The Italian boss will have to do without his England striker for the rest of the current campaign as he continues to recover from ankle surgery.

But speaking ahead of tomorrow's Barclays Premier League match at Bolton, Zola outlined his desire to have the former Norwich frontman back to lead the line.

"For me it is unfortunate because I have not had him in my side before," he said. "It's a big blow because I know how important he can be for us.

"I'm sorry especially for him though, being out so long is not an easy thing. He is one of those player whose qualities would be perfect for this team.

"I'm sure he would like to be involved but when he comes back he will make up for it I'm sure."

Trotters counterpart Gary Megson has, meanwhile, hit out at trigger-happy club chairmen following Chelsea's sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari last week.

"After kamikaze pilot I would guess football manager has about the same sort of job security," he said.

"It is really strange that these decisions are made and yet the people who make these decisions, after getting it wrong with one manager and then doing it with another one and then another one - surely the common denominator is the person making the decision isn't it?"

Premier League leaders Manchester United host Blackburn tomorrow evening, while fallen title hopefuls Chelsea travel to Aston Villa looking to stay in touch with the top three.

Fifth-placed Arsenal will be expected to beat Sunderland at Emirates Stadium, but despite his side's underdog status, Black Cats boss Ricky Sbragia insists they must travel to London with more than mere survival in mind.

"We have to go there with a purpose. We can't go there looking to defend all game, we have to go there looking to get something," he said.

Second-bottom Middlesbrough host Wigan tomorrow with manager Gareth Southgate confident his out-of-sorts team can avoid the drop.

"I'm very confident we can get out of the position we're in," the former defender said.

"In recent weeks I have seen in our performances that we are growing in confidence, and I can see the players are ready to play better football."

Latics boss Steve Bruce is, meanwhile, awaiting the result of his club's plea to the Home Office to allow South Korea midfielder Cho Won-hee to receive a work permit, despite the fact he has not played the requisite number of international matches over the past year.

"We have known all about him because he has played in the Korean team, which is a very decent team, and he is typically Korean in terms of his athleticism and his work-rate," said Bruce.

Tomorrow's other game sees relegation-threatened pair Stoke and Portsmouth collide at the Britannia Stadium, with Potters boss Tony Pulis confident the improving fitness of his squad will prove crucial in their fight for survival.

"I still have a great belief that we will avoid relegation. Very much so," he said. "We need our injured players back and we don't need any other injury problems in this situation."

Pompey's caretaker co-manager Paul Hart knows the honeymoon period afforded to him after an opening win over Manchester City would come to a crashing end if his team are defeated.

He said: "We've only won that first game and if we don't win the second, I know it will probably be a different story and different expressions on faces."

On Sunday, second-placed Liverpool host City, Merseyside rivals Everton travel to Newcastle and bottom club West Brom head to London to face Fulham.

Monday night's match pits Hull against Tottenham at KC Stadium.