Moyes, who has turned down two bids for Lescott from City, said: “Joleon played really well, he was terrific.

“And you only needed to hear the crowd’s reaction to him, they know that what we are doing is correct. There was a lot of cheering for him, and rightly so. But we are consistent here, we told everyone just after last season that we wouldn’t be selling any players and they are still here.”

City manager Mark Hughes admitted he was considering other options in the transfer market – but also revealed that an injury to Kolo Toure isn’t serious enough for him to go chasing more defensive cover. Toure should be fit for next Saturday’s Premier League opener at Blackburn but lasted just 18 minutes of yesterday afternoon’s 2-1 victory over Celtic at Eastlands after reporting soreness in a hip problem that developed last week.

“We have to make a decision on any player we are pursuing,” he said. “If we feel a certain deal has run its course, we will look elsewhere. Whether we have reached that stage with Joleon only time will tell. Obviously we can do deals right to the end of the transfer window.

“However, we would prefer to do our business as quickly as possible, ideally by the end of this week.”

City’s results have not been the most convincing but, in front of chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak, Hughes’ side played well in patches against a Celtic team much-changed from the one that beat Dinamo Moscow in midweek.