Return of the £6.5m man?

Having not been named in the Cardiff City side that lined up against Bristol City on Saturday lunchtime, Craig Bellamy seems certain to start Tuesday night’s Championship clash at the Ricoh Arena.

A knee problem is set to restrict the 31-year-old to one game a week over the course of the season and Bluebirds boss Dave Jones looks to have decided that the Sky Blues test is the one he wants his star man for.

If so it will be a first game against Coventry City since leaving the club, where he remains the record signing, in 2001.

Purchased for £6.5m following the sale of Robbie Keane to Internazionale, Bellamy suffered by way of comparison to the Irishman and the weight of expectation the then 21-year-old carried in a poor Sky Blues side, shorn of both Keane and Gary McAllister from the previous season.

The delayed signing of John Hartson stopped what could have been a tasty looking partnership from developing sooner and in the end Bellamy was powerless to stop City’s slide into the Championship.

They have stayed there ever since of course while he, despite controversy never being far away, has commanded a further £39.5m in transfer fees and spent a decade at the top level.

The Sky Blues rearguard will have to be at their best to keep out a man who only last season netted 10 goals in 32 Premier League games for the side who ended up 5th in the table.