Tevez could return against Chelsea

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has revealed that Carlos Tevez could be on the bench for Wednesday’s Premier League match with Chelsea.

The Argentine striker has not appeared for City since September, when he allegedly refused to come on as a substitute against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.

Mancini said that while he could play some part against Chelsea, Tevez would not be ready to play a full game for the next fortnight.

If Tevez sticks to that timescale, he could make a full return against Arsenal on April 8, and Mancini said any appearance against Roberto Di Matteo’s side would last a maximum of 30 minutes.

“He’s getting better, but I don’t think he can play more than 25-30 minutes. Because at this moment, a player like Carlos needs to play, but not for 90 minutes, it’s impossible,” the Italian manager said.

“I think (he can play 90 minutes) in two weeks, if he can play 30 minutes or 45 in three or four games.”

“Tomorrow we’ll decide. We want to know the situation with the players. There is a chance he may be involved.”

Mancini said he was unconcerned his side had dropped off top spot in the Premier League table, stating their deficit to rivals Manchester United is ‘nothing’.

“We’ll do everything we can to win the title. 10 games and one point is nothing. We can think about this, but we need to be positive. Until now we did a fantastic job in the Premier League. We need to continue like this. We play one game a week now, this may help our concentration,” Mancini said.

Mancinci also criticised the Premier League’s screening process for heart checks, in light of Fabrice Muamba’s collapse at the weekend.

The Bolton midfielder is still in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup match against Tottenham.

“Here in England, which is the best league in the world, everything is fantastic, but we need to improve the medical care for the players,” Mancini said.

“We need to screen the players twice a year and more accurately. We don’t do this now. When I saw our medical team when I arrived I was really worried. I said we need to do better on the medical side.”