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Stephen Ireland will return to the Manchester City bench for Tuesday night's Carling Cup semi-final with Manchester United at Eastlands. Ireland has missed three games after picking up a hamstring injury at Wolves, but Roberto Mancini will have the midfielder among his substitutes as City look to establish a first-leg lead. Roque Santa Cruz will miss his club's bid to reach a first domestic final since 1981 after suffering a recurrence of his calf injury at Everton, while Patrick Vieira (calf) will not be considered for his debut. | |||||
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United are boosted by the return of Darren Fletcher from suspension and he will almost certainly replace Paul Scholes in central midfield, where he may be joined by Darron Gibson. Brazilian twins Fabio and Rafael Da Silva are also under consideration by Sir Alex Ferguson while Dimitar Berbatov is doubtful with a dead leg. | |||||