Craig Bellamy insists he sees no rivalry between himself and Manchester City teammate Robinho.

Bellamy smiles wryly when he mentions it but he has a sneaking suspicion that if his elder son, Ellis, 12, had to choose between him and the Brazilian, he might not pick his dad.

"Does he think I'm better than Robinho?" Bellamy told the Mirror. "Probably not. Because Robinho will do a couple of step overs and a couple of tricks and my son would appreciate that more than me tracking back and doing the dirty work.

"I think all kids are Robinho fans. When I went over to Sierra Leone in the summer, Robinho was the first person they all asked about..

"He catches the eye. He catches my eye. To be mentioned in the same breath as him is an honour. I am just enjoying that fact. To be fighting it out with him is an achievement all on its own.

"If you had told me a couple of years ago when I was out with injury for a year at West Ham that I would be fighting it out with a player someone paid £32m for, that people would be holding me in that regard, I would have laughed."