Manchester City at a loss minus powerhouse Toure

Heskey has a chance for one last hurrah against former club Liverpool

MANCHESTER CITY manager Manuel Pellegrini has told his players they must believe they can win without Yaya Toure after failing to do so in the four league games he has missed this season.

Toure is currently on international duty with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations and his departure has coincided with City losing to Arsenal and drawing with Everton in their last two Premier League outings.

The only other two league games he has missed this season have ended in draws, with Burnley in December and Arsenal earlier in the campaign.

Having cancelled out a substantial deficit to Chelsea, Man City have since fallen five points adrift of the Premier League summit once more.

With a crunch clash against the leaders to come next weekend, Pellegrini has urged his players to overcome the psychological blow of losing the powerhouse midfielder, who will be unavailable until next month.

“He is very important player for us,” the Chilean said. “But for the moment we must continue playing and not thinking it is impossible to win without him because I don’t think this team depends on just one player.”

City, who face an FA Cup fourth round trip to second tier Middlesbrough today, arrived back in Britain after a winter break in Abu Dhabi yesterday, around 21 hours before kick-off.

Premier League leaders Chelsea host third tier Bradford City while in other FA Cup clashes this weekend, Liverpool fans will come up against a familiar face when Bolton visit to Anfield today.

The FA Cup holds fond memories for Emile Heskey, but a chance to play against former team Liverpool, when a few months ago he was clubless and working for their TV channel, will be among the sweetest for the former England striker.

Heskey’s career appeared to be done and dusted when he returned from a spell in the Australian A-League, generally perceived to be a final destination for players who once flourished at big European clubs.

A move to second tier Bolton Wanderers, however, has offered him a last hurrah, while a fortu- nate FA Cup draw has handed him the chance to run out against Liverpool, with whom he won the competition in 2001.

“It’s a wonderful thing to go back,” Heskey said.

“I’m 37, I’m not a young lad; to go back and play at Anfield is a great thing. It wasn’t long ago, a few months ago, when I was doing LFCTV so to actually be going back there and putting my boots on and playing against Liverpool is wonderful.”

A bulldozer of a centre forward at his peak, Heskey scored 60 goals in 223 appearances for Liverpool in a fouryear spell from 2000.

He won the UEFA Cup and League Cup in the superb treble winning season of 2001 and added a second League Cup to his trophy cabinet in 2003.

The FA Cup, however, retains a special place in his heart.

Having scored one of the goals that helped beat Wycombe Wanderers to reach the final in 2001, he started Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium.

The next step in Arsenal’s defence of the cup is a trip to Brighton tomorrow, with confidence high after a 2-0 victory at Manchester City last weekend. – Reuters and Sapa-AP

MEMORIES: Bolton striker Emile Heskey (white shirt), seen here in action in the FA Cup against Wigan, right, will come up against his former club Liverpool in the competition today.