Premiership trio battle to beat the drop

Updated 15.50 Fri May 11 2007

Keywords: Wigan Athletic, Sheffield United, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez, Alan Curbishley, Premiership, West Ham United, football, sport

Alan Curbishley has rubbished 'conspiracy talk' that fellow Premiership strugglers Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic could collude in a bid to get West Ham United relegated.

Wigan know that if they win at Bramall Lane on Sunday they will be safe and Neil Warnock's Blades would be safe too as long as the Hammers lose at newly-crowned champions Manchester United.

"I have stopped learning English as I don't know where I am going to end up next season. But yes, it was hard to settle (in England)" - Carlos Tevez

Such a scenario would see Curbishley's men fall through the Premiership's relegation trapdoor to the Championship along with Charlton Athletic and Watford.

And it is the result all the other struggling clubs want to see after West Ham avoided a points deduction, despite being found guilty of irregularities relating to the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

But Curbishley said: "I keep hearing all these conspiracy theories that if it's not going so well for West Ham at Old Trafford then Sheffield United can relax and if Wigan get the result (they could stay up).

"But everyone has to be prepared to go into any game to win it. You can't go into any game thinking you just turn it on when it goes against you. Sheffield United have got to play as if they need to stay up because, if they don't, they could easily find it turn around on them."

He continued: "Sheffield United need to get their result at the weekend, Wigan need to get their result and we need to get that result. The difference is that, if we get our result, the rest takes care of itself."