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Aleks Kolarov believes Blues fans are seeing his true colours thanks to the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini.

The Serbian left-back endured a miserable 2012-13 at the Etihad under Roberto Mancini and many believed he was set to follow the Italian out of the club last summer.

But tomorrow at Wembley he is expected to nudge Gael Clichy onto the bench for his 34th appearance of a season in which he has already made more appearances than last term.

Kolarov has won over Blues fans and has proved to be one of the many threats in City’s formidable attack-from-anywhere Arsenal.

Watch Kolarov speaking below

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But he puts his revival down to the arrival of the Chilean – and regular action.

“I was always the same player,” he told M.E.N. Sport. “Just this season I play more often.

“Now I show my real face. I just did not play a lot with Mancini.

“I can only talk for myself. I work and I am professional. The manager decided who wants to play. We had to respect that.”

Racing down the left touchline this year’s version of Kolarov is virtually unrecognisable. He has scored in all four competitions and is hoping for another at Wembley.

“From the first day he (Pellegrini) asked us to play very offensive football,” he said. “We show that on the pitch. The first thing for us is to win. If I score it would be great for me and the team.”

Kolarov’s no-nonsense approach on the pitch is replicated off it. He gives no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point answers.

When asked if he was happy to play on the wing he said: “Yes but my position is full-back.”

When asked if the team was still fresh despite battling on four fronts he said: “We are fresh, We train well. We are ready.”

He is similarly blunt when asked if there is any training ground banter between himself and rival Clichy.

“We both work,” he said. “It is the manager’s job to decide who he wants to play.”

Not many of the Blues players need to be reminded about what happened on their last trip to Wembley.

Kolarov is honest enough to admit things did not go according to plan.

“You can tell we were not 100 per cent and Wigan played very good even though they were relegated,” he said. “I think they deserved to win.

“We will use that experience and I hope that we are going to win.”

If they do win it will be another medal for his trophy room and he believes it is of equal importance to the others despite many casting doubts over the Capital One Cup’s worth.

“Every trophy is important,” he said. “Maybe the Champions League is the most important for any player but any trophy is important. Maybe in the first round the coach starts with the second team but you can see in latter stages everybody wanted to play.

“We reached the final and on Sunday it is the most important competition in England. If you asked any coach in the Premier League if they would want to win the Capital One Cup they would say 100 per cent yes.”

City’s explosive attack, which has amassed 118 goals so far this campaign, has won the plaudits but placed pressure on the defence. However, Kolarov is revelling in it.

“I enjoy how we play now,” he said. “We always have the ball and we have seven or eight players to attack. We have more solutions in attack.”

One of those solutions is Kolarov – the real Kolarov.