Mancini laughs off talk of pressure

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has vehemently denied that pressure is getting to his team as they prepare to take on Fulham.

The Italian personally blamed himself for the midweek defeat to Everton after suggesting that he may have under-estimated the opposition before the game. City have lost half of their eight games in 2012, exiting both domestic cup competitions in the process.

To make matters worse, Manchester United have caught them up in the title race as they drew level on 54 points following the Citizens’ loss to Everton.

City will hope to re-establish a three-point cushion over United with a win on Saturday, particularly as United have a tricky trip to Chelsea to negotiate on Sunday afternoon and Mancini was quick to laugh off talk of feeling the strain.

“There is no pressure when you are top of the league,” said Mancini. “This is impossible. The players shouldn’t have pressure on them.”

“We’ve scored 60 goals and we have the best defence in the league. This championship depends only on us and not other teams.”

The 47-year-old is under no illusions of the task he faces to deliver the title to Eastlands, but he feels that having managed at Inter Milan, no-one can doubt his ability to see out a season, having won three successive Serie A titles with them.

“There doesn’t exist a place like Inter Milan, where you can really be under pressure. After Inter Milan, you can manage every team,” he said.

“Inter Milan has a big history like United. When you are a manager there you have a pressure every day, every minute. After Inter Milan you can’t have pressure.”

The Italian is backing his strikers to get the Blues out of their mid-season slump. After such a blistering start to the season, City’s strikers have been found wanting in recent games.

Sergio Aguero has notched just one in five. Mario Balotelli is serving a four-match suspension and even though Edin Dzeko has netted two in four, he has still missed several gilt-edged chances.

However, Mancini insists that he has no issues with his strike force.

“People were saying how many goals City could score – 100, 200 – but this is impossible,” he said.

“There are some moments when you score three or four goals but others when you can’t score any goals.”

He added: “It is impossible to score three or four goals every game for 38 games. Probably when Sergio, Mario, Dzeko start to score goals – that moment will probably change our situation.”

The questions surrounding City’s own ability clearly does not worry Mancini, but he is wary of the threat they pose.

“I think until now we have had a fantastic season,” he said. “But we know that if we want to win the title, you can’t win it now.”

“You should fight until the last two or three games because United have big experience.”