Manager Manuel Pellegrini has conducted his pre game press conference ahead of this weekend’s game against Watford and admitted we will be without four players for the match.
Audio – Pellegrini Silent On De Bruyne
Speaking to the Official Site ahead of the game at the Etihad, Pellegrini explained that we will be without Wilfried Bony, Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando and Gael Clichy for the match but it will give him the opportunity to call on three youthful additions who he’ll include in the squad.
‘Unfortunately Bony had a cut on his leg yesterday, so he is not able to play tomorrow. I think after the international break he will be ready so he will be out around 7-10 days. For tomorrow we have three young players in our squad, because we have a few players who are injured so we have Pablo Maffeo, Patrick Roberts and Kelechi in the squad list.’
He went on to say that he hoped Fernando would also return to full fitness during the international break, but he expects that Clichy will remain out for the next six to seven weeks, whilst Zabaleta will miss a month with his ligament problems.
As for Watford themselves, remaining unbeaten in their first three games back in the Premier League, he went on to say that we couldn’t underestimate them as they will be a tough test and he knows their manager pretty well from their time in Spain.
‘It is a difficult game because they have played three games in the Premier League and have drawn them all. They have a good manager and good players and the greatest mistake we can make in this moment is to think because we have won the last three games we will win the next one. We must play in the same way with the same concentration and intensity. The only way to do that is to think only about Watford, so I don`t want to answer any questions about the other competitions. I told all the players that we must talk about the Champions League draw after they come back from the international break.’
Pellegrini went on to say that the players ‘must’ understand that we approach Watford the way we would Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United and again it’s a case of learning from last season where we weren’t on it and result went against us, and we can’t let that happen this year.
‘If you play with less intensity then everything can go wrong, so it is important to continue playing in the same way as we have been and not to make the same mistakes as we did last year.’
Should City gain three points this weekend, we will of course break the century long record and hit ten consecutive victories but echoing his previous comments, he went on to say that it was the result and the three points that were important, not the record, although it would be a bonus.
‘I will be very pleased because we will be at the top of the table with 12 points.’
Dodging questions about any potential other new signings like Kevin De Bruyne, he was happy to talk about what our newest signing Nicolas Otamendi would bring to the group.
‘We did not sign Otamendi for one or two games, we signed him for three or four years. We are doing very well at defending at the moment but we don`t just need a team, we need a squad. We play in four competitions and will have around 60 games before the end of the season, so it is very important to have a strong squad not just a good team. If you only have 11 good players you will not win anything.’
Share this article
