Citys Clichy wont settle for less than title

21 March 2014 01:31

Manchester City defender Gael Clichy has admitted that failure to win the Premier League title this season would be unacceptable ahead of his side's clash with Fulham on Saturday.

City have already won the League Cup, but were on the end of a shock defeat by Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup quarter-finals and were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Barcelona.

They are currently fourth in the Premier League and six points behind table-topping Chelsea although they have three games in hand on the leaders.

And France international left-back Clichy said City must put recent disappointments behind them and go on and secure the only trophy they are still involved in.

"Just winning the Capital One (League) Cup won't be enough," Clichy said.

"If you don't have this energy and desire for winning every single game no matter who you play, then you have nothing to do in City.

"The project is fantastic, and we are lucky to be here sharing this with the team-mates but, you know, it's crunch time and we have to get the points until the end of the season starting with Fulham.

"A title is a title, this year is not in the pocket yet but we're going to try hard to give the fans who support City something to share at the end of the season."

City won the 2011/12 Premier League title after they chased down rivals Manchester United in the final few games.

It culminated in a memorable finale where Argentina forward Sergio Aguero clinched the title in dramatic fashion with a goal from virtually the last kick of the season.

- 'Champions if we win all games' -

And while United are not among the teams they are battling against this term, Clichy urged his team-mates to draw on the experience of their title-winning season.

"We saw it two years ago, the emotion is really high and you cannot beat this," added the 28-year-old.

"So we have a fair chance if we keep winning like we did recently at Hull until the end of the season.

"Basically, if we win all the games we are going to be champions, so it's easy to say but not easy to do but we're going to try really hard to make this happen."

City will check on the fitness of Aguero (hamstring), Stevan Jovetic (hamstring) and Matija Nastasic (knee) while captain Vincent Kompany is suspended.

Bottom of the table Fulham's 1-0 home win over Newcastle last week saw them pick up three points for the first time since January 1 -- and it was also their first Premier League clean sheet since December 8.

Fulham manager Felix Magath remained keen for his defenders to be on their toes against City, although Manuel Pellegrini's men have not been so prolific in the opposition penalty area since topping the 100-goal mark in all competitions a few weeks ago.

"If we can stop Manchester City scoring, then we can create chances to score ourselves," Magath said.

"It's my job to help the players and believe in their ability. I'm convinced they are better than they have been before," the German added.

Magath has a number of injury concerns, with winger Ashkan Dejagah and centre-back Dan Burn joining midfielder Scott Parker and forward Kostas Mitroglou on the absentee list.

Attacking midfielder Lewis Holtby, who is on loan from Tottenham, is set for a comeback however, along with England striker Darren Bent.

Fulham, who will kick off four points adrift of safety, have already been soundly beaten by City this season, losing 4-2 at home in December.

Source: AFP