[30stone]

Could be worse than you think..

The Manchester City defender Kolo Touré faces a ban of up to two years following his suspension from playing yesterday after testing positive for a banned substance.

City, whose Abu Dhabi owners hold great store by their players' conduct, learned on Wednesday afternoon of the positive result in Touré's A sample and immediately dropped the Ivorian from the squad to face Aston Villa in the FA Cup. It is now Touré's decision whether to have his B sample, taken in the same drugs test, analysed in a bid to prove his innocence or wait for the Football Association to dispense justice.

The suggestion that the substance was found in a dietary supplement remained unconfirmed last night, with City also refusing to enter into a discussion of suggestions that the random drugs test may have been carried out after the Manchester derby on 12 February. The centre-half started against Fulham last Sunday and City would only reveal that the 29-year-old had tested for what is known under World Anti-Doping Agency regulations as a "specified substance". That is a substance "more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation" and raises the prospect that Touré may have been caught out by an over-the-counter medicine or dietary supplement. A dietary supplement could mean a ban lower down the scale than the nine months received by Sheffield United's Paddy Kenny, when he tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine in 2009.