Eliaquim Mangala is still not ready to take his place in the squad after missing pre-season but internet rumours of an injury to Sergio Aguero are wide of the mark, according to the City boss.
Photographs posted across social media yesterday appeared to show Aguero down clutching his leg but Manuel Pellegrini has moved to dismiss the speculation and revealed that the Argentine striker is fit for Saturday’s game.
“Just Alvaro Negredo is injured but the rest of the squad have no problems - Sergio Aguero is absolutely fine,” Manuel declared.
“Mangala is not in the squad for tomorrow but Kun is – we’ll see tomorrow how many minutes he will play.”
Stoke limited the free-scoring champions to just one goal in the corresponding fixture last season.
This time around, Pellegrini is expecting similarly stubborn resistance against the always hard-working and aggressive Potters.
“Of course I am sure we will have problems against a difficult team like Stoke,” he said.
“Last year in our best moment we only won 1-0 – I am sure they will come here to make a tough game for us and we will have to play very well to win.
“We are strong team, as strong as five or six teams in England.
We have no problems with expectations, we want to win and we will try to win.”
...Manuel Pellegrini...
It’s another tough proposition for the team who have won two titles in three seasons but the manager is confident of consecutive progressions to the Round of 16.
“I think it’s a similar group to last year, a difficult group. With Roma also in a group, it’s difficult but we must play and try to qualify,” the 60-year old told assembled journalists.
“Maybe other draws aren’t as difficult as ours but that doesn’t matter.
“I don’t know if there is a better system than they use now. For me, I repeat you think one more team can be difficult than another
On the question of whether it is fair that last season’s second, third and fourth placed teams in the Premier League have easier draws than City, Pellegrini was definitive.
“It’s the rules of the draw, maybe there are different systems but now there is one system and there’s nothing we can do to change that,” he stated.
“I am confident we can progress.
...Manuel Pellegrini...
“Last year we lost the first position on goal difference, we hope with the trust that we’ve qualified before, we will progress.”
Finally, the Chilean also confirmed that Scott Sinclair, Micah Richards and John Guidetti are not part of his squad for the 2014/15 season but revealed that the club are yet to receive any offers for the trio.
He added: “We’ll see what happens in the next 48 hours, they know they are not part of the squad because we have enough players for the squad but I don’t have any news about them at this time.”
