Manchester City defender Micah Richards is confident they can handle Yaya Toure's midseason absence.

Toure will play for Ivory Coast in January's African Nations Cup.

"He has been a quality player for us," admits Richards.

"But we have got midfielders, we've got [Samir] Nasri, who didn't play today. [Sergio] Aguero can drop back and [David] Silva can play in that role.

"So we have got players who can cope in that position. But he will be a big miss, but I am sure we can cope with it.

"We've got players like [Nigel] de Jong that can come in and sit for us and push people forward. We'll miss Yaya but we have got people who can come in and do a job."