CITY have dismissed claims that they are about to turn Carlos Tevez into a supersub.

In some quarters, that was the interpretation placed on Mark Hughes' explanation of why the Argentine ace began the 2-2 draw at Liverpool on the bench.

But Hughes made it plain that Tevez had suffered with knee problems, while coach Eddie Niedzwiecki added that the stresses of the player's international commitments also contributed to the decision.

After a week back in training, Tevez is in line for a return to the starting XI for the Eastlands clash with Hull on Saturday.

Hughes said: “We were mindful of the fact that he has had bangs on his knees, which has been giving him concern.

“We went to Anfield with a different shape and were quite comfortable in the first half.

“But it was always my intention to bring Carlos on at some point of the game to try to win it for us.

“And he was excellent, showing good energy and doing fantastic for the second goal. I am pleased for him because he looked really sharp.”

Niedzwiecki hit out at the suggestions that Tevez will be spending much of his time on the sidelines, which had been one of the factors behind his decision to leave neighbours United in the summer.

“That was a case of people making something out of the fact that we had gone to Liverpool with a game plan, and because he made such an impact coming on he was handed a label that was completely wrong,” the coach said.

“Because of the size of squad we have, and the players we have, there will be times when the boss has to leave certain individuals out or play a different system.

“We are very flexible with what we can do, and the boss will use that, but to label Carlos as an impact sub is completely wrong.”

Tevez has also had a testing World Cup qualifying campaign under the wacky managership of Diego Maradona, which appeared to lead to him talking about retirement from football last week, although City have taken the quotes with a pinch of salt.

Niedzwiecki feels the physical and emotional difficulties he faced with Argentina, who scraped through to South Africa, may have taken a toll as well.

“He came on at Liverpool and showed hunger and desire, and did change things,” he said.

“But you have to take into account that he had been away with Argentina, and there was a lot of speculation about that as well, a lot of emotion around the national team and Carlos.”