Etuhu aims to deny Yaya victory and take shirt off his back

BARNSLEY players will converge on their Manchester City counterparts to swap shirts at the final whistle on Saturday, whatever the result of their 
FA Cup quarter-final tie.

Former City midfielder Kelvin Etuhu – who has more reason than most to look forward to the David-versus-Goliath encounter – will be among that number and has already identified his target: the adversary he is set to line up against in the middle of the park, Yaya Toure.

The Ivory Coast International, who joined City for £24m in July 2010, is one of the main reasons aspiring Etihad Stadium professionals such as Etuhu have headed elsewhere to seek fame and fortune. But that will not stop him asking for his shirt.

Etuhu counts Yaya’s older brother Kolo as a guiding influence for himself and a number of young professionals during his spell there from 2006 to 2011.

On his time at City, Etuhu says: “It was very difficult towards the end as a lot of money got pumped into the club and they were buying a lot of world-class players. It was tough to break through at that level, but you still take the experience you have with you as you learn off the big-game players, such as the Yaya Toures and (Sergio) Agueros of this world. They are of the standard you hope to get to.

“As a young player, I remember Kolo Toure was very inspirational and he used to speak to you a lot. He would keep young players on the ground and motivate them, and was very good at that.

“But I have been really looking forward to the challenge of seeing how I match up against Yaya.

“He is my favourite player at Manchester City and one I watch a lot and inspire myself to be (like) one day. He is just an all-round midfielder who carries the ball well and can pass and is a competitor. He has got the lot.

“But while there is respect in the sense of what he and Man City have achieved, you have to believe in yourself and go with your own game plan and work hard. If we do that, I think we can get something.”

Manchester-based Etuhu, 24, who made 10 first-team appearances for City, will be backed by an army of friends and family on Saturday, although one of his best mates in football – City defender Micah Richards – will be in the opposing camp.

England international Richards, raised in Leeds, is short of match fitness after a long spell out with a knee injury and is expected to miss out on locking horns with the Reds midfielder, who admits City remain his second team. Although that affection will be most definitely be dispensed with for 90 minutes in the sixth-round Cup encounter.

Etuhu, fit again after being stretchered off in the fifth-round win at MK Dons, where he sustained a badly-broken nose following a clash of heads, says: “I probably speak to Micah every day and we are really close, having grown up together. I also speak to Joe Hart and Joleon Lescott quite a bit.

“To be fair, it was Micah who rang me first after the draw was made. He beat me to it.

“It is a great occasion for the club, especially for me really.

“It is going to be a huge day for me.

“Quite a lot of people are coming because it’s in

Manchester and loads of friends will be there, so I will have to put on a show for them.”

He adds: “I still look where they are in the league and want them to do well because I still have Man City at heart.

“I was in the crowd when they won the league by beating QPR in May and went to watch Micah with his family and I was definitely jumping up and down when they got that last-minute goal.”

Etuhu’s first-team career at City may have been brief, but he is one of the few Barnsley players to have played at the stadium.

He is possinly the only one to have scored there – in the cauldron of a Lancashire derby, as opposed to a Roses joust, in a 4-2 victory over Bolton Wanderers in December 2007.

Etuhu says: “My favourite memory of my time at City is probably my debut goal against Bolton.

“I came on when we were 2-1 down and I set up a goal and got the winner and it was a really memorable day and hopefully Saturday will be the same.”