Mowbray: Euro woe may affect City

18 April 2009 11:15
West Brom manager Tony Mowbray hopes Manchester City will be suffering from a UEFA Cup hangover when the teams meet on Sunday. Mowbray, whose rock bottom side desperately need a win to keep alive their fading survival hopes, watched City beat Hamburg on Thursday but still be eliminated from the competition on aggregate. Albion are seven points adrift of safety but Mowbray is convinced they can cause City problems. "Let's hope they have some flatness about their performance," said Mowbray. "If they do we must take advantage of the situation. "Generally, we have played well away from home this season. There have not been many days when we have thought the opposition are too good for us and we cannot compete. "I am sure we will go to Eastlands and have spells in the game when we will look very comfortable and will put them on the back foot. "But with the talent they possess there will be times when they will have us at full stretch. "The great runs of Stephen Ireland, the quick feet of Robinho and Elano's dead-ball kicking will be difficult to contain. "On their day they can damage anyone but we've also shown that we can give teams problems." While West Brom try to match City on the field, Mowbray admits the two clubs are miles apart off it thanks to the huge financial power now available at Eastlands. While Mowbray might like more money to spend himself, he feels that Mark Hughes having so much cash at his disposal brings problems of its own. Mowbray added: "It must be good for Mark Hughes to identify a player he likes and to go out and get him. "The problem for Manchester City is the asking price is £20m and you might have in your mind a value of £5m.Yet if you are Manchester City you have to pay £20m and that brings its own problems and burdens. "Do I envy him? No, I do not envy the pressure he is under because there is so much money to spend. "I do envy the fact that he can go and get players he identifies who can improve his team. "We cannot afford top Premier League salaries as we do not want to put our club at risk. "We do not have a bottomless pit of money coming out of the desert. You have to live within your means. "Our means are on a totally different level compared to Manchester City. It is still all about putting a team together and to make them function. This cannot be done overnight."

Source: Eurosport