Micah Richards fears for his future at Manchester City. Brazilian right-back Maicon's £3million arrival from Inter Milan on the last day of the transfer window means City have three defenders fighting for one place, with Pablo Zabaleta the current first choice.

Richards, 24, said: "The manager has been playing a 3-5-2 formation, so there's more chance that I'm going to play if he goes with that.

"But if he plays a 4-4-2, it's going to be me, Zaba and Maicon battling it out for the right back position.

"I don't mind though, I've had competition all my life. I've been here seven years and I'm still going, so a little bit of competition just makes it a little bit better.

"I think you need a big squad. Sometimes last season we had a few injuries and we fell short of the mark sometimes and we didn't really get the results we needed.

"I just can't wait to get back and get back playing and to show everyone what I can do all over again."