Don’t be down about Barca draw

I DON’T think people ought to be down about the fact that City drew Barcelona again in the last 16 of the Champions League.

As far as I’m concerned it’s a great draw, and I’m definitely more pleased that City have got Barca rather than Real Madrid.

Madrid are really flying at the moment, while at least Barcelona have shown signs this season that they are beatable.

We’ve all got to be positive about the situation City will find themselves in come February.

Obviously it will be tough, and City are at home in the first leg, but that particular aspect doesn’t have too much significance in my eyes.

Yes, it helps when you know what you need to do before the home tie, but the maths is simple. You’ve just got to score more than your opponents over the two games.

City should have a number of current injured players back by February, too.

Sergio Aguero will be the main man I think, but Edin Dzeko and Vinny Kompany were unlucky at the weekend as they both picked up fresh injuries.

It was a bit of patched-up City side that won 1-0 at struggling Leicester, so I think that was a great three points looking back.

City have got a few games coming up against so-called lesser sides over the next few weeks, so maybe that’s a bit of a blessing.

However, we all know that no game in the Premier League is easy, particularly if you’re missing a few top players.

I was very fortunate during my playing career. I rarely got injured.

I don’t think I was ever ruled out for more than five or six weeks at one time, and my worst injuries tended to come towards the end of a season so I got the chance to shake them off during the summer.

I remember tweaking a cartilige once when I was at Oldham, and then a rough edge on an ankle bone kept me out for a few weeks when I was with Huddersfield, but other than that I was lucky. That’s probably why I was able to play at a decent level until I was 40.

It must be soul-destroying for players who pick up bad injuries that keep them out for 12 months or more.

That happens quite often and I always feel so much sympathy for the lads involved.