Manchester City Defender To Make Return After Six Month Injury Nightmare

Micah Richards is in line to make a long awaited return to the Manchester City first team against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday evening, assistant manager David Platt has confirmed.

24-year-old Richards has been ruled out since October of last year when he suffered a knee injury during a 1-0 win over Swansea City, but having returned to first team training last month, the defender is in contention for a return against their FA Cup final opponents in their mid-week Premier League clash.

"Micah's been back in full training for almost two weeks and he's played a couple of EDS games so he's available for selection," Platt confirmed to the club's official website. "Whether he can get through a full 90 minutes is another story."

Richards, who made his City debut as a 17-year-old in 2005, has made just four appearances for Roberto Mancini's side this season, spending the opening months of the season side-lined with an ankle injury sustained while on Team GB duty at London 2012.

Weeks after his return, he suffered knee ligament damage, and despite claims from his manager that he would be fit to return within a month, a more gradual recovery period was necessary.

Midfielder Jack Rodwell, who has been plagued by injury since his £15 million move from Everton last summer, will also return asfter he suffered a reoccurrence of a troublesome thigh injury during a failed comeback game against Aston Villa at the beginning of March.

While both Rodwell and Richards are unlikely to feature for a full 90 minutes against Roberto Martinez's side, Platt admits the duo may be called in with other members of the squad still recovering from Sunday's demanding FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea.

"Jack could also make the squad though, like Micah, I doubt he would be ready for a full game," the City assistant manager added. "Squad selection and team selection are two different things and you can't afford to have too many players starting who you suspect you have to substitute at some point."

Platt also revealed that David Silva is nearing his return, although the visit of Wigan on Wednesday will prove to be too soon for the Spanish international, with City unwilling to take unnecessary risks with Sunday's visit to Tottenham Hotspur on the horizon.

"That risk diminishes each passing day, but if he plays against Wigan and it's too soon, he could miss the trip to Spurs and other games so we'll see how it goes and how he feels. He's training again but not with the main group just yet."