Ireland: I’ll be ready for Manchester derby

STEPHEN IRELAND expects to be fit for Sunday’s Manchester derby.

The City midfielder was forced to miss the second half of the weekend win over Arsenal after aggravating an ankle injury he originally suffered at Portsmouth last month.

Blues boss Mark Hughes was concerned the 23-year-old would miss out, particularly as Robinho is already sidelined, Carlos Tevez is a major doubt and disciplinary trouble continues to hang over frontman Emmanuel Adebayor.