Dunne set for City return
Richard Dunne is set to return to the Manchester City defence for today’s Barclays Premiership late kick-off against Birmingham at St Andrew’s.
Dunne successfully came through 45 minutes of the Republic of Ireland's friendly defeat to Italy in Dublin this week following a foot injury.
And City boss Stuart Pearce has no doubts Dunne can continue to put his troubled past behind him by producing another dazzling top-flight season at Eastlands.
Pearce said: “Richard is my vice-captain, he is a good man and he is a good leader – and at the end of last season he was sensational. I never hide it from my players how much I value then and also how much I expect from them as a result."
“Richard is a big player for this football club and hopefully he will be with us for some years to come.”
Three years ago Dunne looked to have played his last game for the club when a series of misdemeanours resulted in him being suspended from the club for two weeks.
But he put in the extra hours under Pearce’s predecessor Kevin Keegan before grasping his second chance to prove himself.
Now only Frenchman Sylvain Distin – who is again ruled out of the trip to Birmingham with a problematic groin strain – ranks above Dunne in the senior squad pecking order.
Darius Vassell and Andy Cole are set to continue their partnership up front after firing blanks in last week’s frustrating season-opener against West Bromwich Albion.
For Pearce that result was tempered by the certainty that his side are still continuing to improve – and that there is much more to come from his brand new strike force.
Pearce added: “I think they are getting better and better by playing with each other and the more we can coach them and work with them on the training pitch, the more they’ll improve as a pairing."
“We are unbeaten in nine matches now if you include the end of last season, and we have just got to take heart from that and make sure we keep this run going.”
