Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini hopes Aston Villa fans won't jeer Fabian Delph upon his return.

The England midfielder may be expecting a hostile response at Villa Park after he performed a summer U-turn to sign for Pellegrini's City.

"I hope that he will not receive that," Pellegrini said when asked if the thought fit-again Delph would be booed.

"He played a lot of years for Aston Villa and Aston Villa wanted to sell him. I don't think the fans will forget those things."