Elano piles pressure on Man City boss Hughes

Brazilian midfielder Elano has presented under-pressure Manchester City boss Mark Hughes with an additional headache by speaking out over his lack of regular first team action this season.

Elano was City's outstanding performer for the first half of last season after being signed by Sven-Goran Eriksson from Shakhtar Donetsk.

But the 27-year-old has become a peripheral figure under Eriksson's successor Hughes, who is unlikely to be impressed by the midfielder's decision to air his grievances in public at a time when City are hovering just one point above the relegation zone.

In a television interview, Elano complained about being left out of the starting line-up for recent matches, while attempting to stress that he was not disputing Hughes's authority.

“It's his right (to leave me out), he is the manager,” he said. “I respect him and I will keep working, arriving on time and doing my duties at the club, but my sadness is not playing.

“I can't hide that from the fans or the president, who wants to make this a big club. I think I have the capabilities to be playing.”

Hughes has been assured by City's Abu Dhabi owners that his position is secure, despite a run which has seen the club win just once in their last seven league matches, and that he will be given funds to strengthen the squad in January.

Elano's outburst however will do nothing to improve the manager's standing in the eyes of the owners.

There may also be concern in Abu Dhabi that the player's unhappiness could affect fellow Brazilian Robinho, whose form since his 32.5-million-pound move from Real Madrid has been the one bright spot in City's otherwise disappointing start to the season.

Hughes, who was due in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for a meeting with City's owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, was reassured that his position is not under threat by the club chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, at the weekend.

“The chairman understands where we are, and of course ideally we would prefer to have positive results at the moment,” Hughes told the club's website, www.mcfc.co.uk.

“We'll address things and get more quality into the squad, because that is what we need to do to move forward. At the moment you have to say that things are a little bit hysterical, people need to calm down a little bit and we will get points on the board.”