Magnificent seven
Mancini tells players to win all remaining games to stay in race
LONDON: Roberto Mancini has told his Manchester City team they must win all seven of their remaining games to stay in the title hunt.
The moneybags outfit dropped seven of the last 12 available points to surrender the initiative to bitter rivals Manchester United.
By the time City kick off against Arsenal on Sunday, they could find themselves eight points behind the champions.
Boss Mancini admitted last weekend that would probably be too many – although he still feels 92 points would be enough to win the title.
City can still do that if they win each of their remaining fixtures, including the derby with United at the Etihad on April 30.
Mancini said: “After the Sunderlandgamei said only, ‘Believe in yourselves’ to my players because we have seven games – 21 points.
“I think with 92 points we will win the title. It is important we arrive in the derby one or two points behind or maybe above them.
“This could be difficult because I don’t know if they can lose six points but it is important we believe in this.”
City fans are starting to fear their title dream is over after leading the way for so long. But Mancini has urged them to stick with the team and see if they can yet claw back Alex Ferguson’s men.
The Italian said: “We should be strong, I think, always. The message for the fans is always the same: We will do everything to win this title.
“Maybe in this moment we can think it is difficult – but it can be enough to do some better results than United.”
Winger Adam Johnson says there are no plans for City to throw in the towel with five weeks of the campaign still remaining.
He said: “There’s been a lot of talk about the title race and who will come out on top but there are still seven games to be played.
“It’s true we are relying on other teams to some extent but they have still got to come to our place and have some tricky games left.
“We’ll be focused and ready for Arsenal at the weekend and we’ll keep trying to win games and see where that takes us.”
Meanwhile midfielder Yaya Toure yesterday dismissed reports of dressing-room bust-ups with teammate Mario Balotelli.
Reports alleged the pair clashed at half-time in City’s 3-3 draw at home to Sunderland last weekend as well as during the defeat at Swansea.
But Toure said he views Balotelli as a “brother” and “loves” him.
“They said I fought with Mario at Swansea and against Sunderland,” he said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“That shocked me. My lawyers called me about this and it was the first I knew about it.
“It’s just not true. It didn’t happen. I ama footballer, not a boxer. People don’t know my relationship with Mario. He’s not my friend, he’s my brother and I love him. To say we had a fight is very sad. It upset me and I feel sorry for Mario. He suffers most from these things.”