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Ireland is desperate to be available for City but will have to wait for
a while longer following the postponement of last Saturday’s game at
Fratton Park.
The big freeze down south meant that the dynamic
midfielder’s one-match ban for reaching five league bookings now covers
Saturday’s game against Wigan. With City not playing in next weekend’s
FA Cup fourth round, Stephen must wait until January 28th before he
gets the chance to play again, which will be a full month since his
last appearance against Blackburn Rovers.
Manager Mark Hughes
puts Stephen’s raft of bookings and suspension down to his new-found
energy , rather than a malicious approach to his game, and he says:
“I
think it is a reflection of how involved he has been this season. He’s
everywhere at times, in the attack, defensively and his energy levels
allow him to get all over the pitch. As a consequence he gets in a lot
of tackles, and by the law of averages he is going to get his fair
share of bookings.
“I don’t think it’s anything other than
that. It could be said that he is unlucky, but it’s a consequence of
the high-energy nature of his game.
“Stephen’s a key player in
our side and a lot of our play goes through him. By virtue of the way
we approach the game he will be in place to make challenges – sometimes
they will be mis-timed and that’s when the likelihood of a booking
comes along.
“Stephen’s desperate to play at the moment, I have
spoken to him this week and he is gutted that he misses out this
weekend. But it gives us an opportunity to rest him because he has put
a good shift in this season. It will enable us to make sure his
hamstrings settle down a bit for when he is available again.”
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