Vieira is vital - Mancini

Published: 09 Feb 2010 - 08:28:23

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Roberto Mancini believes Patrick Vieira can have a huge impact for Manchester City after being impressed with the Frenchman's debut on Saturday.Vieira came on for the final 30 minutes of City's 2-1 defeat to Hull and although he could not alter the result, the veteran midfielder helped his side look much better after a very poor first half.With Mancini still concerned by the number of injuries that have hit his squad - paying particular attention to the lack of numbers in midfield - the Italian is looking to Vieira to play a key role in City's push for Champions League football next season."I hope Patrick can stay fit for the next 15 games because if we have Patrick at 100% I think he can play very, very hard every game," Mancini said."Patrick is an important player with a good mentality. On Saturday he went on the pitch and changed the situation in the middle and I think the whole team can improve with Patrick on the pitch."