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Happy to get back to Carrington on a lovely day and see all (nearly) the players out in full training.Zaba was missing bit only because he has been given an extra day with his extra travelling to the rest and Rodders who is close but still working inside this week..

So that means Vinnie,Kun,Micah and even Maicon fully involved in the 20 strong group.Boyata,Lopes and Razak also in there.Gentle warm ups were followed by two teams working on half a pitch just passing,moving and finishing but it was all about getting rid of cobwebs from what I could see.One thing shone through for me though and that was Micah.It's not that easy to see through the curtains but his smile,laughter and infectious personality was just so evident.Welcome back Micah .

Then it was into a game where one side had 3 five a side nets to score in ( after 10 completed passes I think) and the other a full sized net with Ian Lawlor starting in goal and then replaced by Wright.In this as well Micah stood out for his energy and noise.He really does communicate well at the back and very loud too but to be fair the whole squad seemed very lively in what was a good bright session.

Aleks scored very early on in the small nets probably before the other team had fully realised there were 3 nets to score in but then it got organised and competitive.Great to have the skipper back and he showed his quality in a few tight defensive situations early in the game.I tried to watch Kun to see how his fitness looked.Obviously not easy to assess stamina in such a short game but one particular twist and turn told me he was over the knee problem (famous last words if it flares up after training)

Lopes knocked another into the small nets and the nearest to a goal came when Lescott put a defence splitting ball through only for Kolarov to block Milner I think in a last ditch effort. A quick chat from Mancini and a drink saw the teams change around. The defences were doing well and Garcia was looking very good winning all sorts of balls with interceptions and timely tackles just in front of his back line.Lescott had to warn Micah to be careful as it looked like he might commit to an iffy challenge.He didn't go for it but we all know what Micah is like.Edin knocked one into the small nets.Although no goals in the big net I though the effort and general play was really good so that's probably the kiss of death for Saturday!

I had to leave here as those who played a full international did a little warm down run and went in.The remaining defenders moved off to work on things while the rest had shooting practice.receiving balls near the edge of the box and then taking the keeper on. Inside City will probably have some of this action for your Saturday morning viewing.

Thanks Doug.

Good effort, it's cold out there.

Peter Doherty (AGAIG) wrote:Good effort, it's cold out there.

Compared to the last week it was positively Mediterranean as there was no wind.

its gonna be interesting now that Micah is back...Zaba has basically been the only right back this season. that, of course, is partially due to injures to Micah and Maicon but also because he's consistently been in really good form.

phips wrote:its gonna be interesting now that Micah is back...Zaba has basically been the only right back this season. that, of course, is partially due to injures to Micah and Maicon but also because he's consistently been in really good form.

It certainly will be interesting to see how Mancini reacts when he has the pair of them available again.
I was always of the opinion that Micah was the best right back at the club prior to this year but Zabba has been almost faultless this season.Easily the best right back in the league this season.

Green & Blue wrote:

phips wrote:its gonna be interesting now that Micah is back...Zaba has basically been the only right back this season. that, of course, is partially due to injures to Micah and Maicon but also because he's consistently been in really good form.

It certainly will be interesting to see how Mancini reacts when he has the pair of them available again.
I was always of the opinion that Micah was the best right back at the club prior to this year but Zabba has been almost faultless this season.Easily the best right back in the league this season.

It would surprise me if Zaba didn't play on Saturday although he does deserve a rest.I would doubt that Micah is ready for a game just yet and Maicon certainly isn't.

Zaba is our player of the season. So if he's dropped for any reason it'll be a stupid one. Especially for someone who should have taken the preseason to concentrate on getting his fitness sorted but instead went to play in some no mark tournament.

cheers doug.

i would assume that richards will be eased back in, and when he's ready for 90 minutes, he'll be more likely to take kolo's spot in the rotation, possibly playing RCB in a back 3, not that i want to see that formation again for the rest of the season.