Stephen Ireland reckons Richard Dunne will receive a warm welcome from the City fans this weekend, despite being in Aston Villa colours.

The weekend clash between the Blues and Martin O’Neill’s side will be Dunne’s first return to the club he captained and represented for almost a decade, though Ireland is hoping his old mate doesn’t enjoy the day too much.

“Dunney is still a great mate and I keep in regular touch with him,” said Ireland. “He’s had a terrific season for Villa, been to Wembley twice and was voted into the PFA Team of the Year.

“You can tell by his performances that he’s enjoying himself and he’s probably has one of the best seasons of his career in terms of what he’s done this season.

He’s really looking forward to coming back on Saturday and the City fans will no doubt give him a fantastic reception because they loved him, though it’s going to be weird seeing him in another club’s colours

...Stephen Ireland

“I’m sure he’ll make life difficult for our forwards and will be doing everything to help Villa win. I know he he’ll always have a special place in his heart for our supporters because they’ve always held him in such high regard, but I’m sure they won’t mind if he has an off-day!

“It’s important we win our final three games and claim fourth spot and we know we’ll have to be at the top of our game on Saturday to stop Villa and if we win, it will set the Spurs game up perfectly.”

Stevie also wanted to put the record straight after various spurious reports in the red top tabloids this week speculated that he was intending to build a shark tank at his home.

He admitted his frustration at the way mischievous internet rumours had been reported as fact by the media.

He said: “Apparently I’m digging up my kitchen to put in a shark tank! I honestly can’t believe the rubbish people write about me sometimes.

“My kitchen is very much as it was and I’ve no plans to put a shark tank in or anything else for that matter.  I don’t know where the story comes from but it’s completely ridiculous and I’ve had enough of it.”