A wickedly deflected Rickie Lambert free-kick six minutes from time gave League One Bristol Rovers victory over managerless Southampton. Low on confidence and toiling haplessly on a pitch ploughed up by Bristol’s rugby team, the struggling Saints were on the back foot for most of the match.

“I can’t believe it, we’re in the quarter-finals,” said Lambert. “It was a bit lucky, the goal, but we deserved it. I’m absolutely made up, It means everything to the city and Rovers fans. Everyone is going to be looking at the draw on Monday and hopefully we will get someone who we have a chance against.”

Rovers were completely dominant in the middle of the park, with Southampton’s ‘pedigree’ players Jason Euell, John Viafara and Marek Saganowski conspicious by their head-shaking, hands-on-hips lack of effort. By contrast, even the most innocuous Rovers throw-in caused chaos in the Saints area and Lambert’s first-half flick might have been prodded in rather than wide by Craig Disley.

The clearest chance fell to Andy Williams after Andrew Davies miskicked on the edge of the area, but the striker’s heavy touch allowed Kelvin Davis time to rush out, narrow the angle and deflect the shot wide.

Southampton managed only two shots on target - a hopeful 30-yard punt by Stern John and a edge-of-the-area effort from Euell - and one other moment of real threat when Inigo Idiakez fizzed a free-kick over the bar just before the interval.

Rovers, while busy, created little in open play and it looked like their dream of securing an FA Cup quarter-final spot for the first time in half a century was on hold. Lambert flicked a Williams free-kick on to the roof of the net and then had a goal ruled out for pushing.

However, he wasn’t to be denied when Rovers were awarded a free-kick in a central position after 84 minutes. Lambert stepped up, curling a low free-kick that struck the outstretched foot of Jermaine Wright, wrong-footed Davis and flew into the back of the net.

February 16, 2008 — Investors seem to be gaining confidence that the $27 billion takeover of radio giant Clear Channel Communications will close by the end of next month despite persistent problems in the credit markets.

Clear Channel shares rose 7.5 percent yesterday to close at $32.40.

While the stock is still 17 percent below the $39.20 per share that private-equity giants Bain Capital and THL Partners agreed to pay for the company over a year ago, it has recovered greatly since the beginning of the year.

Highfields Capital and UBS have both increased their stakes in Clear Channel significantly in the last 60 days, giving investors added confidence that the deal will go through.

The unusual deal also gives shareholders the ability to invest in the newly private company alongside the buyout firms.

The takeover recently received all the necessary regulatory approvals and the six banks providing the debt for the transaction now have about a month to try to sell the junk bonds and leveraged loans to investors.

Given the credit crunch, the banks are unlikely to be able to unload the debt and may have to take write-downs of more than $1 billion.

The prospect of huge losses for the banks has made investors, especially hedge funds who bet on takeovers, extremely nervous as they fret over the banks pulling their funding for deals.

But by all accounts, the banks funding the buyout - including Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Wachovia, RBS, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse - can’t get out of their obligations, sources said.

We have “a lot of good financing sources” and the deal will probably be completed by March 31, TH Lee President Scott Sperling said in an interview with Bloomberg News last month.

Clear Channel also beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter profits earlier this week and sales rose 3.7 percent to $1.84 billion.

zachery.kouwe@nypost.com

(06-11) 13:04 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) —

China said Monday it was investigating the sale of fake blood protein, a potentially dangerous and widespread practice that underscores the country’s problems with product safety.

State media reported one death from use of the counterfeits, but authorities have not said whether anyone has fallen ill.

A shortage of albumin, a blood protein that chronically ill people often lack, triggered a nationwide investigation in March into whether fakes were being sold, China Central Television said.

The report centered on an inquiry in the northeastern province of Jilin, where 59 hospitals and pharmacies were sold more than 2,000 bottles of counterfeit blood protein. It did not say what the products were made of, but said they could “make a patient’s condition worsen and could cause death.”

CCTV’s Web site showed two vials of albumin, the real product looking cloudier and more viscous than the translucent fake.

Seven out of 36 batches of albumin tested by the Jilin Food and Drug Research Institute were found to be bogus, CCTV quoted the institute’s deputy director, Xu Fei, as saying.

“There was no element of protein, so it could not perform its intended function,” Xu was quoted as saying. “They were through-and-through fakes.”

Albumin is a primary protein in human plasma that is important in maintaining blood volume. It is used to treat conditions including shock, burns, liver failure and pancreatitis, and is needed by patients undergoing heart surgery.

“The harm could be very great,” Chen Hongguo, head of the pharmaceutical section of the Jingyu County People’s Hospital in Jilin, told CCTV. Chen said the hospital bought fake protein from the Jilin Yatai Wanlian Pharmaceutical Company.

China, which has an across-the-board problem with food and drug safety, has come under growing pressure from the United States and the European Union to improve inspections of exports.

Citing a Jilin food and drug safety official, CCTV said the product cost about $1.30 to make but was sold at $38 per vial.

It said a salesman from the company has been detained. A woman who answered the telephone at the company said no managers were around and that she was “unclear” about the situation.

Jilin government officials referred all questions to the provincial Food and Drug Administration, which said there was no spokesman available to answer questions. An official at the State Food and Drug Administration confirmed the CCTV report but refused to give his name or any details.

Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization’s representative in China, said the development shows that checks need to be in place at every level. “Counterfeit pharmaceuticals is a systemic challenge that needs a systems-based response,” Bekedam said. “A system of accreditation is needed at every point of the supply chain.”

The official Xinhua News Agency said China has regulations for blood-based medicines, and the list will be expanded next year to include albumin.

Chinese authorities have struggled with recalls following the widespread sale of fake polio vaccines, vitamins and baby formula. Such incidents threaten both public health and faith in the government’s ability to control crime and corruption and ensure safety of food and drug supplies.

Last month, the country’s former top drug regulator was sentenced to death for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths.

The China Business News said Monday the State Food and Drug Administration had seized fake blood protein from other provinces and regions including Shanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Chongqing.

The paper said the mother of Zhu Huazheng, from the eastern province of Shandong, died after using fake albumin from Beijing Tiantan Bioproducts Company Ltd.

A company employee was quoted as saying that no albumin had been produced since February because of a shortage of raw materials.

“Many fake-product makers have seized the chance and sold bogus blood protein under our name. We are still investigating it,” said the unidentified employee. Telephones at the company rang unanswered Monday.