Roberto Mancini is planning for the absence of Manchester City's three most valued forwards against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow, with
Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor facing late checks to determine whether they will join Mario Balotelli on the list of injured players.Tevez has returned from Argentina's midweek defeat of Spain with a calf injury while Adebayor has a hamstring problem. With Balotelli ruled out for six weeks following a knee operation, that means Mancini may have to give Jô a first Premier League start for City in almost two years and put his faith in a striker who, until recently, seemed destined to be remembered as an expensive mistake.
"I have only Jô available – if not, I will have to play myself," Mancini said. "We have been very unlucky.
Adebayor got a knock last Saturday in training, Carlos also has an injury and Balotelli has had a very difficult start to life in England."
That leaves Jô with a possible chance to demonstrate he is a better player than he has shown since signing for the club for £18m from CSKA Moscow in July 2008. The 23-year-old Brazilian international managed three goals in 20 appearances before Mancini's predecessor, Mark Hughes, decided to remove him, and scored seven more during a year on loan with Everton that ended with David Moyes describing him as a "massive disappointment".
Jô had disciplinary issues at both clubs and subsequently moved to Galatasaray on another loan arrangement only to be embroiled in more controversy, being reported to the police for the frequency with which he allegedly had late-night house parties.
Mancini, however, does not seem tempted to recall Roque Santa Cruz against his former club, particularly as the striker has been in China this week with the Paraguay national team.
"I have known about Jô since I was managing Internazionale," said Mancini. "We played CSKA Moscow in the Champions League [in 2007] and he scored in two group games against us. For a young player to score twice against Inter was very impressive.
"He has everything you need to become a top player and he can improve because he is still young.
I never wanted him to leave in the transfer window and I hope that he can score two goals for us." http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/10/jo-manchester-city-strikers唔清楚呢個來源的可信性,但文仙尼似乎幾睇好Jo
