BIRMINGHAM: Gareth Barry believes Edin Dzeko’s first goal for Manchester City could herald the start of a prolific spell for his team’s latest big-money signing.
City paid £27mil to sign Dzeko from German club Wolfsburg and the Bosnian forward repaid a small slice of that fee as his late equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw against League One club Notts County in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.
While that result was hardly one of City’s best this season, England midfielder Barry is hopeful Dzeko’s goal will boost his confidence and lead to another predatory display against Birmingham in today’s Premier League clash at St Andrew’s.
“The longer a striker goes without a goal it can affect him so maybe this will send him the other way,” Barry said.
“Strikers thrive on confidence, so hopefully it will be the start of many goals.
“If you look at his record, his ratio of goals per game is good and if he keeps that going he will be a big star.
“The competition is very tough at City now and Edin is another quality player going straight into the team.”
Meanwhile, City boss Roberto Mancini has accepted the loss of Adam Johnson will hit them hard as they try to catch Premier League leaders Manchester United.
England winger Johnson has been one of City’s most influential players this season but has damaged ankle ligaments in training.
He may be out for the season which is a blow for City, especially because Argentine forward Carlos Tevez is also struggling at the moment with a back complaint.
“We have a big problem with Johnson out for three months,” Mancini said.
“It is the same injury as Aleksander Kolarov had at the start of the season, and he is very unlucky.”
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