Toure conundrum for Mancini

Roberto Mancini must decide whether to keep Kolo Toure in his starting line-up for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League encounter with Everton at the Etihad Stadium.

Toure returned from serving a six-month suspension for a failed drugs test in Wednesday’s Carling Cup win over Birmingham but Mancini has to work out whether the Ivorian defender is fit enough to complete back-to-back matches.

Mancini has already decided that such a task would be too much for Owen Hargreaves, who hit out at Manchester United’s medical team after ending three years on the sidelines with a goalscoring contribution to the Birmingham win.

Provisional squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Onuoha, Kompany, Kolo Toure, Savic, Lescott, Clichy, Kolarov, Bridge, Barry, Milner, Yaya Toure, Nasri, Aguero, Tevez, Silva, Zabaleta, Dzeko, Balotelli.