Strikeforce depth key for Mancini

Roberto Mancini believes Manchester City have the firepower to continue their excellent start to the season, even without Carlos Tevez.

City are likely to be missing striker Sergio Aguero for the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday, with the Argentina international suffering from a groin injury.

Tevez is unlikely to be considered due to his alleged refusal to come off the bench against Bayern Munich in a Champions League match last month.

And the absence of Aguero means Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko are the main candidates for a starting berth against Villa.

“We have three strikers in this moment and it is important that we cover Sergio,” Mancini said.

“For this we don’t want to take any risks for tomorrow and if he’s ready for Aston Villa, he’ll play.”

“If not he will be on the bench. But it is important to have all of the players ready.”

According to Mancini, no members of the City squad picked up a new injury during the international break, but some players may be rested after playing two matches in quick succession for their respective countries.

“Fortunately we don’t have any players injured, but we have four or five players who are very tired,” Mancini said.

“Zaba (Pablo Zabaleta) arrived yesterday afternoon. Kolo (Toure) played two games, (Samir) Nasri, (Edin) Dzeko two games in four days.”

“So some players will be rested for tomorrow.”

City are second in the English Premier League, level on points with defending champions Manchester United.