MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini has urged Aston Villa fans to give Fabian Delph a good reception as he makes his first return to his former club after his controversial £8 million move to Manchester City.
And the City manager claimed that Villa wanted to sell the midfielder, who skippered them in last season's FA Cup final.
Delph completed a U-turn by rejecting a move to City and pledging his future to Villa in July before signing for Pellegrini's side six days later.
Other players who have left Villa, such as Gareth Barry, have been jeered when they went back to face their former club but Pellegrini believes Delph deserves better.
"I hope he will not receive that," he said. "He played a lot of years for Aston Villa. Aston Villa wanted to sell him also. He continues being a player that gives a lot of his career to Aston Villa. I don't think the fans will forget all those things."
Delph made his comeback from a hamstring injury in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Sevilla, when winger Jesus Navas was applauded on his return to his former club.
And Pellegrini added: "Maybe it is the same with Jesus Navas when we played against Sevilla. Fabian made all his career at Aston Villa but he is a professional player and now he is playing with us. I know that he wants to play also because he has [been out] a long time injured."
Pellegrini welcomed England manager Roy Hodgson's decision to call Delph up for their friendlies against Spain and France.
"Of course, it will be good for Fabian to play for England," he added. "He is working with the whole squad for the last 10 days. He has played some minutes against Sevilla. Maybe he will play some more on Sunday so it is good for him to have minutes and good for the national squad also."
Villa will be captained by Micah Richards, a product of the City academy and a player who will face his former club for the first time.
The defender left City after barely featuring under Pellegrini but the Chilean said: "He had so many injuries in the one season he was with me, after that he preferred to go to Italy [to join Fiorentina on loan], he went there, he came back and now he goes to Aston Villa.
"He is a very good player and was an important player when he played for us."
It will be Villa's first game under new manager Remi Garde and Pellegrini revealed the Frenchman, who is a friend of City's Elite Development Squad manager Patrick Vieira, had come to their former training ground to study them.
"He was here in Carrington two years ago," he explained. "He was not thinking in that moment to come here. He was just taking the job of Lyon."