Changes for Tuesday

With a squad as big as ours, and after a performance as bad as Saturday's, changes are inevitable. The boss has said that his two new signings may start against Bolton:

"Adam will probably start against Bolton," said Mancini, who added that reputations meant nothing to him.

"To me the name of the player doesn't matter, it's whether he is prepared to fight hard on the pitch. Patrick will also probably start, as long as he is OK with his calf.

"Patrick and Adam both played well and in future will be important players."

Which is a good start. Then there's injury news too. Craig Bellamy will not play:

“I know about Craig’s injury problems in the past and I hope this does not turn out to be like his old injuries, but we will have to wait for the results from the doctor. If he is OK I would hope he is training again this week and available for Stoke."

While Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott could also return.

Picking the team is difficult, but we have a few pointers. I think we will return to 4-4-2, with the same strike partnership from the last two games. The midfield will be, I think, Adam Johnson, Patrick Vieira, Nigel de Jong and then either Martin Petrov or Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right. (Although I've been predicting Barry to get dropped for a while and it still hasn't happened.)

The back four is harder. Wayne Bridge will definitely start, as, I guess, will Kolo Touré. Beyond that it will be two out of Pablo Zabaleta, Nedum Onuoha, Dedryck Boyata and - fitness permitting - Micah Richards. The most likely scenario is probably Saturday's back four but positions are really up for grabs. As they should be.