Manchester City boss Mark Hughes concedes Micah Richards has struggled for form this season.

Hughes said: "Micah is a young player. He is a strong athlete and on occasions he can rely on that athleticism too much.

"He can make wrong decisions and get out of them by relying on his natural gifts. We are trying to make him read situations earlier so that he does not have to retrieve situations.

"People have to understand that a lot has happened to Micah in a short space of time. There is still a lot of development to take place there.

"But he is still very much down the road to being a very good player and if he addresses certain parts of his game he will be outstanding for us and for England for years to come."