Hughes calls for improvement

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes insists his troops will need to be at their best to secure a result against Hamburg in the Uefa Cup. City have travelled to Germany for the first leg of their quarter-final clash against the Bundesliga giants on Thursday. They have struggled away from home recently after failing to score in any of their last four games away from The City of Manchester Stadium, including last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Arsenal. Hughes was disappointed with their recent display at the Emirates and has conceded they will need to step up their performance against Martin Jol's side if they are to get a result in Germany. "We will have to be markedly better when we play Hamburg and improve on what we produced at the weekend," explained Hughes. "We hopefully have 12 games left and we want to make sure that we finish the season in the right manner. "It is important we look back on the season and think that we've made progress." The club's record signing Robinho has, along with the team, struggled for goals on the road, but Hughes believes it is all too easy to point the finger solely at the Brazilian. "Away from home we'll take a goal from anybody. It's not just about Robinho," he continued. "It is quite easy just to make any story about Manchester City a Robinho story. "It wasn't about that against Arsenal, it was about us being at a lower level than them."

Source: SKY_Sports