Kelvin Etuhu and Daniel Sturridge were the City strike partnership that shot the Blues to the FA Youth Cup Final in 2006, but injury has thus far denied them the chance to show Sven what they can do.
Etuhu made his return to action in last week’s mini derby victory and with City 1-0 down as he stepped on to the pitch, his influence was soon felt and City went on to run out 3-1 winners.
The Manager was there to witness Kelvin’s first game since a serious knee injury he picked up while on loan at Rochdale in January and an impressed Eriksson said: “He came on and played as a right winger, he did very well. I think he was playing as a striker by the end of the game and I’m very happy for him.
“I know he’s been out for eight or nine months with a bad injury, but he looks very good. We’ve had him training with the first team sometimes but having seen the reserve game against Manchester United I think he did really well.”
As for Etuhu’s strike partner, he still has some way to go after an operation on a hip injury before being able to have to chance to impress the Blues boss, as Sven confirmed: “I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and I know he’s had very bad luck. I’m not sure when he’s going to be back but I’m told maybe after Christmas.
“I have heard about him, but I’ve never seen him play, I’ve heard about his pace and that he’s a big talent so I’ll wait for him and look forward to having him involved.
“It’s always sad when you get that kind of injury so young, you’re still developing and you maybe miss so much of the season, of course that’s bad.”
Keep logged on to mcfc.co.uk for our exclusive interview with Daniel Sturridge coming soon.
