Soccer: Hartson not blue over transfer collapse

John Hartson heaped more misery on ailing Coventry by admitting: "The whole Highfield Road thing is dead."

The Wimbledon striker finally pulled the plug on the lengthy saga of his move to the Midlands by committing himself to Selhurst Park until the end of the season.

Coventry wanted Hartson to spearhead their climb out of the relegation zone and extend their proud record of 34 unbroken years in top-flight football.

They had agreed a £5million fee with the Dons and Hartson admitted: "Last week I took my boots home with me thinking I would be involved in the game for Coventry at Newcastle."

But the move hit a snag over an abortive player-plus-cash arrangement and Hartson said: "I feel sorry for their manager, their chairman and their fans but obviously they can't put anything together.

"But I need to focus here and I want to get back to playing and I expect to be back in the squad for Portsmouth on Saturday.

"I have never asked to leave and I am happy to stay here until the end of the season and then in the summer we will reassess the situation.

"As the thing dragged on over the weekend, I missed the Preston game and the Cup game because of all the speculation.

"I also missed the games over Christmas due to my broken rib so what I really need is to be back playing."