Hargreaves and Gerrard back from the wilderness

IT WAS a night of comebacks for ageing England midfielders in the Carling Cup as perennial crocks Owen Hargreaves and Steven Gerrard both made their first appearances of the season.

The return of Hargreaves was by far the more romantic. The 30-year-old scored a wonderful goal on his debut for Manchester City against Birmingham and managed to play for almost an hour, havng managed just six minutes of football in the previous three years.

The former England and Manchester United midfielder was was deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford at the end of last season and was released, apparently washed up. So battered was his reputation that no club appeared to want to take the risk of signing him so he was reduced to releasing a YouTube video of his training sessions to try and convince managers that he was not a total write-off.

It convinced City boss Roberto Mancini to take him in, and Hargreaves repaid some of that faith against Birmingham in the Carling Cup by opening the scoring with a wonderful 25-yard drive as City knocked out the holders 2-1. The other goal came from a man who could soon be filling Hargreaves's boots as the City's forgotten man, Mario Balotelli, who was making only his third appearance of the season and his first start since Sergio Aguero arrived at the club.

Hargreaves's marathon 57-minute effort was almost 10 times longer than the amount of competitive football that he had managed in the previous three years.

Afterwards Mancini said he hoped that Hargreaves, who was voted England's player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup before injury wrecked his career, could become an important player for his side and even hinted at the possibility of an England recall.

Another player hoping to catch Fabio Capello's eye was Steven Gerrard, who had not played since March when he had groin surgery. But he took his bow afer 74 minutes as Liverpool overcame Brighton.

Hargreaves, after all he has gone through, is likely to accept life as a bit-part member of the Manchester City and England set ups, playing second fiddle to the likes of Yaya Toure at club level. But it might be harder for Gerrard to come to terms with a diminished role at Liverpool. However, the Reds talisman is now 31 and with Kenny Dalglish having invested in the likes of Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing in the summer the dynamic midfielder may discover that he is no longer as crucial to Liverpool's success as he once was. ·