• Premier League

City request permission to loan emergency goalkeeper

Shay Given damaged his shoulder when making a full-length save in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal © Getty Images

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Manchester City have petitioned the Premier League to allow the club to sign a goalkeeper in an emergency loan deal following an injury to Shay Given.

Given left the pitch on a stretcher during City's 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Saturday and sustained damaged ligaments and tendons when dislocating his shoulder. He will see two specialists in the next three days and will miss the final three games of the Premier League season.

With Joe Hart unable to be recalled from his loan spell at Birmingham, where his performances saw him named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, and Stuart Taylor out injured, young Faroe Islands international Gunnar Nielsen is next in line for Roberto Mancini's side.

Nielsen - who first moved to England when joining Blackburn in the summer of 2007, before moving onto City two years later - replaced Given at Emirates Stadium at the weekend to make his debut under Mancini.

City are now hoping to take advantage of the contingency plans which allow clubs to make an emergency signing to cover for a goalkeeping shortage, with the written permission of the governing body.

Aston Villa were forced to make an emergency signing in December 2006 when Gabor Kiraly joined the club from Crystal Palace and made five appearances after injuries to Thomas Sorensen and Taylor, then playing at Villa Park.

Meanwhile, Hart, who has excelled during his time at Birmingham, has expressed his support for Given following the nasty injury his senior colleague sustained.

"I'm devastated for Shay, I texted him on Saturday night," Hart told City's official website. "I don't want that to happen to anyone, especially someone like him - a great keeper and really good person."

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