Player ratings: Manchester City v Birmingham City

Pantilimon – The Romanian giant is surprisingly known for shot stopping rather than catching crosses and this is an area the coaching staff need to work on. He’ll also need more games against English opposition before we can be confident of him as a deputy for Joe Hart. 6

Onuoha – Welcome back Nedum. Strong in defence but lacked the deftness of touch required in the attacking third. 6

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Carling Cup preview: Manchester City v Birmingham City

The Carling Cup may lack the glamour of the Champions League but there is plenty to interest City fans this evening. Grabbing all the headlines is the likely debut of Owen Hargreaves, three years to the day after he last played a full 90 minutes.

Kolo Toure is also set to return and hopefully we can get a good look at Stefan Savic, who will be hoping for his first competitive start. Roberto Mancini has also promised to have some youngsters on the bench.

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Verdict: Manchester City 0 Birmingham City 0

A second successive goalless draw at home left the crowd frustrated and criticism of Roberto Mancini is back on the agenda. Had we taken one of our 21 goal attempts then this would have been deemed a satisfactory week.

The three games in six games caught up with City in the area of finishing. We may not have battered Birmingham, but there were sufficient chances to score and one of them would surely have been taken had the team been fresher.

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