Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini feels confident his
players will not suffer a hangover from their last result when they host West Brom this evening.
Pellegrini claimed after City were held to a surprise 2-2
home draw by Sunderland - the Barclays Premier League's bottom side - on
Wednesday that his men had still had the disappointment of their 3-2 defeat at
table-toppers Liverpool from the previous Sunday on their minds.
But asked if he thought it would be difficult to lift the
spirits in the camp for the Albion contest,
the Chilean said: "No.
"I think it was more difficult between Liverpool and Sunderland. Now we have more time for the team to
recover.
"I think that we are all conscious that we cannot play
in the same way that we played against Sunderland.
"And I think it will not be so difficult (to raise
players' spirits) as for the last game."
The results against Sunderland and Liverpool
have dealt significant blows to City's title challenge.
They go into tonight's encounter lying third in the table,
nine points behind Liverpool, albeit with the Reds having only three more games
to go and Pellegrini's men five.
West Brom, meanwhile, are
in a quite different situation but just as eager to pick up points.
They are 16th, three points clear of the relegation zone
with five more matches to go, two more than the three sides directly below
them.
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1
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80
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2
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75
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3
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71
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Baggies boss Pepe Mel is studying the table and fixtures
list as much as any manager as he tries to assess his side's prospects of
avoiding the drop - but he has stressed the key focus for Albion must be on
themselves.
When asked ahead of the City game if he was one for
scrutinising the standings and trying to work out various permutations,
Spaniard Mel said: "Yes.
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