Mancini taking cup seriously

Roberto Mancini has vowed to take his strongest available Manchester City squad to Leicester for Sunday's FA Cup third round tie. With no trophy in the cabinet since 1976, Mancini is acutely aware of the desire amongst the City faithful for tangible evidence of the huge sums invested by Sheikh Mansour, beyond a likely place in next season's Champions League. So, while Edin Dzeko's move from Wolfsburg was completed too late for the giant Bosnian to be involved at the Walkers Stadium, the remainder of City's star men - with the exception of injured duo Mario Balotelli and David Silva - will be. "We will go to Leicester with the strongest squad we have available because we want to be successful in this competition," said Mancini. "The FA Cup is important. I won 10 cups in Italy when I was a player and a manager, so I know how valuable it can be. "This competition is very important in this country. In five games, you can be in the final. That is where I want to be."

Source: PA