Manchester City Football Club News

• Nickname:Sky Blues
• Founded:1887
• Manager:Roberto Mancini

• Ground:City of Manchester Stadium
• Capacity:48,000

Richards: No City excuses

30 Jun 2008 - 10:47:07

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Defender Micah Richards has warned Manchester City that they will have 'no excuses' should they fail to mount a serious challenge for European qualification in the coming season.

The fit-again England defender is ready to start pre-season training following knee surgery towards the end of the last campaign and wants City to improve on last year's ninth-placed finish.

Richards believes new manager Mark Hughes will bring some new players into the fold and is looking forward to an improved 2008-09 campaign.

"With a new manager in place, I'm hoping we can get some new players in all positions to strengthen the squad and give it a really good go," he told the Manchester Evening News.

"Let's hope we can get to the end of the campaign and say 'We had a good season'.

"We don't want to be making excuses and saying 'We should have done this or that'."

Meanwhile, City will discover their first UEFA Cup opponents on Tuesday when the draw is made for the first qualifying round.