koclokindoblog.blogspot.com, March 20, 2012 - Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is refusing to panic despite falling four points behind Manchester United in the Premier League title race.
United thrashed Wolves 5-0 at Molineux on Sunday to open up the gap, with City facing a tough meeting with Chelsea at Eastlands on Wednesday as their game in hand.
The bookmakers now make United favourites to lift a 20th league title, and most pundits believe their experience of a pressurised run-in will prove crucial. But Mancini rejects that, despite last week's exit from the Europa League at the hands of Sporting Lisbon.
"We lost top place in the Premier League at Swansea, but this is not the end of the title race as some people are saying," he told the Daily Mirror. "Now it is very important we are very comfortable together as a squad and as a club. We must regroup and find our best form and the fans will play their part against Chelsea.
"There is no need for anyone to panic. Of course, it is better to stay at the top, but now we are behind, it doesn't change our target.
"Now we have to show we are strong physically and ready for the challenge. This is a test for our players. It has been a difficult few days in terms of getting results and some injuries to important players, but we all know football is like this.
"The season is long and what happened recently can happen to any team. Against Sporting Lisbon and Swansea, we missed three or four chances on the counter-attack. This is the problem at the moment and then we have conceded what from our point of view have been stupid goals.
"Every game is difficult and different. We try to play good football and sometimes we can, and sometimes we can't. Football is like this. Sometimes you lose when you deserve to win and sometimes you win when you are not the best team.
"It is an unpredictable season, but we know the season still has a long way to go and that we can still win a trophy."
He added: "We have another ten games to finish this championship and that is a lot of points. That is nearly 25% of the season. The season is long and every week the situation could change.
"We will fight hard, and together, right until the end, to give ourselves the chance to win the title."
By ESPNsoccernet
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