Toure ´hurt´ by drugs ban

Returning Manchester City defender Kolo Toure says his six-month drug ban hurt his whole family.

City’s former captain is free to return for the Sky Blues in their home fixture against Wigan on Saturday with the Ivorian serving out his ban for taking a banned diet pill last season.

Toure said he was deeply hurt by the news when he was told by manager Roberto Mancini, but more so when his young daughter was caught up in its aftermath.

“The only thing that really hurt me was that one day I was in my house and my little girl came home from school and she was nearly crying because she said that some of her friends from the school were telling her ‘your Daddy is taking drugs’,” Toure said.

“It was difficult, and she said ‘my Daddy is not like that’, that really, really hurt me. There is a difference between a diet product and a drug because when you hear ‘drug’ it’s like taking cocaine or anything like that.”

Toure admits it was a sensitive topic to breach with his young daughter.

“Young kids, they don’t know, when they see drug they think about cocaine and think about those bad things and that really, really hurt me because can you imagine what effect that could have to my little girl, she was crying and I just had to explain to her that it was nothing and I had a word with the school.”

The 30-year-old former Arsenal defender has appeared 49 times for Manchester City and said he was ready to fight for his place in the team.