City boss Manuel Pellegrini is happy with how the season has progressed, and expects his squad to play the same style of football despite the forced changes the Chilean has to make due to injuries to several key players.
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Sergio Aguero would limp off in that win with a slight knock and is now a doubt for this game, while Vincent Kompany is also set to miss the clash once again.
The deal has led to speculation that City may now look to sign one of the world’s best players, including Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, something Pellegrini refused to rule out on Friday.
“Joe worked on Thursday and Friday without any problems so he is in the squad list – we will see on Saturday if he can play”, said Pellegrini.
But Pellegrini is optimistic that the strength in his squad will continue to make a difference as they head into the increasingly busy festive and new year period. “As you could see, we have no problems with matches against Manchester City!” he told his post-match press conference at St Mary’s. The important thing is to try and play in the same way and that’s what we’re doing. English League Cup semi-final draw (two-legged ties to be played weeks commencing January 4 and January 25): Everton v Manchester City Stoke City v Liverpool.
“(It is hard) when you have those players not playing every game, not only because they are injured but because when they return from an injury they need two or three games to return to their normal performance.
“We are always trying to do it but it is not easy because there are a lot of clubs, five or six, who are also competing for the same players”.
The following week, City travel to North London to face Arsenal, a game that holds paramount importance in deciding who would go to the top of the table before Christmas.
After Sadio Mane opened the scoring inside the first minute, it seemed as though it was going to be plain-sailing for the south coast outfit and a tough night for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
“Sheffield Wednesday are a good team, as they proved in previous rounds, and it was important not to underestimate the challenge”.
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“I was on the bench (against Hull) but when I come on the pitch, I have to try to contribute as much as I can for the team”.
