Mancini plays down Tevez reliance

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini said his team must prove they can win without star striker Carlos Tevez.

The Argentine is suspended for Saturday’s game against West Ham at Upton Park after picking up five bookings this season.

But Mancini feels that the squad is good enough to cope without Tevez and insists their top-scorer this league campaign will not be leaving the club.

He said: “Carlos is one of the best players in Europe, in the world even and so he is very important to us. He will stay here for a long time because he has not spoken to me about the situation. We have four games this month that are very difficult and we can’t comment on transfers.”

“The squad is important. We are missing Tevez and Aleksandar Kolarov, who are important players but if we play like we played against Bolton and against Stoke then we can win with our team.”

Despite facing bottom of the table West Ham, Mancini is not taking anything for granted.

He added: “This league is great because every game is difficult and if you think tomorrow we will play an easy game then it is a disaster because we can lose against anyone.”

“It is very difficult to play at Upton Park. West Ham are fantastic there and they do not deserve to be in the bottom three.”

City can go level on points with league leaders Arsenal if they win on Saturday, if only over night, and Mancini is hoping his side will be the team to disrupt the top three.

“This month will be very important because we have to play a lot of games. Maybe when the other teams are playing in the Champions League again in February then we can change something about this Premier League.”