Guardiola keen to keep owner happy

Pep Guardiola is pleased with how his first meeting with Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour went, but is well aware he needs to deliver.

City took advantage of a free weekend to travel to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp last week and spent time with the ambitious club’s hierarchy before returning to prepare for tonight’s FA Cup replay with Huddersfield.

It was the first time Guardiola had met the sheikh, whose largesse has transformed City in the past nine years, since the Spaniard’s muchheralded arrival at the Etihad last summer.

Guardiola said: “With (chairman) Khaldoon (Al Mubarak) we speak regularly but the other people we met for the first time, (including) Sheikh Mansour.

“I was really impressed that he knew absolutely everything about us. It was nice to meet him and spend a few hours together.

“He is so happy because he sees all the games and he sees the effort, he demands it. He knows we give absolutely everything and we fight until the end.

“It was nice because it is important for us to know the president. I had good relations with almost all my owners in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“But they know, we know, all the managers and owners know, that we are here because of the results. If the results are not good we are going to be replaced by another.”

A Premier League title seems unlikely with City 11 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.

But their Champions League challenge is still alive having beaten Monaco in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

City play Huddersfield tonight in an FA Cup fifth round replay.