City coach, Pellegrini hopes midfielder won’t be booed at Villa

Ahead of Fabien Delph’s return to Aston Villa, Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini is hoping midfielder won’t be booed by fans of his former club.

The 25-year-old made 107 appearances for Aston Villa and was their captain before leaving in controversial circumstances in July 2015.

Delph and his City teammates will travel to Villa Park on Sunday, November 8 for the first time since he left the club and Pellegrini says the player should be respected for services to the club while he was with them.

“I hope that Fabian will not get a bad reception. He played for Aston Villa for several years. Aston Villa wanted to sell him also,” Pellegrinni said.

“He was a player who gave a lot of his career for Aston Villa. I don’t think their fans will forget all of those things.”

“He’s a professional player. He’s with us. I know he wants to play because he was out injured for a long time. It will be a special game for him, but nothing more.”

City are joint top with Arsenal and will be looking to continue with their impressive league form.