Dawn of a new era at the Eithad

New era begins as City welcome the Gills

Cristiano Ronaldo will make his 2nd Manchester City debut against Gillingham tomorrow

It's a dawn of a new era at the Etihad and it all begins tomorrow when Steve Thompson's Manchester City welcome Gillingham in their opening division 3 fixture. Plenty of changes have been made in the close season by manager Steve Thompson and tomorrow is what the fans will be hoping the beginning of the decent back to division 1 were many feel they belong.

As many as 6 players could be making their debuts against the Gills tomorrow and everybody connected with City will be hoping for the best possible start as they target the league title.

Manchester City team news:

Recent signing and new club captain John Terry will not feature, the 33 year old carries over a three match suspension he picked up when at Chelsea. Cristiano Ronaldo looks set to make his second debut for City but where he plays remain to be seen. Branislav Ivanovic, Gael Clichy and Simon Kjaer all look set to start in a new look defense.

Attackers Kevin Mirallas and Aleksandr Kokorin are both in contention for a starting birth

Man City manager Steve Thompson gave his views ahead of the game.....

"We all can't wait to get going this is the start of a new era and hopefully we have plenty of successful times ahead. Pre-season has been great for us we have tested a number of formations and tried players in different positions and we have managed some pleasing results. Hopefully we can carry that into the league.

We are not taking Gillingham lightly. They are a team that has become accustomed to winning games especially under their new manager Felix and they can come to the Etihad with the shackles off as everybody expects us to win, the pressure is on us to perform from the off and i have confidence in my boys to handle that.

The fans have seen plenty of change in the squad but i feel we are ready for a long season which will hopefully bear fruit at the end with a promotion"