Anelka struggling for City

Nicolas Anelka looks set to miss Monday’s televised trip to Middlesbrough after failing to recover from an ankle injury.

City’s £13m (€18.8m) record signing has not trained since limping out of the win at Portsmouth a fortnight ago and his likely absence should at least spare manager Kevin Keegan the tricky decision of whether to split in-form duo Robbie Fowler and Jon Macken.