There’s an extra buzz surrounding the City squad for their opening Premier League fixture of the season according to Stuart Pearce.
The Blues kick off their season at 4.00pm on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge in front of the live TV cameras, but despite all the extra interest in this game, the Manager is insistent that his players’ minds have been sharpened on the task in hand.
“The focus of our players will be spot-on, just with the fact that it’s Chelsea,” says Pearce.
“With the first game of the season there’s always a high sense of anticipation and nervous energy, but we’re at Chelsea, they are the champions and it’s on television. It’s a fantastic opening fixture for us and we should be relishing it.”
Chelsea have been as active as ever in the transfer market this summer, but Pearce is preparing the City team to act as a unit against whichever side Jose Mourinho elects to field.
Says Pearce: “Collectively you line your team up in a formation that you feel can cause them problems and nullify Chelsea, then you look at them and decide where they have weaknesses. There’s no team in the world that does not have a weakness, no matter how much they have spent or what their personnel is.
“Individually you have to make sure you get on top in the one-on-one battles and as a collective you have to work harder than they do.”
The hosts look certain to be without Petr Cech, Robert Huth and Joe Cole, while Makelele and Geremi have muscle strains. Michael Ballack is also struggling to overcome a hip injury.
