Bridge and Lescott nearing a return

Slowly but surely, the squad is beginning to take on a healthier look - and is set to have a very competitive feel to it. After Patrick Vieira's return to training, defensive pair Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge are set to return over the next week:

WAYNE Bridge is set to shrug off the problems of his personal life and return to action for the Blues at Hull on Saturday.

City could also welcome back £24million defender Joleon Lescott at the KC Stadium, but are still likely to be without Patrick Vieira, despite his return to full training yesterday.

But Bridge’s injury is progressing nicely and he is expected to return to the left back slot. Lescott, out for the same period after knee surgery, is also pushing for inclusion in Roberto Mancini’s 20-man squad.

Both defenders have been back in full training, and have impressed fitness coach Ivan Carminati, who told M.E.N. Sport:

“Joleon started with us last week with a warm-up and this week is 100 per cent with us in full training. When you have been out for more than a month, as he has, you need time, but I spoke to him yesterday and he is very happy.

“His knee is very strong, and unless things change he could be involved in the next game, and so could Wayne Bridge. They have a good chance for Hull, but if not, for Bolton next Tuesday. In a very short time they will be in the 20 and then Roberto will decide.”

The past few games have exposed some of the shortcomings in Javi Garrido's game so you would say Bridge's inclusion is an obvious one (depending upon his frame of mind of course).

For Lescott though it isn't quite as simple. He is synonomous with some of our defensive struggles earlier in the season, and a piece in the MEN highlighted his struggles as they rated the defensive pairings this season (something I'll more on tomorrow). His injury has allowed others to come in and stake their claim for a position.

Can you really justify benching Vincent Kompany - or even Dedryck Boyata - to accomodate Lescott? I'm not one who doubts his ability or that he will be a success with us, but he is surely going to have bide his time before he is back in the starting line-up again.

Bridge on Hansen comments

"Alan Hansen said a few things and Mark Hughes said a few things back, but I don't like to think about it too much.

"It's going to hurt or bother anyone, but I didn't need to watch Match of the Day to realise I had played badly and been out of position.

"He (Hansen) said a few things, but I'm not going to cry about it. Instead, I've just come into training and trained hard.

"I felt I did OK in the games after that and, since then, I feel I've done well defensively and attacked as much as I could, although I can still do better.”

>>Wayne Bridge.

I agree with Jack over at TLDORC in that the Burnley performance distracted from what has been a solid season for Bridge so far.

Yes, his one-footedness isn't always appealing but there is no doubting that he looks to be far stronger positionally during this season than during 2008/09 and his ability to bring the ball forward and support the more attacking elements of the squad has been a feature of our play so far.

With Bridge likely out for a month - whilst we have replacements ready to step in - his absence from the side could well highlight his importance to the side.

Bridge out until the New Year

CITY will be without left-back Wayne Bridge at least until the New Year.

But the Blues have survived a second defensive injury scare with Micah Richards set to be fit to face Bolton on Saturday.

Bridge is believed to have tweaked medial knee ligaments during the 2-1 weekend win over Chelsea and at first it was feared he may be a long-term casualty.

>>MEN

I know the initial estimate was that Bridge would be out for two weeks, which seemed overly optimistic, but this seems a more likely timescale.

Whilst Bridge has been playing well, it is not as though we are without plenty of options. Sylvinho is the likeliest you would think, although Garrido is also an alternative. Over at the MEN story there has been plenty of call for Lescott to move across with Onouha or Kompany slotting in the centre.

I doubt Hughes goes for this though. He didn't on Saturday (when neither Sylvinho or Garrido were on the bench), preferring to drop Barry back in there and bring on Kompany in midfield (perhaps as an attempt to close out Chelsea even further though) and with signs that Toure and Lescott are gelling he won't want to split the partnership.

Bridge ruled out

Bad luck for Wayne Bridge:

Wayne Bridge could be on the sidelines for two weeks after picking up a knee injury in Saturday's win over Chelsea.

The left back was stretchered off in the second half after colliding with Belletti, but manager Mark Hughes has reported that after initially looking to have been seriously hurt, the player may only be out in the short-term.

Hughes said, "Wayne has opened up his medial ligaments, it could be a couple of weeks for him but we hope it's nothing more serious."

A surprise that it wasn't more serious given the way he was stretchered off. An absence of only two weeks seems on the hopeful side though.

Hughes lambasts MOTD

I wrote previouslythat he had been protective of the defence in recent times, but Mark Hughes went on the offensive today with MOTD - and particularly Alan Hansen - in his sights:

"Pundits on Match of the Day or whatever just have an opportunity to nail individuals in the public domain," said the Manchester City boss.

"But we are not going to do. We look to analyse our mistakes and make sure, in future, we are better in similar situations. I am sure that their process involves looking at incidents in games, but not taking it as a whole.

"That is the role in life that they have decided to follow and that is the way it has to be. But there is a frustration when they don't go into particularly in-depth analysis.

"I would question how many games they actually watch live, from the start to the conclusion of games."

There are a couple of points regarding this, namely that Hansen was right to be critical on what was a poor performance yet Hughes raises an interesting point in questioning how much of a game pundits on the whole actually see, yet readily form opinions on their performance and form.

Saturday aside, Bridge has performed well this season for me - a definite upgrade on Javier Garrido, but what is important here is the very public defence of him (and the defence as a whole) and it is has been a consistent theme in Hughes developing an almost siege-type mentality within the squad, something that we have seen elsewhere used to great success over the years.

Bridge unveiled

As expected, the signing has been confirmed and Bridge was presented before todays FA Cup tie at home to Nottingham Forest.

Said Mark Hughes:

"He’s of the right quality and he’s the type of player we need to attract. We need good players that understand this league and we’ll look to carry on in that way and add more if we can."

A positive move and having signed a deal that expires in 2013, given the impressive start Pablo Zabaleta has made, hopefully we have both full backs set in place for the next few years to come.

Wayne Bridge factfile, wikipedia page, soccer database page.

Bridge fee agreed

Confirmation from Mark Hughes that an undisclosed fee has been agreed with Chelsea, with just personal terms to be agreed:

"My understanding is the clubs have agreed a fee. We need to speak to the boy and try to agree personal terms.

"If we can do that hopefully Wayne will be a Manchester City player, that's the aim.

"Wayne will probably travel to Manchester this evening and hopefully negotiations will go well and he can have a medical tomorrow."

Bridge move edges closer

CITY are closing in on left back Wayne Bridge with the Chelsea man expected in Manchester for talks.

Blues boss Hughes has made the 28-year-old his top target, and Bridge would be able to play in the UEFA Cup if the move went through. The deal is likely to cost City around £11m.

>>MEN.

Bridge's arrival would certainly create a log jam at left back, joining incumbents Garrido, Ball and Glauber yet it is an area that does need strengthening.

I've slightly mixed feelings about Bridge as he hasn't overly impressed when I have seen him, yet is an upgrade over what we have. Given his relatively still young age and a regular spot week in week out, the hope is he can be a strong addition for us.

It is certain that Glauber will not be at the come next season, but what of Garrido and Ball? Garrido has been mostly impressive this season, adding strength and some tactical nous since the arrival of Hughes (two areas he was lacking last season) and is young enough to continue improving. Given the number of games we face he will also see enough action.

As for Ball, it does seem he has regressed this season - making his inclusion ahead of Garrido for the most part surprising. He appears solid enough and largely dependable, yet these are qualities that are no longer enough. He is too one-paced and one-dimensional for me and lacks the ability of Bridge (and to a lesser extent Garrido) to augment the attack.

The move for Bridge has been reported widely across the press over the past couple of days, and it would be surprising now if a deal wasn't completed over the weekend or early next week in time for a debut at Portsmouth.