Leandro Bacuna has told Aston Villa fans to shelve their Fabian Delph hurt as the midfielder prepares to return to Villa Park with Manchester City on Sunday.

Delph joined City for £8m in the summer - a matter of days after verbally pledging his future to the Villans by saying that he could not wait to lead "this great club" into the season.

Consequently, the 25-year-old - their former captain - is expected to receive a hostile reception this afternoon, and though Bacuna would rather see his old teammate respected, the right-back claims that hostility may in fact inspire the hosts in Remi Garde's first game as manager

"Fabian's a great ­player. Of course, you can say that he was a loss for us and a big win for them," he is quoted as saying by The Mirror. "He did some great things for Villa. He's a miss for us, for sure.

"It's possible I'll speak to him before the game – but I'm not thinking too much about Fabian now.

"Different people will have ­different opinions on him. Personally, I'm not thinking too much about it. But an atmosphere like that can get everyone going. It might help us."

Earlier this week, Sky Blues boss Manuel Pellegrini said that he wants to see the England international respected.