City wait on key duo

Posted Sunday, October 25, 2009 by PA

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is hopeful skipper Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy return to the side for Sunday's Barclays Premier League visit of Fulham.

Defender Toure and striker Bellamy missed the 1-1 draw at Wigan last Sunday with a heel injury and groin strain respectively.

Hughes is definitely without Pablo Zabaleta as the defender serves a one-match ban following his dismissal for two bookable offences at the DW Stadium.

Hughes is hoping to continue to make the critics eat their words after they mocked his summer striker spree.

Hughes spent #58million in signing Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz during the closed season, the trio joining an already burgeoning frontline that included the likes of Robinho and Bellamy.

Perhaps naturally, it drew scornful comments of Hughes deploying a 1-1-9 or 1-0-10 formation given the embarrassment of riches at his disposal.

City might not have scored as many goals as perhaps envisaged so far - just 16 compared to Arsenal's 27 for example - but Hughes knows he is in a far healthier position compared to his rivals.

"A lot of those comments came at a time when we hadn't finished our strategy," said Hughes.

"I've always said I would never allow City to become weaker before becoming stronger.

"I said I would always make sure we brought players into the club first before we allowing them to leave, and that's what happened.

"We were able to conclude a number of deals, most of them concerned attack-minded players.

"Once we got them through the door it was a case of allowing other players to leave, or go out on loan.

"We always knew what we were trying to do, and now we're quite comfortable with where we are in terms of an attacking threat."

Hughes added: "I'm happy with the quality we've got,

"We've Robi (Robinho) to come back, so I'm delighted with the quality we can put on the pitch, in whatever combination.

"We've looked at different things, had different combinations, and we've not investigated them all to this point.

"I'm sure as the season progresses we'll see different formations and different personnel and combinations of personnel.

"It's obviously about making sure we get the job done, and that means picking the right players for the right teams."

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has several fitness concerns.

Simon Davies missed Thursday's draw with Roma but could make the squad after stepping up his rehabilitation from a foot injury.

Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu have knee injuries, Andrew Johnson is struggling with a shoulder problem, while Kagisho Dikgacoi is still suspended following his sending off at West Ham.

Brede Hangeland insists Fulham will not be caught running scared when they take on high-flying City.

The Cottagers travel to Manchester on the back of Monday night's victory against Hull - their first win in four - and a 1-1 draw with Italian giants Roma.

Hodgson's summer spending has been restricted to cut-price deals and free transfers while City boss Mark Hughes has parted with almost #120million.

City's early form suggests they are on track to challenge for a place in next year's Champions League but Hangeland insists Fulham will not wilt under the pressure of playing against Hughes' star-studded team.

"When we are playing our best we can go anywhere and get something and that's a good feeling to have even when we go to difficult places like Man City," the 28-year-old said.

"No-one is going to give me sleepless nights but obviously they have four or five world-class strikers so there won't be a single one that we'll have to look after.

"It should be a really good match. They have signed a lot of big-name players so they have done well like they expected so it will obviously be a tough game.

"We have won two years in a row up there so if we can do it again that would be fantastic but they have a fantastic side and we will try and get something from there."