Thaksin Shinawatra's declaration yesterday that he was returning to England to “tighten the bolt” at Manchester City after the club's recent poor run of results may have given Sven-Göran Eriksson a little cause for concern, but the manager will have been more pleased to hear that Micah Richards is on course for an early return from injury.

Richards was ruled out for six weeks after undergoing a knee operation just under a fortnight ago, but with his rehabilitation going well, the England defender is confident that he will be back ahead of schedule. “Things are looking good,” he said. “Hopefully, I could be back even sooner than the six weeks the doctors said.

“The operation was something that couldn't be avoided. I played in the derby at Old Trafford [last month] with my knee hurting and in the second half picked up an ankle knock as well, so I was a wreck by the end of the game. After the Everton match [also last month] the knee was swollen like a balloon and I couldn't carry on, really. The medical advice was to get the operation done before the end of the season and that is what I did.

“I hate missing games, especially at such a crucial time, but I will be giving it 100 per cent to be fit as soon as I possibly can. I will be back and I will be back with a bang.”

City have taken just six points from their past eight Barclays Premier League matches to leave their hopes of European qualification hanging in the balance and with a mounting injury list, Eriksson could do with Richards back sooner rather than later.

Tottenham Hotspur visit the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday for what promises to be a decisive match before games away to Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City, with Valeri Bojinov, the Bulgaria striker, also out and serious fitness doubts over Richard Dunne (gashed shin), Nedum Onuoha (hamstring) and Michael Ball (twisted knee).

Martin Petrov, the winger, and Dietmar Hamann, the midfield player, are suspended, leaving Eriksson's squad down to the bare bones.

In ruder health are City's neighbours, Manchester United, even though Sir Alex Ferguson will have to hand Ben Foster, the goalkeeper, a premature debut away to Derby County on Saturday. Edwin van der Sar is out for at least the next two league matches with a thigh injury while Tomasz Kuszczak is suspended.

With Arsenal not playing Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium until Saturday evening, United will go top if they beat Derby. Ryan Giggs is expected to return against Paul Jewell's struggling side after missing United's past four matches with knee and calf problems. The winger is just 13 games short of equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 759 appearances for the club, but while the 34-year-old is already in the process of obtaining his Uefa coaching licences, he has no intention of hanging up his boots just yet.

“I am just concentrating on playing at the moment,” Giggs said. “I have done my C and B coaching licences and enjoyed it, so we will see how it goes in the summer. If you enjoy it, then it makes sense to go on and try and be a coach or a manager. The manager [Ferguson] took his coaching badges early and had them when he was in his twenties.

“He has always said to us to try to get our badges while we are playing as it helps you as a player. A few of us are doing that and hopefully we will go on and become fully qualified.”

Ferguson will take a United team to play Aberdeen in a pre-season friendly at Pittodrie on July 12 to mark the 25th anniversary of his European Cup Winners' Cup victory with the Scottish club.