall of six losses in the previous seven games.The Vikings (7-6) entered December figuring they needed to win the final four games of the season to keep their playoff hopes alive, a startling position after being the last undefeated team in the league during a 5-0 start.Theyve suffered a litany of injuries this season, including to their head coach, who has had four eye surgeries to address a problem that has bothered him for months.After emergency surgery caused him to miss a loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 1, doctors cleared Zimmer to fly with the team to Jacksonville.He initially was not sure if he would coach from the sideline or a box above the field to protect him, but he ended up on the field with his players, which is where he wanted to be all along.The sight of their leader gutting through a serious eye issue to stay in the fight emboldened the Vikings.Hes a warrior, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said on Monday. If youre injured, if youve got some little aches and pains, you just look at coach Zim like, `Wow, this guys got one eye and hes out here coaching.That lets you know how committed he is to this team and the dedication he has for this game. Its just unbelievable to have a coach like that.The Vikings host Indianapolis on Sunday and finish the season with a game at surging Green Bay on Christmas Eve and home against Chicago. Texas Rangers Store. For Zimmer, its about holding himself to the same standard he holds his players. He asks them to push their bodies to the absolute limit, to recover quickly from injuries and he has made his displeasure known when some players have been slow to heal.That much was evident on Monday when the Vikings placed defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd on injured reserve with a knee injury that has kept him out all season.Floyd has been bothered by injuries for the past three years and when Zimmer was asked to assess the former first-round draft pick on Monday, he bit his tongue.I dont want to assess him to the media, Zimmer said. Ill assess him to (Vikings GM Rick Spielman) when we sit down and talk.Zimmer said that he has talked about the importance of toughness since the day I first walked in the building here.He has posted signs around the teams headquarters underscoring that theme and challenged his players to live up to it.If youre going to preach it, you need to walk the walk, too, Zimmer said on Monday.That kind of attitude plays well in the testosterone-filled NFL locker room, and the players rallied around him even as he admitted to being much harder on them in practice during their recent slide.How much jeopardy is he putting himself in by continuing to work?Only Zimmer really knows. He has said he is following his doctors orders and understands how serious his situation is. But he has also made it clear to his players that it wont stop him from being by their side the rest of the way.Coach Zims going to give it all hes got, running back Jerick McKinnon said. Everybody knows that. Were a reflection of him. Everybodys laying it on the line. Its all about fighting together, working and doing whatever it takes to come out with a win.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL . ' ' '