It was a barren run that led many pundits to claim Fowler would never reach the levels he did at Anfield, where he averaged over a goal a game from 236 league outings.

The 28-year-old, who has also been forced to overcome major hip surgery, never agreed with those sentiments but he was so baffled was by his poor form that he went to Rush for guidance.

Whatever information the Welsh master passed on, it seems to have worked.

Fowler took just eight more games to double his Blues tally and, although a niggling knee injury, followed by a bout of flu, has halted his progress since the turn of the year, he should be back in the City line-up to face Tottenham at White Hart Lane tomorrow night.

“I spoke to Rushie quite a lot,” said the Liverpudlian.

“I always listen to what he says and he still takes time out from his day to leave messages for me and that means a lot because he is an absolute legend.

“I was trying things I wouldn’t normally do on a pitch and because I was having a bad time, I’d try them even more but no matter what I did, it would all just backfire.

“Nothing seemed to go right for me and I could sense one or two of the fans were getting a little annoyed.

“I could understand their frustrations because I was brought to score goals and I simply wasn’t delivering.

“Even though Liverpool is only 30 miles away, I found it quite hard to settle. It took me 12 months to win the fans over but hopefully I have done that now.”

Ironically, Fowler’s dramatic improvement has coincided with a disastrous City slump that has seen them plunge to the brink of the relegation zone.

Sunday’s defeat at Arsenal was the Blues’ 12th Premiership outing without a win and another loss to Tottenham tomorrow would end any chance of landing some silverware to match Keegan’s near-£55m (€80.5m) outlay.

Their hopes of avoiding being dragged further into the battle to avoid the drop have not been helped by the three-match suspension top scorer Nicolas Anelka picked up for his dismissal at Highbury.

As it stands, Anelka will miss key games against Bolton and Chelsea, plus either an FA Cup sixth round tie or the March 14 derby at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Keegan has reversed his initial claim that there was no point appealing against the dismissal and today lodged City’s complaint with the FA.

However, despite the validity of Keegan’s argument that Anelka should have been treated exactly the same as Arsenal duo Ashley Cole and Edu, who were booked by referee Alan Wiley for their part in the fracas that followed the City striker’s late goal, the chances of success appear slim.

“Nicolas has been very harshly treated,” said the former England coach.

“There was an inconsistency because of the three players who put their hands up, two were booked and one was sent off.

“I have seen the incident many times on TV since and three yellow cards would have been fine.”

Even Cole admitted he should have received the same punishment as Anelka, an argument Keegan also picked up on as he called on Wiley to reverse his decision.

“You start listening to the players and surely if everyone is of the same opinion there should be some common sense applied and people should have the courage to turn round and say they have made a mistake,” he said.

With David James cup-tied, Icelandic keeper Arni Arason is set to make his Blues debut three weeks after his arrival on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

New arrival Daniel van Buyten was not registered in time to play, so Fowler’s return for Shaun Wright-Phillips is the only likely alteration to his starting line-up.

“We were beaten by a very good side on Sunday but if we put in a performance like that tomorrow, we are capable of getting the result we want,” said Keegan.