Big defender blow for City

Manchester City defender Micah Richards expects to miss four months after having surgery on the knee injury he suffered on Saturday.

The 24-year-old had an operation late on Monday night after sustaining the problem in City's 1-0 Premier League win over Swansea. It had been hoped that Richards could be back in action within six to eight weeks, but Richards told the club's official website it could take much longer. "The positive thing is that the injury has been repaired so the knee will be as good as new," he said. "I have a brace on it and I am using crutches. I can't do anything at all for the next four to six weeks and I am probably looking at 12-16 weeks before I am back in action." Richards is therefore out of the rest of the Champions League group stage games and the big Premier League clashes against Chelsea (November 25), Manchester United (December 9), Arsenal (January 12) and Liverpool (February 2).