Player ratings: Barnsley 1 City 1

Given – Required to make a couple of decent stops and saw the woodwork rattled before being beaten late on. 6

Richards – Didn’t look unduly weakened by swine flu and had a solid game. 7

Toure – The debutant fitted in well alongside Onuoha, but doesn’t give the height we’ll need. 7

Onuoha – Still having to play as left sided centre half, and still doing it admirably. 7

Garrido – Just doesn’t convince defensively and it needs to be addressed. 5

Wright-Phillips – An improvement on his last showing but still not on top of his game. 6

De Jong – In a 4-4-2 with Ireland as his partner, there’s a big onus on his defensive qualities and he was up to it. 7

Ireland – Playing as a box to box midfielder, he showed some good touches and managed an assist for the goal. 7

Robinho – A much improved display where he linked up well with those around him. 8

Bellamy – Injury worries over as the Welshman covered more ground than anyone. His intelligent running constantly caused problems. 8

Adebayor – Would have been disappointed not to get his first goals. He always shows for the ball, but needs to attack the box more. 7

Subs:

Ben Haim 46mins – He was looking every bit as good as Toure until a gaff cost the goal. 6

Zabaleta 46mins – Mr Versatile came on at left back to provide some defensive robustness and ended up at right back. 7

McGivern 65mins – Another appearance for the youngster, but playing at left-back he wasn’t able to link up as well going forward. 6

Weiss 69mins – Another cameo from the Czech youngster, combining brilliance and some naivity. 6

Petrov 77 – A late showing that thankfully enabled the blues to get an equaliser. 6

Man of the match: Bellamy