Manchester City 2 Rotherham Utd 1by Neil Bonnar

KEVIN Keegan may have to use all his renowned man-management expertise to avert a collision course with Darren Huckerby.

The in-form striker has made it clear he will not be happy if he loses his place when first choice pairing Paulo Wanchope and Shaun Goater return to the side.

He insisted: "If I am not picked after the way I have been played there will be problems - put it like that."

Huckerby found himself patiently watching from the bench as Goater and Wanchope took the First Division by storm before Wanchope suffered a knee injury in September.

Since then he has filled the breach in style, hammering in a remarkable 11 goals and giving rival defenders nightmares with his electric pace and dribbling skill.

With Goater due to return within a week and Wanchope expected back in a fortnight, Keegan is going to have a nice selection problem very soon.

It is hard to imagine City playing without Goater and Wanchope up front so Huckerby could find himself operating on the flank, where he does most of his work anyway, or being relegated back to the bench which will spark doubts about his City future.

Huckerby was a constant threat again on Saturday where he went close several times but the game overshadowed by a new boy Christan Negouai punching in City's equaliser just before half time after they had been out-played.

Rotherham had every right to be seething over the goal. They did not come to stop City playing as so many previous Maine Road visitors had done. They took the game to City and were winning it hands down with a performance high in energy and skill before 6' 5" Negouai's handy work.

It was a different story after the break as Ali Benarbia prompted wave after wave of Blue attacks and it finally paid off when the Algerian maestro got his reward with a 25-yard rocket which took a wicked deflection over keeper Mike Pollitt five minutes from time.