Sterling’s return peps up Guardiola

RAHEEM STERLING handed Manchester City a boost by returning to training yesterday, improving his chances of facing Real Madrid next week. T The 25-year-old forward suffered a hamstring problem during the defeat at Tottenham earlier this month and had earmarked the Champions League last-16 first leg as a target for his comeback. He took part in light training y yesterday, although he is yet to complete a full session with Pep Guardiola’s squad. His return is a major positive with City also hoping Leroy Sane will be available this week. City play West Ham at the Etihad Stadium tonight before a trip to Leicester on Saturday. Guardiola will tonight face questions for the first time since UEFA slapped a two-year ban on the club for Financial Fair Play infringements. West Ham boss David Moyes says he is ‘more than confident’ he can haul his club clear of relegation, but bemoaned their loss of valuable preparation time caused by the rearrangement of tonight’s match. The Manchester trip brought a premature end to their two-week mid-season break after Storm Ciara forced the postponement of the original match on February 9. Despite winning only once since he returned to the club, Moyes said: ‘The players are more than capable and we have a good group. We were looking forward to having a week’s preparation and a little bit of work with the players, but obviously that’s been taken away from us with the game coming in much quicker.’