Manchester City v Aston Villa:ROBERTO MANCINI has reiterated his desire to end 35 years of hurt and deliver a trophy to Manchester City. The Italian believes if they can succeed this season it will have a snowball effect.
City face Aston Villa tonight in the FA Cup then Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie next week in Ukraine.
Mancini is fully aware City last won a major trophy on February 28th, 1976 when Newcastle were defeated 2-1 in the League Cup final. He said: “We have a big chance of winning something. The next 20 days are very important because we play against Aston Villa then the following week in the Europa League. If we win one trophy it will lead to more trophies. When I accepted this job I knew it was difficult but it is a big challenge and I believe we can win a trophy.”
City go into the the Villa game following a drab 1-1 home draw with Fulham on Sunday. Mancini believes his players are feeling the effects of a tough fixture schedule but said: “It is better we have all these games because it means we are still involved in every competition. But our problem is having players injured.”
David Silva and Micah Richards could return to the side. Silva missed the draw with Fulham because of an ankle injury while Richards was absent with a calf problem. However, Mancini will again be without Vincent Kompany (hip), Nigel de Jong (ankle), Adam Johnson (ankle) and goalkeeper Shay Given (shoulder).
Mancini believes Villa will pose a sterner test than they did in December when they lost 4-0 at Eastlands. He feels they are beginning to pick up under the stewardship of Gerard Houllier.
Midfielder Michael Johnson could get a run-out after proving his fitness in the reserves after a terrible run of injuries.
Houllier, meanwhile, has predicted Villa “will win trophies” as he looks to avenge his side’s poorest performance of the season tonight. He felt Villa reached rock bottom when beaten 4-0 by City. But it proved to be a turning point and since then Villa have lost only twice in 11 matches in all competitions – and defeated City 1-0 in the return clash at Villa Park.
Houllier would like to follow on from the League Cup success of Birmingham and bring more silverware to the second city. But he insists that is not his main driving force in the quest for glory. He said: “I’m pleased for Alex McLeish (Birmingham manager) because he is a good man. It has been their year in the cup. If we could win the FA Cup that would be fantastic because it would mean two cups in the same city. We will win things, I know that for sure. It is not the fact our rivals have won something that is going to change my mind about what we are doing here. The FA Cup is an opportunity, although it is not the easiest of the games against City.
“But I have got the squad now, players who know what we want to do . . . I know we’ve got a good chance.” Houllier added: “Last time we went there, it was probably our poorest performance of the season.”
Full-back Nathan Baker has been ruled out after suffering from concussion in a collision with Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson on Saturday. Fabian Delph, who replaced Baker, may again deputise as Ciaran Clark will be needed at centre-back with Carlos Cuellar and James Collins still ruled out. Jean Makoun is again suspended after his red card against Blackpool.
