Welcome back to City, lads

THREE familiar faces return to Manchester City on Saturday when we take on Aston Villa.

Shay Given, Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland will be back at the Etihad Stadium and I am looking forward to seeing the lads.

I am still in regular contact with our former skipper Dunney, although for 90 minutes his only focus will, quite rightly, be trying to get three points.

We played the Midlands outfit twice at home last term, in the league and FA Cup, and ran out comfortable winners on both occasions.

But they are a different proposition this season. Alex McLeish succeeded Gerard Houllier and I think they have become much more resilient at the back.

The fact they are still unbeaten in the Barclays Premier League tells you all you need to know about the Scot’s impact at Villa Park.

I don’t know much about him in terms of coaching skills, tactics, formations etc, but I do remember Joe Hart waxing lyrical about the season he spent on loan at Birmingham during McLeish’s time at St Andrews.

Joe blossomed under McLeish and did enough to earn a regular spot at City and for England.

The appearance of three former Blues gives the match an added bit of spice — and it is refreshing to play a game at 3pm on a Saturday for a change!

With the players we have at our disposal and the strength in depth in the squad, I am always confident whenever we play so hopefully the lads can put an end to Villa’s unbeaten run.



I AM sure Micah Richards was disappointed to be left out of the England side which laboured to a 2-2 draw in Montenegro in the final Euro 2012 qualifier.

Micah was sat in his suit in the stands, with manager Fabio Capello opting to hand Phil Jones his debut at right-back.

After playing so well this season Micah is bound to be a bit down after missing out on even a place on the substitutes’ bench, but he is the sort of character who will keep plugging away.

No one has made the right-back berth their own yet so it is up for grabs. If Micah keeps playing well for City, I am convinced he will get his chance to roar for the Three Lions.