Dickov welcomes opportunity to prove pedigree to former club

Paul Dickov, the former Manchester City striker, would be happy to hear the boos from home fans ringing in his ears come full-time of the FA Cup third-round tie with Leicester tomorrow.

Dickov made his name as a striker at Maine Road and is looking forward to showing the City of Manchester Stadium faithful what they have been missing since the club let him go.

Dickov was a firm favourite during his four years with the Blues but that was quickly forgotten as he struck twice in a shock 3-0 away win earlier this season.

The Scotland striker would dearly love a repeat scoreline against City, who are without a win in 11 matches. He believes another victory would act as a confidence booster for the Foxes' main priority, Premiership survival.

Dickov said: "Winning 3-0 up there showed everyone we had the confidence to go up to a place like that and come away with the three points. I don't think we caught them by surprise.

"Knowing the management team up there, they would have known all about us because they are very thorough.

"But I think many managers are saying that we are a difficult team to beat whereas earlier in the season we were not getting paid that much respect," he added.

Kevin Keegan, the Manchester City manager, yesterday hailed the revival of the defender Richard Dunne's form. The Irish international has emerged as one of the few star performers during City's recent slump.

Dunne is an unlikely hero given that Keegan was on the brink of releasing him just over 12 months ago after a series of disciplinary problems. "He has done some silly things in the past but his last six or seven games for us have been outstanding," Keegan said.

"What we have got to do now is start to get the confidence back into the other players who are capable of better than they have been producing."