Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is delighted to have Emmanuel Adebayor available for Monday's Premier League clash with Aston Villa even if he thinks his striker's £25,000 fine was a bit over the top.
After serving a three-match ban for scraping his studs across Robin van Persie's face, Adebayor feared he may be sidelined for even longer because of his controversial celebration against former club Arsenal on September 12.
In the end, after City provided evidence of similar cases in the past and taking into account the intense provocation Adebayor received from the Gunners supporters at Eastlands, the Football Association decided to give him a two-game ban, that will be suspended until next year, and a large fine.
Although the money is not going to make much of an impact on Adebayor's weekly salary, which is assumed to exceed £100,000 a week, it is five times more than Manchester United defender Gary Neville was forced to shell out for his inflammatory celebration against Liverpool in 2006.
The fact is not lost on Hughes, although he is satisfied Adebayor is free to play again. "When you look at similar cases in the past you could argue that the fine is bigger," said Hughes. "But we knew there was a chance Emmanuel may have got more games so we are grateful that hasn't happened."
Neville has accused the FA of being over-sensitive about goal celebrations, which sometimes are understandable given the amount of bile that often comes down from the stands, Adebayor being an obvious case in point.
"There is an obligation on players but there is emotion in the moment," said the Welshman. "Emmanuel apologised straight away but you must look at the degree of things. There was a bit of provocation and that needs to be taken into account."
With Adebayor back in the squad and Roque Santa Cruz confirming his well-being with a substitute appearance in Monday's defeat of West Ham, Hughes has all four front-line strikers available for the first time.
Robinho's continued absence with an ankle injury does at least provide an opportunity to play Craig Bellamy in a wider role on the left, although with Stephen Ireland now fit after a sickness bug that ruled him out against the Hammers, Hughes has selection issues across the pitch.
One man virtually certain to play is England international Gareth Barry, who has been an outstanding success since his £12million transfer from Villa at the start of the summer.
The Villa supporters were exceedingly unimpressed when Barry decided to quit. But a run of four wins from five games matched the form of City until last weekend's unexpected reverse at Blackburn and Martin O'Neill insists the damage has not been too bad.
"Teams have to adjust and correct themselves when they lose an obvious talent like Gareth," said Hughes.