City return to Wolves for the first time since the Blues marked Roberto Mancini’s arrival last December with a thumping 3-0 Premier League win at Molineux in the manager’s first away game.
But Joleon has been back much more recently for a surprise half-time appearance during the match against Aston Villa when Wolves’ luckless former England Under-21 goalkeeper Matt Murray retired at 29.
His guest spot was cloaked in secrecy so Murray and the fans would be blissfully unaware. Lescott said: “I went out onto the pitch at half time with his other close pals Robbie Keane, Lee Naylor and Rob Edwards.
“Matt is one of my good friends, and it was an emotional occasion for him - he didn’t have a clue that we were all coming to see him. It was nice for him that we were all able to be there, I think.
“It was mainly his knee, but he’s had a few injuries over the years and that takes its toll. When you’re forever coming back from one injury after another, it can be a mental strain as well as a physical one.
“The fans were very good to me. They’ve known me since I was in the youth team there. I think they understood at the time that I wanted to leave for football reasons. They were brilliant to me.
Wolves is one of the first results that I look for
“They’ve not been doing too well recently and they’ve got some tough games coming up so I’m looking for their form to improve - but hopefully not against us!”
Joleon, recalled by England manager Fabio Capello this season on the back of his City performances, is aiming to regain his place on Saturday after being consigned to the bench for Sunday’s clash with Arsenal.
He said: “I was very disappointed not to be playing. I found out on Sunday I wasn’t involved and it was hard. But I was there to give the boys my support, and if I’m not playing at the weekend I’ll do the same.”
