Source: Telegraph
Manchester City hit by defensive worries ahead of Premier League clash with Chelsea
After Wednesday night's 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at West Brom, Roberto Mancini revealed he is desperately short of defensive options for the visit of Carlo Ancelotti's men.[LNB]Unless Micah Richards recovers from a hamstring injury that kept him out at The Hawthorns, Mancini will have only Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure available to face the only side left with a 100 per cent record.[LNB] Related ArticlesWest Bromwich Albion 2 Manchester City 1Chelsea 3 Newcastle United 4Scunthorpe 2 Manchester United 5Aston Villa 3 Blackburn Rovers 1Wigan Athletic 2 Preston North End 1Sport on television"We have big problems," he said. "I hope that Micah Richards can recover. If not I don't know who can play left-back."[LNB]The obvious inference is that should Richards miss out, Zabaleta will play on the right side and Manchester City would look for an alternative on the left flank.[LNB]That could either involve Adam Johnson being pressed into emergency service, or more likely a midfield such as James Milner or Gareth Barry.[LNB]Either way, further injury fears shaped Mancini's team selection at The Hawthorns where, having taking a first-half lead through Jo, City were undone by two goals in as many minutes from Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox.[LNB]"We couldn't take any risks," he said. "If I had more players available it would be a different team.[LNB]"But when you play like us and Chelsea, on Saturday at 12.45, the time to recover is very short.[LNB]"They would need minimum three days so to play tonight would have been dangerous."[LNB]It is to be hoped owner Sheikh Mansour understands the dilemma.[LNB]After spending £1 billion on City in just over two years, he was presumably hoping for an early end to the club's lengthy trophy drought.[LNB]That now cannot happen until May at the earliest, although Mancini has no regrets.[LNB]"I don't regret making the changes," he said. "Saturday is more important, the FA Cup is more important. The Europa League is more important.[LNB]"I did not regard this as a necessary sacrifice. We wanted to win. That is why I had four senior players on the bench.[LNB]"But I knew there was a chance we could lose because we started with six young players.[LNB]"I am happy with these guys. We might have lost the game but they can improve. If they do not play tonight, when will they ever play?"[LNB]
