Fowler’s wages Maine hurdle

RUMOURS linking Manchester City boss Kevin Keegan with a £7 million move for Robbie Fowler continue to rumble on, although it appears the Leeds striker’s wages may prove an immovable stumbling block.

Kaiserslautern's Miroslav Klose has also been linked with a switch to Maine Road, although the only arrival so far has been midfielder Djamel Belmadi. The 26-year-old Algerian has agreed to join City on loan from Marseilles until the end of the season, with both parties hoping it will be the prelude to a permanent transfer.

Meanwhile, Keegan is refusing to get sucked into the common belief that Liverpool are a spent force but he believes his Manchester City side are good enough to dump the Anfield outfit out of the FA Cup tomorrow.

As a legendary member of the Liverpool's first European Cup winning side, Keegan knows the oposition too well to even contemplate writing them off even though they have failed to notch a single victory in their last 10 Barclaycard Premiership outings.

"The doom-mongers can say what they want and the critics can jump on the bandwagon because they have a big story but Liverpool have a great manager, a great squad of players and are still a great club," said Keegan.

"Every top side has a bad run at some stage. Arsenal have had one this season and so have Manchester United.

"Liverpool are a side packed with talent. It's only a season ago that they won three trophies. They will finish in the top three or four this season and Gerard will believe they are only one game from turning the situation around we just have to make sure it doesn't happen on Sunday."

Keegan has already felt the full force of the red machine once this season, when City were humbled 3-0 in front of their own fans thanks to a Michael Owen hat-trick.

The Maine Road boss is still slightly aggrieved at the outcome of that encounter, when his side responded to a series of woeful defence mishaps which allowed Owen to put Liverpool in front with a performance of verve and determination.

The only reward for such endeavour was two more Owen strikes late in the game, completing a scoreline which Keegan felt did scant justice to a team which he believes has improved markedly in the intervening three months. "We were far better than the scoreline suggested that day," he said.

"We gave them a test and I would like to think we can give them a harder one on Sunday. They are a bigger club than us, they have achieved more than we have and they have players who know what it takes to win things. It would be a shock if we knocked them out but if we approach things in the right way, it's one that we can pull off.

"I want us to go out and prove we are capable of competing against a side like Liverpool. We are good enough to take them on whether we are good enough to win will probably depend on concentration and luck."