Richards cools Mario row

Micah Richards has played down his training ground bust-up with Manchester City team-mate Mario Balotelli.

City pair confront each other in training ahead of Arsenal game

Micah Richards has played down his training ground bust-up with Manchester City team-mate Mario Balotelli. The pair became embroiled in a scuffle during training on Thursday as City prepared for Sunday's clash with Arsenal. Both players are thought to have exchanged words before squaring up to each other, with Richards having to be restrained by some of his team-mates. The duo are believed to have settled their differences after training and shook hands with Richards later revealing on his Twitter account that there was no problem between him and Balotelli. "Me & mario are all good! these things happen in training & we shook hands after. it shows passion!" The news will not go down too well with City boss Roberto Mancini as he looks for his side to get their title bid back on track against Arsenal this weekend. The bust-up is the latest in a long line of misdemeanours involving controversial striker Balotelli with the Italy international breaking a curfew to go for a meal before the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Monday. It is not the first time Balotelli has found himself caught up in a training ground fracas after similar incidents with Jerome Boateng and Vincent Kompany last season.