Man City v Sheff Weds: Helan is aiming for happy return to the Etihad

Tonight, he will step back on the City pitch as a Sheffield Wednesday player as the Owls look to cause one of the shocks of the season and knock out the Premier League champions and Cup holders.

Having come through the youth ranks – he arrived in Manchester as a 16-year-old from France – Helan’s substitute appearance in a 4-2 home defeat to Aston Villa proved the pinnacle of his City career.

With multi-million pound signings sat in the reserves at City, young talents like Helan were always struggling to break through.

Loan spells at Carlisle and Shrewsbury came before a temporary move to Hillsborough was eventually made permanent in January last year.

Now the 22-year-old left-back – he can also play in midfield – is looking forward to seeing some familiar faces tonight, and has nothing but praise for the footballing education he received under former City chief Roberto Mancini.

“It was a very strange feeling (drawing Manchester City), it has only been a year since I left and I am already going back,” he said.

There is no fear of Helan being overawed by big-name players like James Milner or Edin Dzeko as they were his team-mates that September night two years ago.

“Having been at City it’s not like I have never seen them before, I was there for a couple of years,” said the former French Under-19 international.

“When you see them every day, it doesn’t change your opinion of them, but they are human beings.

“It’s not like you just watch them on television. You train with them, play some friendlies with them. It’s not like I don’t know what they are capable of.

“Since I left, they have changed the manager, I was there under Mancini. But it’s the same players, they have just added two or three. Everyone is knowledgeable of what they are capable of.

“You look at players like Navas, Milner or Yaya and you know what they are about. You see them week in, week out. They are the players you look up to and follow their example.

“Sometimes you get to train with them, sometimes you don’t. In pre-season you really mix with them.

“But they have a really big squad, so unless there are injuries or they just played the day before, it’s very difficult to train with them every day.”

Learning to be patient and stay motivated when on the outside was tough at City, but after injury kept him sidelined at Hillsborough for the start of the season, Helan is having to bide his team at Wednesday, too.

He is likely to be one of several changes tonight made by Stuart Gray as in-form Wednesday – who have kept seven clean sheets in 10 games – look to add another Premier League scalp after winning at Burnley in the previous round.

So how did Helan deal with being down the pecking order at the Etihad for so long?

“You have two feelings, you can either get frustrated or motivated,” he added. “It all depends on the character you have.

“Sometimes it’s frustrating when I think of some people that I have seen, really good players who never got their chance.

“I think you should always have the motivation to make it as big as you can. Don’t look at other players, just think about yourself. If they bought someone who is worth £30m, then I should try to be as good as him. You should always have that motivation, never get frustrated.

“It was a good time at City. To see these players, to train with them and see what they do, it’s always good. They set the examples for your career.

“You might feel like you don’t progress because you are not playing first-team football. You look at them, think they are the best players in the world, and maybe tomorrow they will ask me to play with them. It has to be the motivation to keep working.

“Even when you leave, you need to remember what you have seen, you know what it takes to make it (to the top). Just work, work, work.”

Helan retains contact with several City players and believes the Owls can give the champions a good game.

“Why not? They are human beings,” said Helan.

“True, they have good players, are one of the best teams in the world, but on the day it’s a cup game and you don’t know what can happen.

“We will give it a go. Look what MK Dons did to Manchester United, beat them 4-0.

“Maybe we will not win, but we are not going there as losers. We should not have that mentality.

“We have very good form and that should give us the confidence to say ‘yes, we can do it’.”

Last six games: Manchester City WWLDLD, Sheffield Wednesday WWLDWW.

Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire).

Last time: Manchester City 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1; January 16, 2007; FA Cup.