Source: Man_City
Mancini asking for Moor effort
RALLYING CALL: Roberto ManciniManchester City boss Roberto Mancini has challenged his team to move up a gear as the fight for fourth moves into its final phase. And the Blues' boss believes the odds on his side claiming Champions League football have shortened, with Aston Villa suffering a KO blow. The City manager takes his team to Turf Moor at Saturday teatime to face struggling Burnley, with rivals Spurs and Liverpool both still facing the same journey in their remaining fixtures. And he will tell his troops he wants more of the stuff they produced in the second half in Monday's 3-0 win over Wigan - and no more of the dire first-half showing. "We have another seven games, and if we want to get fourth we must play better than we did in the first half against Wigan," said Mancini. "We played better when we were beaten by Everton than we did in that first half, but against Wigan we changed the tempo in the second half, and the red card changed the game." Mancini's response to that poor first half was to take off Shaun Wright-Phillips and bring on Craig Bellamy, who was instructed to drift into more central areas and inject some verve into a slow midfield. "That helped," said Mancini. "It was not possible to repeat that first half, but Craig came on and played good football. Shaun was unlucky because he played well." Mancini feels Villa's 7-1 thrashing at Chelsea at the weekend has put them out of the chase, saying: "It is probably down to three teams now, with Tottenham, City and Liverpool fighting for fourth. "We hope Spurs can lose at Sunderland, but they have won the last five games - it is important just to stay close to them." Mancini may rest Nigel de Jong at Burnley and at home to Birmingham the following week, to avoid him receiving a tenth yellow card of the season, and automatic two-match ban. Once the Birmingham game is over, the deadline for such a punishment expires. Which team should Mancini send out to face Burnley? Have your say. | Submit Comments| Comments (40)| PrintWhat's this? Emaildel.icio.usDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponNewsvineGoogle BookmarksNetscapeTechnoratiWindows LiveYahoo! MyWebMa.gnolia
