Adebayor and Toure set to feature against Pompey

[Mark (Blue Army)]

City’s bid for a top four league place and FA Cup glory has been boosted by the timely return of former Arsenal duo Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.

And with Patrick Vieira, Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge all likely to be ready for action in the next ten days to a fortnight, there is every reason to believe Roberto Mancini and his squad can swiftly put the Carling Cup semi final loss out of their minds.

Adebayor played a second half cameo role as a substitute at Old Trafford on Wednesday night but is now physically and mentally ready after his ordeal in Angola at the African Cup on Nations to help take the scoring strain from the shoulders of Carlos Tevez.

Adebayor hasn’t started a home game or found the net for the Blues since the 2-1 win over Chelsea back in the first week of December.

That was his sixth goal of a campaign that started in a personal blaze of glory as he bagged four in each of the opening quartet of Premier League games including the 1-0 win at Portsmouth at the end of August.

Mancini believes his Togo striker in now poised to blossom again and he could have a big part to play tomorrow.

“Ade has been OK, he played for 20 minutes the other night but needed more training time with us,” reflected the manager.

"But for Sunday I think he will be ready,
and with both he and Kolo back for us
we will be stronger"

Toure arrived back from the Ivory Coast’s ACN exit too late to be considered for the Carling Cup semi second leg but he has trained over the last three days and showed no ill-effects from the travelling.

“Kolo is back, I spoke to him on Thursday for the first time since he returned and he is ready. We will need them because Sunday will be another hard game,” reckoned Mancini.

“Portsmouth despite all their problems off the pitch can be dangerous. They showed that in midweek when they came from behind to draw.

“I feel it will be another tough match for us but we have recovered as well as we could from our loss in the cup.”

from mcfc.co.uk

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Both will play I am sure. Ade needs a game and I would think Portsmouth at home would be ideal. Not to ignore them as they are fighting for their lives but if we get it right it's a win.

Mancini was talking at length with Kolo yesterday and it gave me the feeling that he still sees him as captain and a key player so straight back in.

[Grob]

I think Toures experiance has been missed at the back.Boyata has defied his years back there but whilst exposing him in the league cup semis was great for his development, having Toure in there with Vince would have tightened things up. Plus his distribution from the back and reading of the game are 2 things that neither Vince or Boyata have right now.

[Blueboylewis]

Good that they will both be back! We need as many players as possible fit for the few remaining pivotal months of the season.

[Moonchesteri]

Hope Ade gets off the mark tomorrow. Would go a world of good for him.

[MHiggi]

Hope Ade gets off the mark tomorrow. Would go a world of good for him.

Yeah, he's gonna get a great reception from the crowd (the Ade song is often our loudest) and hopefully that will help him put a decent shift in against a struggling and makeshift defence. In theory it's the perfect game to come back for.