Darren Bent and Micah Richards out of England Squad

Darren Bent and Micah Richards have been ruled out of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales on Tuesday and have returned to their clubs.

Aston Villa striker Bent had not been able to train in the build-up to Friday's win over Bulgaria after picking up a groin problem and could not take part in training on Saturday.

Manchester City defender Richards, who didn't play a part in the 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday night, is though to have suffered a hamstring injury in training.

Aston Villa have not been a fluid attacking team at all this season. Now you might argue that that is a hallmark of an Alex McLeish team. They did beat Rovers 3-0, but haven't scored otherwise. Agbonlahor looks dangerous, but N'Zogbia is not on song yet. If Bent isn't available for Villa's match against Everton (and McLeish is hopeful) I would expect Albrighton to come into the side and Heskey and Gabby to be the front pairing of a 4-4-2.  Truth be told, @Everton is probably a stay-away match for fantasy owners.

As for Manchester City, they have Richards doubtful with a hamstring injury and Pablo Zabaleta, who played right-back against Spurs, has been in India with the Argentinian national team.  That could hand Stefan Savic the starting berth, and see Sergio Aguero on the bench as well.

Granted this is all speculation at this point, but with fantasy managers going all-in on Manchester City players it's nerve-wracking stuff.

Season Preview - Manchester City

Quick Reminder, Real Life

This was the season when all of the money invested started to pay off in a big way. Lots of shiny new objects came into the squad with the corresponding spare parts mostly going out on loan. Some of them fit - Yaya Toure, David Silva - while some of them didn’t - Jerome Boateng - and the jury is still out on others - Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, and Aleksander Kolarov. Still, at the end of the day, the money produced results in the form of an FA Cup trophy and an invitation to Europe’s biggest dance, the Champions League, for the upcoming season. Can’t really argue with that... unless you are turned off by teams just buying big names like the real world were just a big game of fantasy football.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

Given their results on the pitch, you’d think that there would be more fantasy success around this group but that’s just not the way it turned out. The size of the squad and the frequent rotation between very good and pretty good players kept fantasy output low. The unquestioned fantasy studs were Joe Hart and Carlos Tevez with Kompany and Kolarov putting up solid numbers as well. Beyond that, players like YToure and Silva were much more productive on the real pitch than the virtual one.

Summer Changes

Player Pick of the Week

Jerome Boateng injured his knee training with Germany this week.

Jerome Boateng to undergo knee surgery.
http://xrl.in/8mvuless than a minute ago via webfantasyfootballscout
FFScout

Micah Richards did his hamstring earlier and is hoping to be fit by mid-April.

SkySports: Richards targets swift return: Micah Richards has admitted he is desperate to recover from a hamstrin... http://bit.ly/f5730Lless than a minute ago via twitterfeedManCityFCNews
ManCityFCNews

That leaves Dedryck Boyata. He's priced at 5.88 and sure to be at right back this weekend, at home against Sunderland, and again against Liverpool the next.

Richards could be out for a month

Richards fears derby woe - Yahoo! Eurosport

Manchester City defender Micah Richards feels a hamstring injury may rule him out of the FA Cup semi-final clash with rivals Manchester United.

Richards was stretchered off three minutes into England Under-21s 4-0 victory over Denmark on Thursday night, and head coach Stuart Pearce revealed the full-back fears the worst.

"He's got a hamstring problem and he's diagnosed himself as being out for four weeks - that's Dr Richards for you," said Pearce.

That would rule him out of Sunderland and @Liverpool and open the right-back spot for Jerome Boateng. Unless Zabaleta were to return from compassionate leave sooner than expected.

Kolo Fit

Manager Roberto Mancini on Carlos Tevez's long-term future at Man City - Manchester City FC

Manager Mancini confirmed that centre-half Kolo Toure has shrugged off a calf worry: 'Kolo will be available for Saturday. We'll test him tomorrow but he trained today with the team without a problem.'

So much for your big Lescott plans. But Richards is still a good bet to come in at right back, with Zabaleta moving to the left to cover for Kolarov's absence.

Roberto Mancini admits defensive crisis

Roberto Mancini admits defensive crisis at Manchester City | Mail Online

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini claims he is desperately short of defensive options for Saturday's Barclays Premier League visit of Chelsea with Micah Richards a major doubt.

After last night's 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at West Bromwich Albion, City could have just three fit defenders for the clash at Eastlands.

Mancini will have only Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure available to face the only Premier League side left with a 100 per cent record unless Micah Richards recovers from a hamstring injury that kept him out at The Hawthorns.

Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng and and Wayne Bridge are all currently sidelined.

'We have big problems,' he said. 'I hope that Micah Richards can recover. If not I don't know who can play left-back.'

If Richards misses out, it appears likely that Zabaleta will play on the right side and City would look for an alternative on the left flank. That could either involve Adam Johnson being pressed into emergency service, or more likely a midfielder such as James Milner or Gareth Barry.

Keep an eye out for your Citeh midfielders then. And perhaps it's a week to shy away from Joe Hart - as if with Chelsea visiting he wasn't already a stay-away. There will be better match-ups to come as Citeh next face Newcastle, @Blackpool, Arsenal and Wolves.

Richards has swine flu

Micah Richards is stranded in Cyprus after contracting swine flu while on holiday with friends.

The Manchester City defender, 21, is confined to his hotel room in Cyprus after being told he could not fly back to the UK until fully recovered.

Great. In 2005 it was Yakubu and then Lua Lua coming down with malaria. And now Richards has swine flu which will put a dent into his pre-season. I'm not sure he's a starter for Citeh any longer, but he's still one of their bigger names.

However, this is the real kicker:

"At first I thought it was a really bad chest infection, or maybe alcohol poisoning," he told The Sun.

That's just great! Just what you want from one of your players - a month before the season and he's out drinking enough that he fears he may have alcohol poisoning. I'm sure Hughes will be most pleased with this revelation.  Will someone please alert Nedum Onuoha that his starting spot is safe.

Eriksson meets City stars

Sven-Goran Eriksson arrived at Manchester City's training ground on Wednesday to have his first meeting with the club's players.

I wonder to what "stars" they are referring... a 19-year old right back and Sweden's number 1?

Update: So this isn't unexpected.

After just one look at the Manchester City squad he is being asked to inherit, Sven-Goran Eriksson has demanded the funds to finance ten new signings.

Although he is yet to be officially confirmed as the club's new manager, Eriksson made a brief appearance at City's training ground on Wednesday.

According to The Guardian, Eriksson 'wants four strikers, two wide players, a central midfielder, a goalkeeper and two defenders'. The Times suggests that his blueprint features 'two forwards, two wingers, two central midfield players, up to three defenders and a goalkeeper.'