Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has warned his side that they must play with “100% intensity and concentration” if they are to hold off an in-form Boro side on Saturday.
The Premier League champions go into the FA Cup fourth round tie wounded after a 2-0 home defeat to Arsenal last time out, and with a history of struggling against Championship sides.
City toiled to a late 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the last round, while last year Watford soared into a 2-0 lead at the Etihad Stadium before Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick spared the hosts’ blushes.
Add last season’s FA Cup defeat to Wigan Athletic to that list, and Boro will fancy their chances of upsetting the odds this weekend, having soared to second in the Championship.
And Pellegrini certainly won’t be taking Aitor Karanka’s promotion-chasing side lightly.
Action Images / Ed Sykes 
“They are in a very good position in the Championship, they have a good manager in Karanka who I know, and I’ll be sure if we don’t play with 100% intensity and concentration we will have problems to qualify for the next stage of the FA Cup,” Pellegrini said.
“We need to play a very good game against a good team. Maybe (Boro)are not in the Premier League but they are fighting to be promoted.”
Boro head to the Etihad Stadium without fear and on the back of an impressive recent run, having lost one of their last 14 Championship matches.
Meanwhile City’s resurgence in recent weeks was ended by their loss to the Gunners last time out, and with a massive match against Chelsea coming up next weekend, Boro could catch the champions off guard.
Frank Lampard is a doubt after limping out of City’s friendly win over Hamburg yesterday, while Samir Nasri is definitely out and both Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony are away at the African Cup of Nations.
No comments:
Post a Comment